Details
Reference number
427218
Salary
£29,525
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
Job grade
Executive Officer
Contract type
Permanent
Business area
DFT - Aviation, Maritime and Security Group (AMS) - Maritime
Type of role
Administration / Corporate Support
Commercial
Finance
Working pattern
Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time
Number of jobs available
1
Contents
* Location
* About the job
* Benefits
* Things you need to know
* Apply and further information
Location
Southampton
About the job
Job summary
Can you provide strong finance management support, including monitoring financial performance and maintaining financial systems, within a fast-paced operational environment?
Do you have a solid understanding of DfT procurement policies from purchase to pay and the ability to analyse data to inform senior management?
Have you assisted with administrative tasks such as setting up meetings, managing information, and general office support in a dynamic, challenging workplace?
If so, we'd love to hear from you
Based in Southampton, the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) is an independent organisation within the Department for Transport. The Branch is responsible for investigating accidents and incidents involving UK vessels anywhere in the world, and any vessels within UK territorial waters, with the aim of improving the safety of life at sea and the avoidance of accidents in the future.
Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:
* Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
* 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King's birthday
* Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.
Read more in the Benefits section below
Find out more about what it's like working at Department for Transport:
DfTc roles: Department for Transport Central - Department for Transport Careers
Job description
As Finance Manager, you will play a vital role in supporting the MAIB's financial management, ensuring effective oversight of financial performance and compliance with DfT procurement policies. You will maintain key financial systems, analyse data to guide senior management, and assist Business Support with administrative tasks. This dynamic role in a fast-paced operational environment offers varied challenges daily, requiring adaptability, attention to detail, and a proactive approach to delivering high-quality financial and administrative support.
Financial qualifications and training opportunities will be available.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren't limited to:
* Budget and Finance - profiling of the budget to ensure that sufficient funds are allocated to individual areas of work. Is responsible for the production of a monthly forecast of expenditure.
* Procurement - Support the Inspectorate and Business Support Manager to facilitate the administration of any contract issued on the procurement of goods and services
* Purchase orders - responsible for this end-to-end process
* Invoice payment – Responsible for liaising with the requestor to ensure all goods and services were delivered as agreed, and processing all invoices within prompt government payment targets.
* MAIIF – Act as treasurer for the Marine Accident Investigators' Forum and will liaise with Chief Inspector to ensure all countries invoices are paid and produce an annual audit report.
* Receipts – Payments of any nature made to the MAIB for work carried out are to be paid into the appropriate DfT bank account.
* General administrative duties– Responsible for the provision of general administrative support to the Head of Business
For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.
Person specification
To be successful as the Finance Manager, you will:
* Resilient problem solver with strong focus and drive, experienced in budget management, accurate forecasting, and collaborating effectively with stakeholders, including senior leaders.
* Proactive project deliverer committed to high-quality outcomes, able to work at pace, make informed decisions, and communicate clearly and confidently.
* Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (pivot tables, conditional formatting, data validation) for effective data manipulation, ensuring services meet both customer and business needs.
Additional Information
Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.
This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.
The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your principal workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, visiting stakeholders and colleagues, or carrying out detached duty in another DfT or agency workplace. The chosen principal workplace will be the designated place of work and any remote or home working arrangement does not constitute a change to the designated place of work or contractual terms and conditions. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.
For more information on how this works for this role, please contact the Vacancy Holder (see below for contact details).
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Delivering at Pace
* Making Effective Decisions
* Communicating and Influencing
* Managing a Quality Service
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £29,525, Department for Transport contributes £8,553 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:
* Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
* 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
* 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King's birthday.
* Access to the staff discount portal.
* Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
* Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
* 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.
* Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.
Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies .
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Ability and Experience.
How to apply:
Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.
The selection process for this role will be:
Stage 1: Online test
Stage 2: Sift of CV and personal statement
Stage 3: Interview and Excel Test
You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.
Stage 1: Online test
At this stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:
* Ability
After submission of the first stage of your application (personal details), you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Numeric test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the full application (please see 'stage 2: sift' for further information).
Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended) to give yourself enough time to complete your full application (please see 'stage 2: sift' for further information). Both the online test and the full application must be completed by the closing date on the advert, otherwise your application will be rejected.
Guidance for the tests will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.
Stage 2: Sift
At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:
Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (500 word count). Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:
* Experience of managing a budget and forecasting
* Confident in collaborating with both internal and external stakeholders as well as senior stakeholders
* Experience of running projects through to completion whilst being proactive
* Experience in working with Microsoft packages, particularly Microsoft Excel at an intermediate level. The ability to manipulate data (sorting, filtering and lookup functions, formulas), experience in data validation, conditional formatting and working with multiple sheets and linking data across them.
The sift will take place week commencing 29th September 2025
Stage 3: Interview
At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:
* Behaviours – Delivering at Pace, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Managing a Quality Service
* Strengths
You will also be required to complete an Excel Test to assess the experience criteria - Microsoft Excel at an intermediate level. The ability to manipulate data (sorting, filtering and lookup functions, formulas), experience in data validation, conditional formatting and working with multiple sheets and linking data across them. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.
The interviews will take place week commencing 20th October 2025.
This interview will be conducted person at our Southampton Office. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.
You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site .
Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.
Further information on the selection process
Feedback on your application can only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.
AI Tools and Platforms
During the application process candidates are allowed to utilise AI (artificial intelligence) tools and platforms to support them in writing their Behaviours, CVs and Personal Statements. However, you must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application or used during interview is truthful and factually accurate. Applications may be rejected if plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or concepts generated by artificial intelligence, as your own. You can read more here.
Reasonable Adjustments
As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
Complete the "Assistance required" section in the "Additional requirements" page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you're deaf, a Language Service Professional.
If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Document Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email for assistance.
Further Information
For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.
Pre-employment Checking
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
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 (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
* UK nationals
* nationals of the Republic of Ireland
* nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
* nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
* nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
* individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
* Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements
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.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
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
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
* Name : Business Support Team
* Email :
Recruitment team
* Email :
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email:
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here