Grade 7's in Strategic Finance provide leadership within the team, often managing senior executive officer (SEO) staff. They oversee multiple strands of work that contribute to fiscal events and departmental financial strategy, including managing financial processes. They?are expected to work at pace, balancing short- and long-term priorities, and ensuring high-quality outputs across their areas of responsibility.
You play a critical role in securing funding and improving the department?s financial position by delivering strategic advice and analysis on financial impact, performance, and risk. Their?insight supports the development and delivery of financial plans and enables senior stakeholders to make informed decisions that align with departmental and His Majesty's Government (HMG) objectives and fiscal constraints.
You build strong relationships across the department and HMG, ensuring coordination, coherence, and the most effective use of public funds. Their collaborative approach and ability to influence across functions make them key contributors to the success of fiscal events, strategic projects, and integrated financial planning.
G7s are expected to:
Lead and manage a team or cross-functional workstream, providing direction, coaching, and oversight to ensure high-quality financial advice and delivery, while driving efficiency in processes and outcomes.
Foster a collaborative and inclusive working environment, encouraging knowledge sharing, innovation and continuous development across finance and policy teams.
Provide strategic advice and analysis on financial impact, performance, and risk of decisions to senior stakeholders, contributing to the strategic direction of the department.
Lead and contribute to accurate current and multi-year financial forecasts and plans, ensuring alignment with departmental priorities and fiscal rules.
Lead specific strategic finance projects, making use of available data and analytics tools to support recommendations that drive efficiency, effectiveness and value for money.
Build strong relationships with functional stakeholders across the department and wider government to encourage alignment and cooperation.
Work closely with Management Reporting, Finance Business Partnering, and Analysis teams to ensure joined-up financial insight and planning.
Foster a culture of collaboration between policy, programmes, finance, and corporate services to support integrated decision-making.
Lead on fiscal events including Spending Reviews, Supplementary Estimates and other negotiations with HM Treasury, coordinating information across the department.
Maintain effective relationships with HM Treasury (HMT) spending team and provide high-quality oral and written briefings to senior stakeholders.
May be suitable for candidates with the required skills and/or experience from within finance, policy or private office/strategic roles.
Recommended:
or?
?
It is recommended there is a balance of qualified staff combined with experience in relevant finance/strategic/policy roles with clear evidence of strong numeric ability across strategic finance teams.
Deliver timely, accurate, and clearly communicated financial management information and analysis from across the organisation to make evidence-based recommendations to senior leaders. Utilise large and complex data sets, analytics tools, and emerging technologies, including AI, to generate insight and drive efficiency and effectiveness.
Build strong relationships with stakeholders across the department and wider government to ensure coordination, coherence, and the most effective use of public funds.
Lead on fiscal events and negotiations with HM Treasury, coordinating bid development and financial submissions across the department and possibly wider government. Maintain effective relationships with the HM Treasury spending team throughout the year to support strategic engagement and financial planning.
Provide high-quality oral and written briefings to senior finance officials, Ministers, and governance boards, and engage confidently with cross-government stakeholders. Manage and support team members, providing direction and oversight to ensure delivery of high-quality outputs across multiple work strands.
For details of Behaviours, please visit Behaviours | Civil Service Careers and Success Profiles guidance on GOV.UK.
Delivering at Pace
Communicating and Influencing
Seeing the Big Picture
Making Effective Decisions
Working Together
Developing Self and Others
Leadership
Demonstrates confident, proactive leadership on high-profile areas, working independently and guiding others to deliver high-quality outputs on time.
Comfortable working at pace, managing a full and varied workload with competing short and long-term priorities.
Builds strong, positive relationships across teams, functions and departments, using excellent interpersonal and communication skills tailored to different audiences. Influences and challenges stakeholders constructively, translating across functions to ensure a joined-up approach to delivery and decision-making.
Strategic oversight in policy development (including affordability and risk) providing Ministers or senior officials with high-quality advice.
Communicates effectively through clear, concise written and oral briefings, tailored to senior audiences including Ministers and governance boards.
Leads collaboratively with structure, setting clear timelines, interdependencies, and outcomes to ensure successful delivery.
Fosters a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration across policy, programmes, finance, and corporate services, encouraging innovation and continuous improvement. Finds innovative ways to tackle the challenges faced by the department in collaboration with other finance teams, functions and the Treasury.
Embraces new technologies, including AI enabled tools, to enhance communication, collaboration, and insight generation across teams.
Key for Levels of Professional Skills
A = Awareness
W = Working
P = Practitioner
E = Expert
| Subheadings | Professional Skills | Level | Learning Resources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | Strategic Analysis and Insight | W | |
| Oral and Written presentation skills | E | ||
| Data and analytics - interpretation and visualisation | W | ||
| Influencing Senior Leaders and Ministers (including drafting skills) | E | ||
| The Budgeting Framework | W | ||
| Proactive problem resolution | W | ||
| Understanding the role of NAO | A | ||
| Negotiating with Pragmatism | W | ||
| Supporting the PAC Agenda | W | ||
| Government Financial reporting and governance requirements | W | ||
| Useful | Budgeting, Forecasting and Costing | W | |
| Risk management and fraud | A | ||
| Taxation | A | ||
| Performance and risk management | W | ||
| Commercial acumen | W | ||
| Investment appraisal and evaluation | W | ||
| One Big Thing - Artificial Intelligence | W | ||
| Artificial Intelligence: Fundamentals | P | ||
| Links to learning platforms | GFF Government Finance Academy | Variety of learning available | |
| Civil Service Learning | Variety of learning available | ||
| Government Skills Campus | Variety of learning available |
Recommended:
or?
?
It is recommended there is a balance of qualified staff combined with experience in relevant finance/strategic/policy roles with clear evidence of strong numeric ability across strategic finance teams.
?
May be suitable for staff with the required skills and/or experience from within or outside finance.
May be suitable for staff with the required skills and/or experience from within or outside finance. Policy and delivery backgrounds may be relevant.
Staff in this role typically move into other G7 roles or often on promotion to G6 within Finance, Policy or Private office. Posts include opportunities in Other Government Departments, including HM Treasury. If they are qualified they may move to other finance functional roles.