Finance Officer job at Cheltenham Full Time

Specialist Pay may also be included for:

• Level 4 AAT qualification, or
• Part-qualified CCAB (e.g. CIMA Management Level, ACCA Applied Skills, ACA Professional Level, CIPFA Diploma)

Flexible working: due to the sensitive nature of the work, this role is entirely office-based. However, we know how important a healthy work-life balance is, which is why we offer part-time (minimum of four days), and compressed hours, with flexibility around start and finish times. Full time hours are up to 37 hours, depending on location.

About us

MI5 keeps the country safe from serious threats like terrorism and attempts by states to harm the UK, its people and way of life. We carry out investigations by obtaining, analysing and assessing intelligence, and then work with a range of partners, including MI6 and GCHQ to disrupt these threats. Through our protective security arm, we provide advice and guidance to government, businesses and other organisations about how to keep themselves safe. A role in MI5 means you’ll do unique and challenging work in a supportive and encouraging environment, making a real difference to UK national security.

The role

As one of our Finance Officers, you’ll play a key part in managing annual expenditure, with your work shaped by the team you join. In Financial Analysis, you’ll offer vital insights that help colleagues across the agencies make better decisions. In Financial Accounting and Reporting, you’ll summarise, analyse and detail financial transactions within the UK Intelligence Services. And in Financial Operations, you’ll help us respond and adapt to ever-evolving business needs.

Whichever team you’re part of, you’ll be supporting the wider finance function – overseeing budgets, reviewing spend, and bringing careful judgment to forecast assumptions, challenging and support them where needed. You’ll also carry out the accounting adjustments that keep everything accurate from accruals and prepayments, ensuring the accounts always reflect the true position.

But numbers only tell part of the story. Working closely with colleagues, stakeholders and business partners, you’ll help others understand how to produce forecasts, interpret financial information, and manage their budgets with confidence. Translating finance for people who didn’t study it is a genuine skill, and it’s one you’ll have plenty of opportunity to develop and put to good use with us.

In this role, there may be opportunities to take on line management responsibilities. If you join us, you’ll be expected to stay within the Finance Capability for a minimum of five years – long enough to really grow into the work and make it your own.

About you

You’ll have either demonstrable experience in a similar role and be actively working towards a Level 4 AAT qualification; or you could hold or be predicted a 2:1 degree (or above) in Finance, Accounting, Business or Economics.

You’re someone who enjoys solving problems and working with others to find solutions. Your collaborative skills will also be key in how you build strong relationships and negotiate with key stakeholders. Inclusivity and teamwork are important to you, as is learning new things to develop your skills. You’ll have a passion for what you do, an interest in a career in finance, an eye for detail and the drive to contribute to a mission that keeps the UK safe.

Training and development

We want you to keep growing, and we’ll put real support behind that. If you’re working towards recognised financial qualifications such as AAT, ACCA, or CIMA, we’ll fund your studies. Once qualified, we’ll cover your professional membership fees and make sure you stay sharp with ongoing technical development.

To help you manage your studies alongside your work, you’ll receive a generous paid study leave package tailored to your qualification. You’ll also have a dedicated study buddy, regular support from your line manager, and access to a wide range of internal communities, mentoring programmes and peer networks. To explore the kinds of roles and pathways you could grow into, visit our finance careers page.

Rewards and benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £40,428 (for London) or £37,723 (for Cheltenham/ Manchester), plus other benefits including:

• 25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years’ service, and an additional 10.5 days public and privilege holidays
• opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• dedicated Development Budget
• interest-free season ticket loan
• excellent pension scheme
• cycle to work scheme
• facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
• paid parental and adoption leave

Equal opportunities

At MI5 diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website.

We’re Disability Confident

MI5 is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident Leader, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, will be offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. (This is known as the Offer of an Interview.) To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of the application process) are:

• application form – you will be asked a series of questions relating to this vacancy and are required to meet the minimum pass mark set
• you’ll be required to reach the minimum pass mark for the Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT), which assesses your ability to problem-solve
• you must be able to demonstrate either experience in a similar role and evidence you are actively working towards Level 4 AAT, or hold or be predicted a 2:1 degree (or above) in Finance, Accounting, Business or Economics
• on successful completion of these stages, you will be invited to attend a telephone interview

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best, see our website for information on reasonable adjustments we can offer.

What to expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

• An initial online application form including pre-screening questions to ensure you meet our eligibility criteria.
• Completion of online registration and application forms.
• Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) rating the appropriateness of your response to a series of short scenarios. The SJT tests criteria important for all roles in our organisation.
• If successful, you may be invited to an interview, which will include competency questions and further exploration of your motivation to work for the intelligence services.

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before you apply

To work at MI5, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality.

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes.

Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.

Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application with us more discretely.

The role is based in Central London, Cheltenham or Central Manchester, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. A loan is available to support people relocating to London.

We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in-person appointments during the recruitment and vetting process. Full details will be provided with your interview or assessment invitation.

Reimbursement is discretionary and will only be made in line with the Candidate Expenses Policy, as amended from time to time. Candidates must book their own travel, using the most economical option, and provide original hardcopy receipts for reimbursement.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

Right to withdraw statement:

Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.