Location
City of Westminster

Hours
37 hours per week

Salary
£61,630 per annum plus £3,300 London Allowance. Qualified Accountants (Level 7 eg CIMA/ACCA/ICAEW) are eligible for a functional allowance of £3,000 per annum.

About the Role
The Department of State (DOS) runs the strategic headquarters of the Ministry of Defence with an annual expenditure of over £2.0bn. The DOS Finance Directorate provides an enabling finance service through Finance Business Partnering, Finance Operations, and Specialist Services. We are a friendly, collaborative, inclusive, and diverse team of finance professionals. This is an exciting time to join DOS Finance as we deliver strategically important change and refine our business-as-usual service offer.

The Specialist Services Lead is a key member of the Finance Leadership Team (FLT), supporting the Finance Director and Deputy Directors in shaping and delivering the finance strategy and objectives. This role is responsible for the overall management of the Finance workforce, performance, risk, compliance, and assurance within Specialist Services. You will lead and manage your team, ensuring capacity and capability to deliver outputs, continuous improvement, and change activities. You will build and manage relationships across finance and the wider business, act as a point of escalation, and set challenging KPIs and team targets aligned to the wider finance strategy.

Specialist Services undertake activities requiring specific business knowledge and judgement, providing advice and guidance in their area of specialism, resolving complex issues, and ensuring adherence to MOD standards. You will manage financial reporting, provide secretariat support to internal committees, and act as a Subject Matter Expert to ensure business areas have adequate support and clear boundaries of responsibility.

Key responsibilities include managing audit programmes, reviewing financial data, advising on approvals processes, managing financial governance and controls, ensuring data integrity, and engaging with key stakeholders including Strategic Head Office and Investment Approvals Committees. You will also lead continuous improvement initiatives, share best practices, and support change programmes impacting your team.

As a leader, you will empower, motivate, and coach your team, support personal development and leadership skills, encourage knowledge sharing, and embed standardised processes to deliver consistent outputs. You will make major decisions within your area of responsibility and ensure alignment with wider organisational policies and resources.

Experience
Proven experience in leading a team and managing wider stakeholder groups to deliver key outputs. Ability to work effectively as part of a team. Experience in financial governance, controls, and managing complex financial reporting and audit processes is highly desirable.

About you
Excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex financial issues in clear, layman terms. Strong leadership qualities with the ability to motivate and develop others. Collaborative and inclusive approach, open to challenge and new ideas. Committed to continuous improvement and embedding a culture of high performance and desired behaviours.

Qualifications
Qualified Accountant (Level 7 eg CIMA, ACCA, ICAEW) is desirable but not essential. Knowledge of Managing Public Money and best practice in preparation and scrutiny of Business Cases is required.