Senior Functional Specialist

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Functional Specialist at NPL. This role sits within the Enterprise Systems team in the CIO function and is pivotal in ensuring the smooth operation of finance and procurement processes within D365 Finance & Operations.

You will be the primary point of contact for functional support, incident resolution, and continuous service improvement. Working closely with finance, procurement, and project teams, you’ll help drive operational efficiency, maintain compliance, and support system enhancements. The role also involves collaboration with technical teams to manage escalations and ensure robust documentation and governance practices.

Responsibilities: 

Support & Incident Management

• Serve as the primary point of contact for finance- and procurement-related issues in D365 F&O.
• Provide day-to-day assistance to finance, procurement, and project teams in using D365 effectively.
• Investigate, diagnose, and resolve functional incidents and service requests within agreed SLAs.
• Work with technical, development, and infrastructure teams to manage escalations and deliver permanent fixes.
• Log, document, and track issues through Azure DevOps and Freshservice
• Maintain functional knowledge base and support documentation.
• Maintain accurate configuration and business process documentation.
• Participate in post-incident reviews and continuous service improvement initiatives.

This is a great opportunity for someone with the right skills and passion to join the Enterprise Systems team within CIO. It is a 12-month fixed term contract.

We’re looking for a proactive and detail-oriented D365 Finance & Operations Functional Consultant with a passion for support and service excellence. You’ll bring strong functional expertise across core finance and procurement modules, along with experience in incident management and system testing. Your ability to bridge the gap between business and IT teams will be key to your success. If you thrive in a collaborative environment and are committed to continuous improvement, this is a great opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

Essential Skills Required: 

Functional Expertise

• Proven experience as a D365 Finance & Operations Functional Consultant, preferably in a support or managed service capacity.
• Experience providing post–go-live support in D365 environment.
• Strong functional knowledge across:

• General Ledger (GL): journal management, allocations, financial dimensions, posting profiles
• Accounts Payable (AP): vendor invoices, payments, settlements, workflows
• Accounts Receivable (AR): customer invoicing, cash receipts, collections
• Credit & Collections: collection letters, aging, interest notes, customer credit management
• Fixed Assets (FA): capitalization, depreciation, impairment, disposals
• Procurement & Sourcing: purchase requisitions, purchase orders, approvals, vendor collaboration
• Project Management & Accounting (PMA): project setup, WBS, funding, cost control, revenue recognition, and research grant tracking

• Experience supporting month-end / year-end processes, budgeting, and reporting.
• Support design and testing of small enhancements, workflows, and configuration changes.
• Participate in Microsoft update testing (monthly service updates / regression testing).

Support Experience

• Working knowledge of ITIL processes (incident, problem, and change management).
• Use of LCS and Azure DevOps and Fresh service for ticket management, testing, and deployment tracking.
• Experience managing functional testing cycles for system updates and hotfixes.
• Familiarity with compliance and reporting obligations tied to funded research projects.
• Ability to bridge the gap between finance teams, research operations, and IT.

Desirable Skills & Experience:

• Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Finance Functional Consultant Associate (MB-310).
• Familiarity with Power BI, Power Platform, and Excel add-ins for reporting.
• Experience with  multi-currency configurations.
• Knowledge of security roles, segregation of duties, and workflow approval hierarchies.
• Exposure to D365 Supply Chain Management (SCM) integration points.
• Understanding of data management framework 
• Prior experience supporting finance systems within public sector, higher education, or research institutions.

Please note:  Applications will be reviewed, and interviews conducted throughout the duration of this advert therefore we may at any time bring the closing date forward.  We encourage all interested applicants to apply as soon as practical.

We actively recruit citizens of all backgrounds, but the nature of our work in specific departments means that nationality, residency and security requirements can be more tightly defined than others. You will be asked about this throughout the recruitment process. To work at NPL, you will need to obtain BPSS security clearance.

• The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a world-leading centre of excellence that provides cutting-edge measurement science, engineering and technology to underpin prosperity and quality of life in the UK. 

  NPL and DSIT have strong commitments to diversity and equality of opportunity, and welcome applications from candidates irrespective of their background, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or age, providing they meet the required criteria. Applications from women, disabled, black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates in particular are encouraged. All disabled candidates (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) who satisfy the minimum criteria for the role will be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme. 

  At NPL, we believe our success is a result of the diversity and talent of our people. We strive to nurture and respect individuals to ensure everyone feels valued by treating everyone on the basis of their own individual merits and abilities regardless of their own or perceived identity, as part of our commitment to diversity & inclusion, we hold memberships and accreditation to ensure we’re creating an environment where all our colleagues feel supported and welcome, please see our Diversity & Inclusion page.

  We are committed to the health and well-being of our employees. Flexible working and social activities are embedded in our culture to create a positive work-life balance, along with a broad range of benefits. Our values are at the heart of what we do, and they shape the way we interact, develop our people and celebrate success. 

  To ensure everyone has an equal chance, we’re always willing to make reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process. If you would like to discuss, please contact us.