Financial Accountant, British Intelligence Agencies

• To apply, you must be part-qualified in ACCA, CIMA or equivalent, with demonstrable experience in a similar role in the public sector. You’re organised, positive, and eager to keep learning. You enjoy working with others, value teamwork and innovation, and are motivated by making an impact. You enjoy solving problems with colleagues, and you’re skilled at building strong relationships and negotiating with key stakeholders. You bring a genuine interest in finance and feel confident working with figures and spreadsheets
• To be considered part-qualified, you’ll have completed the Applied Knowledge and Applied Skills modules of ACCA and ideally be studying towards Strategic Professional, or you’ll have completed the Operational and Management levels of CIMA and be working towards Strategic Level. Degree exemptions that cover these requirements are also accepted, as long as you can provide evidence from the appropriate governing body

Desirable

• Our finance teams are vital to this mission. They keep our spending on track and make sure everyone has the financial insight they need to do their best work:
• The Financial Accountant role is diverse, with opportunities across several office-based teams. As part of the recruitment process, we’ll get to know you and assess which area best reflects your strengths and interests
• *Financial Analysis* One area you could join is Financial Analysis. This team provides key insights that guide decision-making across the organisation. As a Financial Accountant here, you’ll be responsible for key month-end activities and ensuring reports are accurate. You’ll keep our financial systems reliable by maintaining strong controls, and you’ll use management reports to provide insightful analysis for senior managers. You’ll manage all month-end activity, approve journals, support budget profiling and produce forecasts. You’ll explain significant changes in forecasts or actuals where needed, produce management reports and build collaborative relationships with stakeholders, while leading your own small team
• *Financial Accounting and Reporting* Or you could join our Financial Accounting and Reporting team. They handle the summary, analysis and reporting of financial transactions made by the agencies. In this area, you’ll interpret data and carry out analysis that gives senior managers the assurance they need, ensuring the right information reaches the right people. You’ll gather supporting information in line with accounting standards, query and challenge data, and ensure everything is documented clearly for audit purposes. You’ll analyse monthly balance sheet reconciliations, interpret financial data for the annual report and accounts, complete the NAO disclosure checklist and escalate potential issues when needed. In all you do, you’ll always communicate clearly when explaining how data aligns with standards and maintain strong controls to keep information accurate
• *Financial Operations* Finally, there’s Financial Operations. This team manages accounts payable, accounts receivable, expenses and cash management services. As a Financial Accountant in this team, you’ll develop a detailed understanding of financial objectives, transactions and business areas, and you’ll bring structure to delivery. You’ll also ensure operations can respond to different needs while following standard guidelines and frameworks. You’ll promote a culture of excellent customer service, manage internal controls, monitor performance against agreed targets and become a trusted expert in your area. You’ll advise business units on financial processes, support transaction-processing services, assess the impact of changes, maintain the integrity of data in the finance system and oversee audit requests, working closely with clients to spot opportunities for improvement
• From day one, you’ll be fully supported at MI5. If you’re committed to growing your skills, we’ll fund your training and support completion of further ACCA or CIMA exams. As you progress through your studies, you’ll benefit from a generous paid study-leave package tailored to your qualification, along with guidance from your line manager and support from experienced colleagues. You’ll also have access to internal communities, support networks and mentors. If you’re successful in your application, we’ll ask that you remain in the Finance Capability for a minimum of five years so we can continue to invest in your development

• We recognise that the end of the financial year is an extremely busy time and for this reason we will not commence interviews until mid-April.