Senior Accountant in Portsmouth

We are looking to recruit 2 Senior Accountants to join our finance team in Children's, Families and Education to help shape financial strategy, drive improvement, and ensure resources deliver the best possible outcomes for children and young people.

Your new role:

• Senior Accountant - Schools Funding and Dedicated Schools Grant: Leading on the financial management of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and school funding across Portsmouth. In this key role, you will oversee the annual funding and budget-setting process for schools, colleges and early years providers, ensuring funding is allocated effectively and in line with national requirements. You'll provide expert financial analysis, monitor funding performance, identify risks and opportunities, support schools to achieve sustainable financial outcomes, and help deliver Department for Education funding reforms. Working closely with schools, senior leaders and external partners, you'll play a vital role in shaping education funding across the city.
• Senior Accountant - Education and Social Care Transformation: Join us at the forefront of Education and Social Care transformation. In this exciting role, you will provide financial expertise to support the delivery of major government reforms and service improvement programmes. Working closely with senior leaders and project teams, you will develop business cases, model financial options, evaluate investment proposals, and monitor programme performance to ensure value for money. This is a fantastic opportunity to influence strategic decision-making and help deliver meaningful change across services.

Who is the person summary: You will be a CCAB-qualified accountant with at least two years' post-qualification experience and a strong understanding of local government finance. You'll have excellent analytical skills, with the ability to interpret and present complex financial information clearly to a wide range of audiences, including senior leaders and non-financial stakeholders. You will be experienced in budget setting, financial monitoring, annual accounts, financial modelling and evaluating the financial implications of projects, programmes and service changes. Strong stakeholder management skills are essential, along with the ability to influence, challenge and build effective working relationships. You will be highly organised, proficient in Excel and financial systems, and able to manage competing priorities to meet deadlines. A positive, flexible approach, a commitment to continuous improvement and excellent customer focus are important. Knowledge of education finance and school funding arrangements is desirable, but an enthusiasm to learn is equally valued. Experience supporting transformation programmes, business cases and major projects would also be advantageous.

About Portsmouth City Council: Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act. We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR): As part of Local Government Reorganisation, current plans will see Portsmouth City Council combine with the district and borough councils of Fareham, Gosport and Havant and parts of East Hampshire and Winchester district councils to form a new, larger unitary authority for south east Hampshire. We are working towards an implementation date of 1st April 2028, known as vesting day, subject to Parliamentary approval. Until then, we remain focused on maintaining continuity, supporting our workforce, and continuing to deliver excellent services to our residents throughout the transition to the new unitary authority. This is an exciting time to join us, offering the opportunity to contribute to organisational transformation, develop your career, and help shape future services for our communities.

If you would like to discuss this role in more detail with the hiring manager, please contact Alison Egerton: alison.egerton@portsmouthcc.gov.uk. Please ensure that you read the job profile for full details on the post. We offer hybrid working with the expectation to attend the office minimum 2 days a week (pro rata for part time), this remains flexible, depending on the role and subject to business needs. We are not able to offer sponsorship for this position. Assessments and interviews will take place week commencing 7th September 2026.

Our recruitment process: Full information about our recruitment process can be found on our support for applicants' page. You must demonstrate why you are suitable against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person' points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work/personal experience, which clearly illustrates what you did and the effect it had. We are a disability confident employer and Armed Forces Covenant gold standard. More information can be found at Equality, diversity and inclusion - Careers portal. You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it. Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our career's portal homepage.