Senior Financial Accountant at Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in Bristol, Nottingham, Swansea

Job summary

Can you provide expert financial advice and ensure compliance with accounting standards and regulations?

Have you delivered accurate financial reporting, strong controls and robust governance?

Are you confident leading on complex financial accounting, audit, fees, assets or business change activities?

If so, we'd love to hear from you!

This is an excellent opportunity to join a high-performing finance team at the heart of DVSA, playing a key role in delivering financial expertise, supporting strategic priorities and driving continuous improvement. Working closely with a wide range of stakeholders, you will help ensure sound financial decision-making while contributing to the development of both people and processes across the organisation.

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: Working for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency , Civil Service Careers

Job description

As a senior member of the Financial Accounting team the job holder is expected to participate across the full breadth of the team’s remit whilst specialising in one of the areas. The area of specialisation will be rotated through the team to encourage staff development.

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

• Ensure the timely completion of the DVSA Annual Report and Accounts. This includes planning, coordinating and liaising with key stakeholders including contributors from across the Agency and NAO/Auditors.
• Lead the timely and accurate preparation and submission of financial reporting returns and supporting information for consolidation into Department for Transport (DfT) accounts at both interim and year-end reporting periods.
• Regular maintenance of ledger controls and balance sheet accounts.
• Participation in the monthly reporting cycle ensuring actual expenditure is properly controlled, and forecasts are accurate and soundly based with audit trail.
• Provide lead authority on IFRS/ FReM. Ensure compliance with standards as well as assess the impact of changes to IFRS/ FReM on the accounts.
• Manage and maintain the fixed asset records of the organisation. Specifically ensuring the fixed asset registers are up-to-date, accurate and fully understood.

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

• Experience in applying IFRS, FReM, or other statutory reporting frameworks as a qualified accountant.
• Experience in using SAP (or a similar financial system) and working within a finance function in a large, complex organisation.
• Experience in analysing financial information, managing competing priorities, and delivering high-quality outcomes in an organised and effective manner.
• Experience in building positive working relationships and collaborating effectively as part of a team.
• Experience in driving improvements and making a positive difference through a proactive and results-focused approach.

Additional Information

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 may 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

You will be a fully qualified CCAB or equivalent Accountant.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

• Technical – Finance Competence Framework - Reporting & Control - Financial control and operations, Technical Accounting (Page 8) - Practitioner

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £48,241, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency contributes

£13,975 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, Experience and Technical skills.

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:

Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) which must include your employment history, relevant experience to date, and professional qualifications and memberships as well as a personal statement (500-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:

• Experience of working with IFRS, FReM or other statutory reporting frameworks.
• Experience of working in Finance in a large, complex organisation, including for example working in accountancy practice with larger complex clients.

The sift will take place week commencing Monday 26th October 2026.

Stage 2: Interview

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

• Behaviours - Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace and Communicating and Influencing
• Technical – Finance Competence Framework - Reporting & Control - Financial control and operations, Technical Accounting (Page 8) - Practitioner
• Experience

You will also be required to create and deliver a presentation to assess the Behaviour Communicating & Influencing and the Technical element Reporting & Control - Financial control and operations, Technical Accounting. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.

The interviews will take place week commencing Monday 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 role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for.

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 dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

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 are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert or the information on our website, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.

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 w