We are supporting a London Borough Council with their recruitment of a Strategic Business Partner for Children and Young People to join its Finance function and lead a high-performing accountancy and financial planning team on a permanent basis.
This is an important leadership role, providing trusted financial advice and challenge to senior officers, elected Members and service leaders. You will play a key role in ensuring strong financial management, effective budgetary control and robust financial planning across the Council.
Job responsibilities:
- Leading the delivery of high-quality financial management and accountancy support
- Overseeing revenue and capital budget monitoring, challenging significant variances and supporting corrective action.
- Supporting the Council's medium-term financial and service planning, including the development and challenge of growth and savings proposals.
- Coordinating the production of annual revenue budgets and supporting the development of the capital budget in line with the Council's Capital Strategy.
- Providing clear financial analysis, advice and commentary for senior officers, elected Members and formal Council reports.
- Ensuring robust financial systems, controls and processes comply with legislation, professional standards, the Council's Constitution and relevant reporting requirements.
- Coordinating the closing of accounts process and ensuring statutory and professional deadlines are met.
- Maximising external funding opportunities and overseeing grant claims and returns.
- Supporting partnership working, including with health and other agencies, to facilitate the delivery of integrated services.
- Managing, developing and motivating finance professionals, creating a culture of continuous improvement and high performance.
- Deputising for the Head of Service Finance when required.
About you
We are looking for a CCAB qualified accountant (CIPFA, ACCA or similar) with substantial local government experience, who can combine strong technical expertise with excellent leadership and communication skills.
You will have a proven track record of:
- Children’s Services finance experience
- Good DSG / Schools finance knowledge
- Credibility working with Directors and senior stakeholders
- Experience of financial planning, savings and budget management
- Strong leadership and team management skills
You will be commercially aware, solutions-focused and confident enough to challenge constructively. Just as importantly, you'll be able to build strong relationships and communicate financial information in a way that enables non-finance colleagues to make informed decisions.
If you're an experienced local government finance professional looking for a role where your expertise can have a genuine strategic impact, we'd love to hear from you.
Apply now to find out more.
