Strategic Finance Manager (Revenue & Grants) in Liverpool

About the Role

The Combined Authority (CA) is entering an exciting period of change and growth, and we are looking for an ambitious, highly committed Strategic Finance Manager with the skills and drive to deliver an exceptional, high-quality service that enables and informs organisational decision-making. The Strategic Finance Manager (Revenue and Grants) will have lead responsibility for providing a proactive and comprehensive business partnering service for the Place Directorate, which manages transport infrastructure (bus, rail, tunnels and ferries), customer services, clean energy and net zero activities.

You and your team will:

• ensure a financial view of the Directorate is maintained and regularly reported, including approved budgets and forecasts for the current and future years of the Medium‑Term Financial plan.
• ensure robust finance support and governance is provided in the development of any new Directorate activities.

The focus will be on business as usual (revenue) activities of the Directorate, but there will be a strong link to the Directorate's major programmes and capital finance team. In addition, the role will oversee the grants finance team, who manage the financial aspects of grants received and distributed.

You and your team will:

• ensure external grant streams have grant funding agreements in place, are monitored on a multi‑year basis, regularly forecast and reported internally and where required to the external grant providers.
• take the lead role in ensuring that the acceptance and management of grant income is compliant with financial regulations and any grant conditions.
• be the lead finance officer in providing strategic finance advice on multi‑disciplinary teams that are developing grant funding agreements.

This role is a key liaison between Finance and the wider organisation, and plays an instrumental part in developing how the Place Directorate develops finance reporting to meet the requirements of the new Integrated Settlement (IS), which will have a significant impact on how grant streams are managed and allocated for the CA.

About the Person

We are looking for a CCAB or CIMA fully qualified accountant with significant experience at a senior level in grant funding or finance business partnering within a complex organisation. You will be a strong leader, used to working across finance and non‑finance teams and able to lead on the production and analysis of insightful management information to support effective service delivery. You will have a strong understanding of the challenges of providing a successful and valued business partnering service, and be proactive in agile service delivery to ensure continuous improvement. The right candidate will be an existing or aspiring leader, who welcomes the opportunity to develop their team and enhance the finance service to support the CA as it adapts to the impact that the Integrated Settlement model will have on financial funding and management.

Key Essential Criteria

• A CCAB or CIMA fully qualified accountant with significant experience of strategic planning, budgeting and the provision of robust financial advice and guidance.
• A strong people leader with a track record of working at a senior level within a complex organisation, with a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities arising from supporting a publicly accountable organisation.
• A demonstrable track record of effective working with stakeholders and senior leaders within multi‑disciplinary teams through effective communication, influence and challenge.

Staff Benefits

• Local Government Pension Scheme contributions between 5.5% and 12.5%
• Generous holiday entitlement of 29 days rising to 34 days after 5 years service, as well as bank holidays and the option to buy 10 additional days
• Free travel around Liverpool City Region with an All‑Zone Metro card worth £1,450 per year plus All Zones Off Peak Trio ticket for your spouse or partner
• Flexible and hybrid working
• 24/7 access to Employee Assistance Programme for you and your family and Free counselling service
• Automatic enrolment to our Westfield Health Programme
• Corporate discounts at council‑owned gyms
• Bike to Work Scheme
• Coaching, mentoring, apprenticeships, and professional qualifications including paid membership fees and even a £1k interest free learning loan for any non‑job‑related learning

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates who have declared that they have a disability, are from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background, are a member of a reservist or have close family links to a member of the Armed Forces as we are under‑represented by people from these communities. To be considered under one of these schemes, you must indicate your eligibility in the relevant section of the application form. In addition, you must clearly demonstrate in your application how you meet the key essential criteria listed above.

Salary Range

£59,311 – £70,405 per year