Head of Property Finance Change and Onboarding

The Government Property Agency is changing the way the Civil Service works and is at the forefront of Government's transformation agenda; reshaping the relationship civil servants have with their place of work. The Agency is central to the delivery of key Government policies including moving 22,000 Civil Service roles out of London by 2030 and tackling climate change by contributing to the Net Zero agenda. To do this we are delivering a major change programme across the UK and consolidating our portfolio in order to save £1.4 Bn over 10 years.

Beyond the bricks and mortar, the GPA is about providing great workplaces for our people. Through programmes like Hubs, Whitehall Campus and Smart Working you will be in the vanguard of creating model working environments and promoting flexible working practices. The postholder can be based at any of the GPA locations with Finance presence outside London with offices in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newport, Norwich, Nottingham and Swindon.

This is an ambitious and exciting task, for which we need innovative people, with strong commercial acumen, who are passionate about visualising and implementing customer needs. Launched as an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office in 2018, we’re a relatively new department and we are growing fast so we also need people who thrive in ambiguity, can adapt quickly to change and are comfortable stepping outside of their remit to drive outcomes.

This role will report into the Deputy Director of Finance – Property to ensure that changes within Property Finance are properly planned for, governed and delivered seamlessly.  Changes will include those driven by external factors such as the onboarding of GPA Clients or assets, development of systems and processes, adoption of changes in technical accounting requirements and changes to supplier/contractor arrangements. 

The role will provide financial support to the Deputy Director of Finance – Property and be a key member of the team across GPA responsible for onboarding.  The role-holder will ensure that all financial aspects of onboarding are properly governed and managed and that GPA Finance systems and processes operate effectively from the day of onboarding

The responsibilities of the Head of Property Finance Change & Onboarding will include:

• Developing a Project Management Office (PMO) approach to ensure that changes impacting Property Finance are properly planned, resourced, governed and delivered seamlessly.
• Supporting Property Finance in proactively identifying changes that may impact Property Finance and developing a process of continuous improvement to deliver efficiencies and best value for GPA and it’s Clients.
• Leading the financial management of the onboarding process, including:
  • Leading finance engagement with senior finance and property staff across Government to build trust and working relationships to influence Government departments to onboard their estate to GPA.
  • Managing financial due diligence to ensure that assets are transferred with minimal financial risk.
  • Co-ordinating the development of GPA financial processes to ensure that onboarded assets are properly governed, managed and reported from day 1 post transfer, including budgeting, forecasting, and billing.
  • Ensuring that newly onboarded Clients understand GPA processes and approaches and that their integration into ‘BAU process’ is seamless.
  • Attending Onboarding meetings as required to proactively manage onboarding processes and resolve issues.
  • Contributing to the overall development of Property Finance strategy to achieve team objectives and those of the wider GPA.

To be successful in the Head of Property Finance Change & Onboarding post, you will be:

• A qualified CCAB (or CIMA) accountant, or part qualified actively studying towards qualification (desirable)
• Experience of managing finance processes and systems
• Knowledge of managing property finance and change initiatives
• Knowledge of public sector accounting and accounting packages
• A commercially astute finance professional with a strategic mindset - able to envisage future possibilities
• Strong team player with excellent planning and organising skills
• Excellent communication, networking and negotiation skills

For more information or to apply please use the link or contact Michael Swinburn or Kerry Gashi at our retained search agent, Robertson Bell.