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At Bristol City Council we are excited to be bringing to the market several finance roles.

These opportunities reflect a period of review and change, with transformation happening across the Council and reflective within the finance function. We have seen a strengthening of the Council’s finance resource with the appointment of two new Heads of Service, to drive forward a structure with increased strategic finance resources. A key aspect of this change is to embed a business partnering approach across our financial management team and these roles are pivotal in enabling us to provide strategic advice and ensure budget holder engagement.

As a Finance Manager, you'll be a core part of the senior finance team, responsible for leading on developing and delivering high-quality financial advice and expertise regarding the said service areas. You will be taking a full and proactive approach in delivering timely professional advice, financial management and accounting services, including all aspects of the financial cycle and project support to the service areas, and reporting to the central finance function.

The role will include elements covering transformation and project support, with negotiation and influencing skills enabling you to provide clear financial advice to key programmes.

As part of your role, you will lead on the collaboration with stakeholders across the service areas and ensure that effective financial controls are in operation and that financial risks are understood, reported and proactively minimised. You will represent finance at internal and external meetings and provide advice to support strategic and operational decision making, analyse new and existing service initiatives, challenge assumptions, highlight risks and opportunities, improve systems and analytical tools and to support evidence-based decision making.

You will have management responsibility for the aligned finance team and have opportunity to collaborate and lead on areas of improvement and efficiency.

We are specifically seeking Finance Managers to align to the following portfolios at the current time, although also welcome general interest at this level for future opportunities:

Housing & Housing Revenue Account (HRA) – Between the development of the 30-year business planning, reporting, monitoring and business case support, including a significant transformation programme, this is an exciting time to be leading the finance support to the HRA and Housing division. The division is responsible for both the HRA and General Fund Housing, including homelessness and temporary accommodation.

Children’s & Education – The directorate covering children & family services, education and skills and safer communities, with a focus on the Education portfolio. You will be leading the financial support for areas including the schools’ forum and DSG, including on the Delivering Better Value in SEND (DBV) programme, as well as supporting with transformation and key projects in the division and our PFI school arrangements.

Adults – The directorate covering community public health and adult social care services. You will be leading the financial support for areas including the significant transformational work across adult social care, supporting and leading on aspects of engagement with health partners and leading the team in the financial advise to the adults social care teams.

Growth & Regeneration – The directorate drives the city’s growth agenda on economic development and regeneration. You will be involved in transformation and development projects, covering areas from enterprise zone transformation to the corporate landlord programme, as well as leading the financial advice across a breadth of services from Parks to Parking.

What do I need to apply?
You will hold a CCAB (or equivalent) qualification, and experience of planning, motivating and controlling the work of a diverse team of finance staff dealing with complex accounting issues. An innovative problem solver, you will be able to work autonomously, using initiative, creatively and resourcefulness, with an ability to see the wider implications.

You will have excellent communication skills, and will have the ability to lead, motivate, develop and manage a diverse team to achieve desired outcomes. Being able to foster excellent working relationships with a range of stakeholders with a varying understanding of financial matters is essential to this role.

While prior experience of working in Local Government and with the relevant services is preferred, we welcomed applications with transferable skills and appropriate experience outside of the Local Government setting.

Please see the further information document attached, along with the job description and person specification, which will provide background information and a clear overview of the role.

Working for Bristol City Council is about more than just a job. We’re not about building profits to make money for someone else, we’re about supporting the development of our City, improving life chances and outcomes for our population. We’re clearly focused on making a difference to the people and the communities across the City.

Excellent finance teams underpin the service provision we deliver as a Council, the decisions we make and the value for money that we achieve. We are a core City Unitary Authority with a wide breadth of services and a variety of significant projects and transformation programmes underway, so working here will give you engaging and diverse responsibilities, whichever the right role is for you.

At both organisational and departmental level we are enthusiastic about supporting succession planning, career development opportunity from within and are keen to grow our senior leaders of the future. At Bristol City Council, we go that extra mile for our people; we offer a work environment which is fast moving and supportive, giving you the chance to use your skills and develop new ones within a high-profile organisation. So, if you are looking for a role where you can both make your mark and add value while working to develop professionally, we would very much welcome your application to our finance team.

We positively encourage productive, flexible working and we provide you with the technology you need to work from a variety of locations. The finance service has adopted a blended working policy which will allow you to spend a proportion of your time working remotely. There will be an expectation for you to attend the office according to business need, this is an evolving balance although currently our team have a mixed approach with a minimum of 1-2 days a month being based at City Hall.

Join us and you’ll receive an excellent rewards package including flexible working and flexitime, membership of the Local Government Pension scheme, and a generous annual leave allowance. In addition, you’ll be working in a supportive environment where you’ll have the chance to make Bristol a better place and contribute to its future.

How to Apply
To apply please submit your CV and a Supporting Statement which demonstrates by practical example how you meet each of the essential criteria listed in the attached Person Specification. If you have a preference as to which service area you’d like to apply for then please state this in your Supporting Statement.

Please find attached the Job Description and Person Specification which will provide you with a clear overview of the role.

Please note that these roles are subject to a standard DBS check.

Please note we also have Finance Business Partner opportunities.