MI5

Financial Accountant Location: London or Cheltenham Salary: Cheltenham: £45,331 or £46,739 (dependent on experience) Flexible working: due to its sensitive nature this role is office-based and home-working will not be possible. We value a good work-life balance and offer part-time (minimum 4 days), compressed hours, and flexibility around start and finish times. Full time hours are up to 37 hours, depending on location. 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. 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. To apply, you must be part-qualified in ACCA, CIMA or equivalent, with demonstrable experience in a similar role in the public sector. Ideally, you ll also have some supervisory experience. 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. 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. If you re interested in joining MI5 but feel this position isn t for you, there are plenty of other finance opportunities throughout the year. You can sign up for job alerts to hear about upcoming opportunities on our website. 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