Finance Manager Strategy

Brilliant Bexley Shaping our future together 

Despite all the challenges caused by the pandemic, Bexley Council has always been and continues to be focused on supporting the community and improving the lives of local residents. We want to continue to build strong and resilient communities that are living well in clean and green local places. As a Council, we are aiming to continue our drive to be innovative and self-sufficient, providing opportunities for growth that benefit all.

Central to the success of this is the finance department, which influences right across the Council. The department was recently brought back in house and restructured to help with our ambitious plans to improve the financial management of the authority. As we rebuild the department, the focus is on the improvement of the services we offer, providing more financial data analysis to decision-makers and supporting non-financial services to become more confident around managing their budgets.

To ensure we attract and keep talented individuals, we are committed to developing from within, supporting staff through internal training and mentoring, as well as supporting external professional training. It is an exciting time for the service and will present potential employees with the opportunities to develop their skills and experience as well as having a positive impact on the local community. This position will initially be remote working in line with current government guidance. However, when government guidelines change in the future this role will work in a hybrid way, with an expectation that, where they wish to, staff can still spend the majority of their time working remotely.

The Finance Manager Strategy reports to the Head of Strategy, Treasury and Pensions and will manage a team of 3 responsible for the development of the Council’s financial strategy, capital strategy, medium term financial plan, revenue budget and capital programme. Key duties will include;

• Ensuring the council has an integrated approach to strategic financial planning and the plans that flow from it so as to support the delivery of outcomes
• Playing a proactive role in the development of a financial strategy which reflects the Council’s corporate strategy
• Co-ordinating revenue and capital monitoring for the Council and developing corporate ratios and performance management measures and tools
• Promoting the development and use of appropriate financial data analytics to improve financial information
• Supporting the council’s leadership at all levels and developing a strategic and workable response to the financial challenges the council faces

To be suitable for the role you need to be a fully qualified accountant, with experience of financial planning and budgeting, ideally within a Local Government setting.  Good interpersonal and communications skills are essential, as is the ability to communicate effectively to a wide range of stakeholders.

For more information on Bexley, the interview processes and to see the job description please, refer to https://allenlanerecruitment.wixsite.com/bexley or contact Will Ryan at Allen Lane on 07789871864 for an informal conversation.

To apply, please send your CV and cover letter to bexley@allenlane.co.uk by Monday 31^st May. The cover letter should be no more than 2 pages and should include why you are interested in the position and specific examples of how you meet the key criteria