Finance Business Partner

**What you'll work on**

The purpose of the post is to provide high quality finance business partnering support for the council, aligning to the delivery of the Corporate Strategy and the service plans for both the Finance and Performance team and the other service areas

**What you'll achieve**
- Provide finance business partnering to support the organisational transformation that is taking place.
- Build strong working relationships with budget managers by spending time working closely with services to enhance the finance offer.
- Provide training to budget managers to embed a self-service approach to annual financial cycle activity.
- Ensure that systems and processes are as automated as possible to support the self service approach
- Support the annual budget setting process, working with Lead Accountants to ensure that a balanced medium-term financial plan/capital programme is delivered in accordance with legislative requirements and accounting standards
- Assist the budget monitoring process, with responsibility for supporting service managers and Chief Officers, producing and presenting Finance and Performance reports for the target audience
- Ensure that the Councils financial instructions including contract standing orders are adhered to in the organisation
- Assist with the production of the Council’s Financial Statements, Whole of Government Accounts and the external audit.
- Prepare and calculate financial information for statistical returns.
- Assist with the preparation for and implementation of changes to accounting regulations.
- Work with budget managers and lead accountants with business planning resulting in robust financial data that can be relied upon for decision making.
- Assist with and contribute to Committee/Cabinet/ team reporting. Supporting the review of financial implications, ensuring all information presented to enable informed decisions to be made by the Senior Management team and members.
- Assist with the preparation of information for various financial plans, strategies and publications.
- Maintain key systems including the Council’s Asset Register and the Financial Management System
- Support the establishment and embedding of the Council’s new performance management framework.
- Any other appropriate duties as requested to support the functions of the team.

**A few things to note**
- The rate for this role is £221.21 per day Umbrella
- The term for this role is 3 months initially

**Who we're looking for - top 3 skills**
- AAT Qualified
- Provide finance business partnering to support the organisational transformation that is taking place, Ideally Public Sector experience
- Support the annual budget setting process, working with Lead Accountants to ensure that a balanced medium-term financial plan/capital programme is delivered in accordance with legislative requirements and accounting standards

**Skills you'll need to bring**
- Experience of working in a finance environment.
- Competent in the use of a financial management system to produce budget reporting, annual accounts and financial statements in accordance with the CIPFA Accounting Code of Practice.
- Minimum of AAT qualification (or other equivalent qualification)
- Verbal and written communication skills that include explaining financial concepts to non-finance staff.
- Ability to work under pressure
- Plan ahead and priorities own time management and organisational skills
- Experience of providing financial management information for organisations going through complex change programmes in a collaborative working arrangement.
- Proven track record developing good working relationships with key customers
- Ability to learn quickly and understand complex issues
- Good presentational and training skills.
- Ability to think outside the box.
- Knowledge of the Council’s Financial Standing Orders, Contract Standing Orders and Financial Instructions.
- Understanding of a Local Authority annual planning and performance monitoring cycle and knowledge of financial reporting requirements.
- Experience of supporting budget preparation and budget monitoring.

**Equal Opportunities**

Business Smart Solutions are a Recruitment Agency - We hire talented and passionate people from a variety of backgrounds because we want our global worker base to represent the wide diversity of our clients. If you’re excited about a role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every bullet point listed in the job description, we still encourage you to apply. If you're passionate about working for a role in local government and share our company values, we encourage you to apply.

**Job Types**: Full-time, Temporary contract
Contract length: 3 months

**Salary**: £221.21 per day

Application question(s):

- Do you have experience of working in a finance environment?
- Are you competent in the use of a financial management system to produce budget reporting, annual accounts and financial statements in accordance wi