£41,511 - £48,710 (pro rata)
Full time, Part time or Term-time only will be considered
We are currently recruiting for a range of roles in the Divisional Financial Management teams.
Two roles in Children and Education
In Education support you will be involved with all areas of the directorate, particularly supporting with schools, with grant funded area, traded services, and capital/PFI. In Childrens Social Care you will be involved in high demand/high need services including Placements, Asylum team, Transport.
In both areas you will be carrying out analysis of costs, cost drivers and supporting the accounting function, with the possibility of deputising for the Finance Manager carrying out supervisory responsibilities too.
One role in Adult and Communities
We currently have a vacancy for a Group Accountant, to join our Adult Social Care Finance Team.
You will help support Adult Social Care on its transformation journey and will support the service as it strives for financial sustainability.
Day to day we have a revenue budget of c. £190 million across a diverse range of operational areas including social work team, in house services and commissioned services.
About the roles
You will be the trusted advisor to senior members of the Council on financial matters. That includes setting annual budgets and ensuring short, medium, and long-term forecasts are robust. You will identify, analyse and report on the financial implications of new initiatives in your area of responsibility. At year end you will support the preparation of annual statements.
To be successful in these roles you will need to build strong relationships with key stakeholders in your area and across the council.
That will allow you to challenge and advise. A commitment to continual improvement is key and you will need to consistently offer ideas to improve current practice and find efficiencies. There will be opportunities to work on cross-cutting projects that address issues across the council.
Finally, you will need to manage and motivate your team to deliver.
Objectives
- Be personally responsible for taking all necessary steps to fully understand the business needs of the client service areas allocated to you and a general awareness for the whole Directorate, such that you can provide expert assistance to management in achieving value for money and service improvement.
- Provision of monthly reporting, analysis & insight on the performance of each budget. Reporting to include insight on what is driving performance, what actions can be taken to remediate any performance gaps and what actions can be taken to improve performance.
- Research and maintain awareness of alternative models of service delivery and, in conjunction with budget managers, consider how innovative solutions to service delivery can be implemented within the council and/or with partners.
- Identify and participate in improvement and efficiency projects. To facilitate the preparation and delivery of efficiency and savings plans for clients which support corporate long term financial planning including the modelling of costs for various options.
- Support the ring-fenced accounts as required for your remit, including annual update of the 30-year HRA Business Plan and associated model and involvement and update of the financial information for the DSG.
For the upper limit of the salary range you will need to have a CCAB qualification and demonstrate that you can:
- Build excellent professional relationships with key senior stakeholders across the council, external partners & government departments as appropriate. Representing the council at appropriate external forums and maintain relationships to ensure that proposed initiatives are financially viable and delivered as effectively as possible.
- Interpret of financial performance for council wide services or activities & provide options to managers to assist them achieve required efficiencies & spend to budget position on an on-going basis.
- Provide independent analysis & interpretation of complex & technical financial data, to facilitate support & challenge to both internal & external stakeholders and allow decisions to be made following consideration of financial resource and risks implications.
- Draft and presenting reports on the analysis & interpretation of financial performance & actual or implied changes to legislation for budget holders & senior officers and the public in relation to financial issues and collaborate with external partners & agencies as required.
- Undertake appropriate development work as required in response to changing financial regimes, new government legislation and initiatives.
- Lead on financial support to projects related to the respective area of the directorate, develop business cases & options appraisals in support of business objectives, investigate & support mechanisms for greater efficiencies or additional income generation & invest to save.
- Acquire and maintaining comprehensive service specific knowledge to support policy development as appropriate, working with service leads reinforcing the need for corporate governance and financial management best practice.
- In accordance with council procedures and delegated level of financial authority, support the development and timely preparation of the key internal and external financial documents for your respective area of the portfolio; quantifying associated costs, benefits, risks and funding solutions and associated sensitivities.
How to apply
To apply, send us your:
- CV, no more than two sides
- a supporting statement, with a maximum of 1,000 words, which demonstrates by practical example how you meet the following:
- Part or full CCAB (or equivalent qualification). If part qualified you'll need to commit to completing the qualification in the role
- Experience of analysing, interpreting and presenting financial management to people who manage budgets
- Ability to establish excellent working relationships with colleagues and customers
Please indicate if you wish to be considered for any of the Group Accountant roles in particular. Experience of Housing Revenue Accounting, Dedicated Schools Grant or adult social care would be a particular advantage for those roles.
Email your CV and supporting statement to finance_recruitment@bristol.gov.uk
This roles will be considered on a full time, part time or term time only basis. Please include your preference in the application.
No agencies please.
Application date
There is no specific end date, we are regularly reviewing CV's and holding interviews, and will close vacancies once they are filled, so please submit your application at your earliest convenience to be considered.
At Bristol City Council, we value having a workforce as diverse as the city we serve. We therefore welcome, develop and promote people from all sections of the community. We particularly welcome applications from Black and racially minoritised candidates, Disabled candidates, young people and LGBTQ+ candidates, who are currently under-represented within this service area of Bristol City Council.
Appointments will be made on merit.