Assistant Finance Manager — Public Sector Finance, Flexible Hours in Sheffield

The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.

Assistant Finance Manager Opportunities:

• Service Accounting and Financial Accounting

Help shape the future of finance in Sheffield. Sheffield City Council's Finance function is undergoing significant transformation. As we modernise our systems, simplify our processes and embrace new ways of working, we are looking for talented finance professionals who want to make a real difference to both the organisation and the city we serve.

These Assistant Finance Manager opportunities sit within our Accounting Team and offer the chance to play a key role in delivering high-quality financial services, supporting compliance with statutory requirements, driving continuous improvement and helping shape the future of finance at Sheffield City Council. Reporting to a Finance Manager and managing junior finance staff, these are ideal roles for ambitious professionals who combine technical expertise with a passion for improvement, collaboration and public service.

The successful candidates will contribute to a finance function that is central to delivering the Council's priorities, enabling sound decision-making and ensuring the effective stewardship of public funds.

Assistant Finance Manager – Financial Accounting

This is an exciting opportunity to join the team responsible for some of the Council's most important statutory accounting responsibilities. You will play a central role in the preparation and coordination of the Council's annual Statement of Accounts, supporting the delivery of high-quality financial reporting and ensuring compliance with accounting standards and regulatory requirements. You will also help manage the external audit process, coordinating responses across the organisation, maintaining strong working relationships with auditors and helping to ensure the timely resolution of audit queries and recommendations.

The role offers exposure to complex technical accounting issues and provides the opportunity to influence how financial accounting is delivered across the organisation. Working alongside experienced colleagues, you will help strengthen financial controls, improve processes and contribute to the continuous development of the Council's financial governance arrangements. For finance professionals who enjoy technical accounting, problem-solving and delivering work that underpins organisational credibility and financial resilience, this role offers a unique opportunity to make a significant impact.

Assistant Finance Manager – Service Accounting

This role offers the opportunity to help shape how service accounting is delivered across a large and complex local authority during a period of significant change. Working at the heart of the Accounting Team, you will coordinate and oversee a range of service accounting activities, with a particular focus on statutory and technical returns, process improvement and operational delivery. The role will play a key part in ensuring work is delivered consistently, efficiently and to a high standard across a varied portfolio of accounting responsibilities.

A major focus of the role will be supporting the implementation of the Council's new Financial Planning and Analysis system and helping embed new ways of working across the team. This includes redesigning and systemising processes, improving workflows, increasing standardisation and helping colleagues take advantage of new technology and automation opportunities. You will work across the finance function to remove duplication, improve visibility of work, strengthen controls and create sustainable processes that support long‑term service improvement.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys bringing structure to complex activities, leading change, improving performance and helping teams work smarter. Both roles provide the opportunity to develop your career within one of the largest and most diverse finance functions in local government. You will work alongside experienced finance professionals, contribute to high‑profile corporate priorities and play an important role in ensuring that public money is managed effectively and transparently for the benefit of Sheffield's residents.

In return, we offer the opportunity to work on meaningful and challenging issues, gain exposure to complex financial and strategic matters, develop your professional skills and be part of a finance function committed to innovation, collaboration and continuous improvement. Whether your passion lies in technical financial accounting or driving improved processes and service delivery, these roles offer the chance to make a lasting contribution to both the Council and the city we serve.

What you will get from the role:

• Build your technical accounting and financial management expertise.
• Work in a large, complex and high‑profile finance environment.
• Contribute to important statutory, governance and service delivery responsibilities.
• Support new systems, better processes and improved ways of working.
• Develop your leadership and supervisory skills.
• Make a visible contribution to public value and the effective use of Council resources.

Our values:

We are looking for people who reflect the Council’s values: putting people at the heart of what we do, working with openness and honesty, and getting things done together. We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under‑represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly. It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.

Under the Guaranteed Interview scheme, applicants who are disabled, care leavers, or armed forces veterans will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the essential criteria and indicate their eligibility on the application form. Sometimes, if lots of people apply, we might not be able to interview everyone who qualifies for the Guarantee. In these cases, we’ll interview the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.

Full‑time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share. If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade. Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all individuals, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for everyone and where appropriate to the role the successful applicant will be required to undertake relevant safeguarding checks.