Tom Wipperman
Biography
Tom is Director Strategic Finance and Investment Approvals at the Ministry of Defence and currently on promotion to Director General Finance for an interim period.
He has spent most of his civil service career between HM Treasury and the Ministry of Defence, predominantly in policy and public spending roles.
Tom previously held the role of Deputy Director for Local Government and Public Service Reform in HMT, and prior to that spent four years at the MOD, first leading Nuclear Strategy and Performance and then Defence Resources, including through the Sending Review 2019. He had a number of earlier policy roles in HMT in Defence, Diplomacy and Intelligence and in Financial Service. He is CIMA-qualified.
Director General Finance
The Director General Finance is the principal financial advisor for defence and is responsible for all aspects of financial management and control, including the overall defence budget and forecasting within the MOD. They are a member of the Defence Council and the Defence Board, and chair the Defence Board sub-committees for Finance and Investment Approvals. They report directly to the Permanent Secretary.
Responsibilities
- acting as the Department’s Principal Finance Officer and Defence Authority for Financial Management, to provide advice and support to the Permanent Secretary as the Accounting Officer; including on regularity and propriety issues
- negotiating and managing the Defence budget
- managing the Department’s in-year performance against targets and budgets
- working closely with the Chief Operating Officer to assure the efficient operation of defence
- setting the framework of and targets for efficiency and value for money work across defence
- as Defence Authority, overseeing the Investment, Approval and Scrutiny processes and chairing the Investment Approvals Committee
- production of the annual report and accounts
- advising on internal audit, fraud and assurance functions
- setting the strategic direction of the Department’s Commercial function
- leading the Department’s functions for Finance, Analysis and Assurance.