Length of employment: Job Summary: The British Army protects the United Kingdom's interests at home and abroad, providing a safe and secure environment in which all British citizens can live and prosper. The Army is supported by a civilian workforce that includes 8000 MOD Civil Servants. This civilian workforce provides a vast range of roles such as teachers, firefighters and psychologists to logisticians, financiers, administrators, project and programme managers and policy staff all of whom enable the Army to deliver its core outputs. Working within an Army Reserve unit, our civilian staff deliver crucial outputs and play a meaningful part of the team. When you see our service personnel being reported on in the media whilst out on operations around the world, providing support and help to others overseas and at home, or out training so they can be the best at what they do, you will have immense pride knowing you played some part in making it happen! Field Army are looking for outgoing and motivated individuals, with strong inter-personal skills and an eye for detail, to be part of innovative and high-performing teams with a focus on providing outstanding customer service in the role of Financial Systems Administrators (FSA). The vacant posts are full-time positions and advertised at 37 hours per week or 36 hours per week in London. Job Description: The FSA delivers finance and administrative support to the unit and its personnel. You will have responsibility for the day-to-day cash management within the unit and operation of the unit Public Funds Imprest Account as well as the accounting and control of the unit's non-public (charitable/private) funds. In addition, you will play a part in the processing and audit of pay and allowances for unit military personnel. The FSA also provides timely advice to military personnel on entitlement to allowances and expenses for periods of temporary duty away from their permanent duty station and is occasionally required to audit expenses claims. Key responsibilities of a Finance & Systems Administrator: Management of public funds through the Imprest Account using the Cash Office Management (COM) system in line with Departmental policy and processes and within personal delegated authority, ensuring public funds are safeguarded and all relevant accounts are maintained, including responsibility for making payments from and receiving monies into that account and all such payments and receipts are accounted for in accordance with current regulations. Maintenance and operation through public funded accounts of the Commanding Officer's Public Fund (COPF), enhanced COPF (ECOPF), Regionally Generated Income (RGI) received from the Reserve Forces and Cadet Association and payment of Cash-in-lieu-of-rations (CILOR), ensuring full records are maintained and all expenditure meets and is processed in accordance with directed policy and is made within delegated authority. Manage the financial processes in the use of non-public funds (known as Service Funds). Administration of Regular and Full-Time Reserve Service (FTRS) military personnel pay and allowances, including providing advice on entitlement and the use of bespoke Defence systems for the processing of pay and allowances for military personnel. First line audit for allowance/expense claims made by Regular or FTRS military personnel ensuring they are compliant with policy and entitlement and ensuring the chain-of-command is made aware of non-compliant claims and recovery action is instigated. Line management responsibility. There is a requirement for the successful candidate to hold a MOD Finance Skills Certificate (FSC) and you will be required to gain this within the first 6 months in post. In addition, there will be a requirement to attend 23 days of centrally delivered training within your first 12 months. This is delivered at Worthy Down, Hampshire. This training is to support your ability to use the two key financial management IT systems that are specific to the MOD. These are:Service Charitable Funds (Manual Accounting) - 10 days and Cash Office management Application within the MOD Microsoft Office 365 suite and general finance training (13 days). Training and support will be given to complete this successfully. Further learning and development will be tailored to your specific role. The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance. Other benefits for Army civil servants include: - 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years' service - Highly competitive pension scheme - Personal and professional development of skills - Alternative working patterns for many roles - Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle. - Enhanced parental and adoption leave - 6 days special leave per year which can be used for volunteering activities - Learning and Development We believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference and you will be supported to help you learn and advance in your career. This includes working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking a modern apprenticeship as part of your role. A modern apprenticeship is a combined package of work and training. Through the schemes available you will gain a professional qualification, practical experience, and the broader skills required to develop in your current role and pave the way for your future career. The post does not offer relocation expenses. External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period. Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed. Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts. Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments. MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey - We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights. Essential skills required: Organised and possess strong communication skills in both written and verbal form. Able to quickly build good working relationships with a variety of partners, both internal and external to the organisation and be able to provide support to a wide range of people of different backgrounds. Have good Information Technology skills, including basic Microsoft Office 365, and have excellent time management skills. Able to use initiative to prioritise work with minimal direction whilst maintaining an excellent attention to detail. Desirable skills: Ideally, the successful candidates will have previous experience of working in a financial or administrative role and is able to easily adapt to changing priorities. When choosing your Behaviour examples, please make sure you use real life scenarios that relate to your own experiences. Whilst technology may help to enhance your written submission, presenting the ideas of others or those generated by technology, could result in your application being rejected. Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience. Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability. (500 words) At application stage you will be assessed against the following: CV Personal Statement - 500 word max personal statement outlining your suitability for the role by providing evidence of their skills in communicating, organising, teamwork, time management and IT. Ability - Situational Judgement Test Behaviour - Managing a Quality Service Applications will be sifted using the CV, Personal Statement, Ability Test, and Behaviour that have been chosen for this campaign, but in the event of there being a high number of applications, a sift will be conducted on the lead behaviour 'Managing a Quality Service' At interview stage you will be assessed against the following behaviours: Communicating & Influencing Delivering at Pace Making Effective Decisions Working Together Application sifting will be scheduled to take place within 7 days of the application closing date. Interview dates are to be confirmed and will be held via MS Teams. We endeavour to keep to these time frames, but these are subject to change around business needs. The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk. As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn. Candidates will be required to complete an online Civil Service Judgement test. *The tests are NOT timed. Please do not request extra time as this will put your application on hold* The Civil Service Judgement Test is not bankable and therefore must be taken on every vacancy where it is applied. Should you be invited to complete the online tests, please allow sufficient time to complete the tests and the remainder of the full application form; only candidates who are successful at the test stage will be invited to complete the remainder of the application by clicking 'Submit Application'. Your application must be completed by 23:55 on the closing date of the vacancy. Late submissions cannot be accepted. The tests are not timed, as they work by giving you harder questions if you answer the previous question correctly, and easier if you get it wrong. You should allow up to an hour for each test, and each test must be completed before you will be invited to complete the second part of your application. Internet access will be required for the duration of the test. Please refer to the attached Candidate Guidance for further information. CSJT scores cannot be banked as each test is generated from the behaviours required for a specific role which will vary between recruitment campaigns. If you require any particular arrangements (for example due to a disability or health problem) to be made in order for you to complete the online test you MUST contact the DBS Enquiry Centre on 0800 345 7772 BEFORE accessing the online test. Opening times Mon -Friday 0800- 1600 hrs.