Job Description

Head of Financial Accounts

Location: Darlington

Salary: 58,057 - 63,860

Grade 7

As the Head of Financial Accounts, you will lead the Financial Accounts team, providing guidance and support in establishing a controls-based environment, offering advice, and developing policies to ensure compliance with accounting standards, tax regulations, and government financial reporting requirements.

The Head of Financial Accounts is a senior member of the Finance team, responsible for delivering an efficient, effective, and high-quality professional service that meets all reporting requirements.

Effectively and proactively lead, manage, and motivate the Financial Accounts team, ensuring a culture of high performance, strong engagement, and continuous improvement. Provide clear direction and leadership to ensure the team has the capacity, capability, processes, and systems needed to deliver its objectives. Develop and monitor financial controls across all financial areas, ensuring the accuracy, integrity, consistency, and quality of the DBS general ledger. Lead the development of DBS' finance and accounting policies, ensuring compliance with the latest standards, regulations, and stakeholder requirements. Support the Head of Operational Finance in providing technical guidance to internal stakeholders and preparing accounting papers. Oversee the development and delivery of the annual finance timetable, including monthly management accounts, annual budgets, forecasts, and regulatory and stakeholder returns. Lead the preparation of all regulatory and stakeholder reporting (including Home Office consolidation) in a timely manner. Manage the preparation of the annual audited financial statements and supporting working papers, maintaining open relationships with external auditors and ensuring no material issues arise. Oversee monthly cash flow forecasting to ensure that the 3-month working capital requirement is not breached. Act as a key point of contact with external auditors and effectively manage the audit process. Ensure departmental KPIs are prepared and reported on a timely basis. Collaborate with the Head of Management Accounts to ensure accurate and timely management information and reporting. Work closely with the Head of Operational Finance and other Finance Heads of Service to improve departmental systems and procedures (IT and non-IT based). Deputise for the Head of Operational Finance when required. Undertake additional duties appropriate to the role and/or grade.

Person Specification

Abilities (essential criteria):

Proven ability to communicate complex matters to a non-financial audience and build effective relationships with senior stakeholders. Strong strategic thinking, planning, and analysis skills, with the ability to develop creative solutions to support change and mitigate risks. Excellent relationship management, influencing, facilitation, and presentation skills. Presence and credibility to engage confidently with senior colleagues across the organisation. Resilience in challenging circumstances, with the ability to work under pressure while remaining calm and decisive. Highly effective communicator in person, in writing, and through digital channels.

Experience (essential criteria):

Demonstrated leadership, management, and communication skills. Successful track record in building relationships across finance teams and with wider stakeholders. Leading the production of annual reports and accounts. Managing the external audit process through to the delivery of audited financial statements. Strong knowledge of current accounting standards (IFRS experience and FReM knowledge preferred). Communicating complex accounting and tax issues to non-finance stakeholders. Developing financial policies, frameworks, and procedures. Implementing best practice financial controls. Senior Financial Accountant experience, with the ability to manage multiple deliverables to tight deadlines while maintaining robust controls. Experience in driving process improvements to increase efficiency. Experience coaching and developing finance colleagues.

Technical (essential criteria):

Must hold an accounting qualification and active membership with a recognised CCAB accountancy body or CIMA.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

- Leadership

- Developing Self and Others

- Managing a Quality Service

- Working Together

- Communicating and Influencing

- Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

Testing technical accounting knowledge based on IFRS

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 58,057, Disclosure & Barring Service contributes 16,819 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The DBS offers a number of excellent benefits for its employees. These can include:

Generous annual leave entitlement Excellent maternity, paternity and adoption schemes (after a qualifying period) Commitment to the health and wellbeing of our employees Employee Assistance Programme Flexible working opportunities Eyecare voucher scheme Occupational Health Service including referrals for counselling and physiotherapy 24/7 Counselling and Wellbeing Service A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
The DBS vision and purpose is to make people safer by being a visible, trusted and influential organisation, providing an outstanding quality of service to all our customers and partners, where our people understand the important safeguarding contributions they make and feel proud to work here. To do this, the DBS is committed to being an employer that is able to attract, develop, retain and engage diverse talent that is representative of the communities we serve, and to be an organisation providing outstanding service to all our existing and new customers, who are diverse and have a range of different needs. We want all our staff to be able to bring their 'whole self' to work.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

To apply for this role please provide a CV and personal suitability statement of not more than 750 words outlining how your skills, experience and qualifications meet the requirements of the role, including all essential and desirable criteria.

For all candidates who are successful at the initial sifting stage, you will be invited to interview and will be expected to deliver a 10 minute presentation to the panel with the topic to be given on the day assessing the following behaviour - Communicating and Influencing.

Following the presentation, there will be a panel based interview assessing the following behaviours:

Leadership Developing Self and Others Managing a Quality Service Working Together Communicating and Influencing Making Effective Decisions
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

A UK national A national of the Republic of Ireland A Commonwealth citizen with the right to work in the UK A national of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein (and their family members) with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) A national of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein (and their family members) who has made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the EUSS An individual with limited or indefinite leave to remain who was eligible to apply to the EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 A Turkish national, or the family member of a Turkish national, who has accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

Apply and further information Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Timeline

Applications invited from 9am Friday, 26th September 2025

Closing date Monday, 13th October at 10:00am (applications after this time may not be considered)

Interview invitations from 18th October

Interviews held w/c Monday, 27th October

Attachments: (in application link)

Candidate Privacy Policy.FINAL

DBS Terms and Conditions Statement - March 21 Final

Success profiles - Candidate overview

G7 Head of FA JD

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: 58,057.00-63,860.00 per year

Work Location: In person