Finance Officer

Job summary

Can you demonstrate your experience of working within Accounts Payable processes and procedures in a medium or large organisation?

Have you used Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel, to support business activities and reporting?

Are you organised, resilient and motivated by meeting targets in a busy operational environment?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) helps keep Britain moving, safely sustainably. We do this by helping people through a lifetime of safe and sustainable journeys, helping them keep their vehicles safe to drive, and protecting them from unsafe drivers and vehicles.

We’re working hard to:

• make roads safer
• improve services for our customers
• make road transport greener and healthier
• harness the potential of technology and data
• grow and level up the economy

Join a team that plays a vital role in delivering efficient and effective corporate services across the organisation. Working within a collaborative and supportive environment, you'll help ensure key business operations run smoothly while contributing to continuous improvement and excellent service delivery. This is a great opportunity to develop your skills, work with a diverse range of colleagues and stakeholders, and make a meaningful impact within a professional finance and business support function.

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 DVSA .

Job description

Join DVSA as a Financial Control Officer and build a rewarding career in finance while contributing to the delivery of essential financial services. This varied role offers hands-on experience across banking, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll and VAT, providing a strong foundation in financial management. With a comprehensive training package, including funded professional qualifications and study leave, you'll have the opportunity to develop your expertise, gain valuable experience and progress into a range of future finance career opportunities within DVSA

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Address queries from customers or managers and respond within the agreed timescales and provide guidance, advice and support in system transactions.
• Ensure the correct or most appropriate process is utilised for maintaining and controlling financial transactions, and are aligned with the processes of the Shared Services provider.
• Act as first point of contact for queries regarding shared services, providing support; investigating, analysing and resolving disputes, and escalating issues to the Financial Control Manager where necessary.
• Liaise with external stakeholders (such as Shared Services, banks/suppliers/auditors & other DVSA functions) in order to ensure issues are dealt with and agency transactions are accurate and timely.
• Produce and analyse monthly reports and/or quarterly returns on payments, income, returns, refunds, request claims and payroll data as required in line with agency policy, and communicate them to appropriate internal or external audiences.
• Use Excel skills to accurately reconcile and present spreadsheets confirming the balancing of allocated general ledger accounts
• Provide advice and guidance for staff and deal with queries in the appropriate application of financial processes and promote the continual improvement of services.
• Build and maintain excellent working relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, including the shared services provider as well as internal and external auditors

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

You will be required to provide evidence that you hold any essential qualifications/licenses at some point during the recruitment process. If you cannot provide evidence, your application will be withdrawn.

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• Accounts Payable expertise, including process knowledge and experience working within a medium or large organisation.
• Strong technical skills, with intermediate Excel proficiency and experience using Microsoft Office applications and ERP systems such as SAP or Oracle.
• Excellent stakeholder and organisational skills, with experience managing communications across multiple channels and delivering results to tight deadlines.

Additional Information

Candidates must have a willingness to work towards formal Accountancy qualification e.g. AAT / ACCA whilst in post if not already held.

Allowances:

Level 1 - £1,500 - Full AAT qualification or ACCA Papers F1- F5 Complete/ CIMA Operational Level Complete/ CIPFA Strategic Stage Complete/ ICAEW Certificate Complete

Level 2 - £2,000 - ACCA Papers F7 - F9 Complete/ CIMA - Managerial Level Complete/ CIPFA - Professional Diploma Complete/ ICAEW - Professional Level Complete

Level 3 - £4,000 - All papers completed - ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, ICAEW.

Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 35 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 designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location/visiting stakeholders. Your designated workplace will be your contractual place of work. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

Occasional travel to other offices will be required, which may involve overnight stays.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Licence sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Candidates must ensure they have the appropriate rights to work in the UK before application.

Qualifications

A minimum of Level 3 AAT is required for this role

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,485, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency contributes

£8,831 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

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 (opens in a new window).

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths 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: Sift of CV and personal statement

Stage 2: Interview

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Behaviours – you will be asked to provide a 250-word statement on the following Behaviours: Working Together
• Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (750-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following: • Experience of Accounts Payable processes, procedures ideally from working as part of a Accounts Payable team for a medium / large organisation.
• Intermediate Excel skills and knowledge and experience in the use of MS Word, MS Outlook and MS Powerpoint.
• Experience of ERP Systems (e.g. SAP, Oracle)

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead Success Profile element, Working Together. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

The sift will take place week commencing 12th October 2026.

Stage 2: Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Behaviours – Delivering at Pace and Communicating and Influencing
• Experience
• Strengths

You will also be required to complete an excel based assessment at interview. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.

The interviews will take place week commencing 9th November 2026.

This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. 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 (opens in a new window).

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

We will also hold a 12 -month reserve list for this