Head of Finance

Posting date:	23 February 2026
Salary:	£69,822 to £76,974 per year
Additional salary information:	This role offers a pensionable allowance of £4,000 for fully qualified accountants There is an opportunity to progress through capability based pay Level 1- £69822, Level 3- £76974
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	23 March 2026
Location:	RG1 1AF
Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	450266/1

Summary

We’re a public body of around 200 people, with our headquarters in central Reading. The TRA carries out investigations into unfair trading practices and recommends measures to the Secretary of State. We are looking for a highly motivated and experienced individual to lead the TRA’s Finance function, which is integral to support the organisation to deliver its Strategic Objectives, acting as an influential leader to both the TRA’s corporate function and across the wider organisation.

The Head of Finance:

• Safeguards public money by driving strong stewardship, governance, assurance and internal controls across the TRA — ensuring propriety, regularity, value for money, transparency, effective audit support, and full accountability to the Department for Business & Trade (DBT) and Parliament, including delivery of the annual accounts.
• Leads the TRA’s financial strategy and provides specialist advice, overseeing strategic financial planning, spending review inputs, budgeting, reporting and financial risk management. Provides clear, timely insight on cost drivers, trends and risks to support sound decisions and long‑term sustainability.
• Manages and develops a high‑performing Finance Team, ensuring excellent financial operations — accurate accounting, budgeting, forecasting, cash management and robust controls — aligned to Government Functional Standards, Treasury guidance and Cabinet Office controls.
• Acts as a senior leader across the TRA, shaping culture, influencing organisation‑wide decisions and role‑modelling TRA values to create an inclusive, supportive and empowering workplace.

Key Accountabilities

The post-holder will:

Lead the Organisation’s Financial Planning & Reporting

• Lead financial strategy and planning — develop and deliver TRA’s financial strategy, Spending Review inputs, annual budgets and in‑year management to ensure strong financial performance against allocated budgets.

Support Decision Making through Insightful Advice

• Provide clear, strategic financial advice to Executive Committee and budget holders— translate complex and evolving financial data, trends and risks into simple, actionable insight for informed decision‑making and effective resource allocation.
• Deliver robust financial analysis — produce high‑quality modelling and finance cases that support investment decisions, business cases and long‑term sustainability.

Safeguard Public Funds and Parliamentary Accountability

• Embed strong compliance and governance — promote adherence to financial regulations, Managing Public Money, Government Functional Standards and other public‑sector requirements, supporting budget holders to understand and uphold them.
• Strengthen internal controls and manage risk — maintain effective financial controls and proactively manage finance, accounting and fraud risks.
• Ensure high‑quality financial reporting — lead production of the annual accounts and secure an unqualified NAO audit opinion, working closely with colleagues on the Annual Report and Accounts.

Build & Maintain Relationships for Successful Delivery

• Collaborate across the TRA and with external partners, supporting and upskilling colleagues, listening to feedback and continuously improving financial processes and decision‑making capability. Build strong stakeholder relationships with senior leaders, ARAC, the Board, GIAA, NAO, DBT, shared services and the wider government finance community.

Manage and lead the Finance Team

• Lead and develop the Finance Team — support, manage and grow a team of five, ensuring delivery of high‑quality, trusted financial services.
• Set direction and enable improvement — provide clarity of purpose, manage delivery risks, ensure good segregation of duties and encourage innovation and continuous improvement.
• Build capability — develop the skills and capacity needed to run an effective finance function within the required compliance and control framework.
• Oversee shared services and partnerships — jointly manage UKSBS service delivery with the Head of People and maintain the operational relationship with DBT Finance.

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About Disability Confident

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