Finance Officer Chichester, England
Job description
Salary: £28,371 to £31,099 per annum.
Working Pattern: 1x full-time, 37 hours per week and 1x part-time 18.5 hours per week.
Contract Length: Permanent.
Location: Chichester, with smarter working options to work from home available.
We are offering the exciting opportunity to join our Finance directorate as a Finance Officer and have full and part time roles available at this level. These are being offered on a generic basis, which in time means that the successful candidates could be assigned to support any part of the County Council. Initially they will involve working within our Strategic Finance (management accounts) and Financial Planning teams.
These roles will have a variety of responsibilities to ensure the Council is safeguarding public money.
The role within the Financial Planning Team will include assisting with a number of strategic and critical assignments including, the creation of the County Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, the collation of our quarterly corporate Performance and Resources Report and other specific projects which will include benchmarking, benefits tracking and the reconciliation of external capital funding.
Within the Strategic Finance Team, the roles will involve assisting with the management of budgets, including setting budgets, monitoring progress throughout the financial year and closing the accounts for relevant County Council services.
We are seeking enthusiastic candidates who have experience of working in a finance environment, who are already delivering a management or financial accounting type role. We would also like to hear from you if you are a graduate in the relevant disciplines or are actively studying towards a relevant accounting qualification and are keen to pursue a career in public sector finance.
We are keen to support the development and training of our staff and are willing to offer comprehensive training packages to gain accreditation for Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) and Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) to the right candidates.
If you are looking for a diverse and exciting role which offers the opportunity to work in a dynamic and supportive team, build collaborative working relationships and develop your talent through ongoing training and development, then we would like to hear from you.
Experience and Skills
You will be able to demonstrate the relevant skills and experience, with great communication and inter-personal skills to make the most of your talent, specifically:
- You will be proactive with a can-do attitude, with a focus on personal and professional development. You will be a good team player, keen and able to work collaboratively with stakeholders, partners and third-party suppliers to achieve outcomes within a complex operating environment.
- You will be able to effectively manage conflicting priorities, to deliver high quality projects.
- You will have an inquisitive and enquiring mind, with a natural curiosity, which will aid continuous improvement and learning.
- You will have a strong focus on continuous improvement and a commitment to delivering and ensuring value for money.
In addition, you will be able to demonstrate the following skills and experience.
Key Skills:
- Clear and effective written skills to present complex financial information for managers and contribute to budgetary and other management reports appropriately.
- Excellent technical, analytical and numeracy skills in order to monitor and work with large or complex data sets or budgets.
- Developed communication and interpersonal skills in order to interact effectively with a range of clients and create and maintain effective working relationships. Including the ability to advise and guide clients to understand complicated technical information and budgets.
- Ability to embrace change and adapt to changing situations and new ways of working positively and effectively. Including the ability to learn new systems and processes and contribute towards improving working methods.
- Ability to work independently to plan and prioritise work over the medium term, setting timescales and organising activities in co-ordination with others to deliver objectives to deadlines, whilst still delivering to a high standard of quality.
Qualifications and/or experience:
- Relevant experience working in an accounting environment (preferably working with large or complex budgets) demonstrating a good understanding and working knowledge of systems and practices relating to finance and accounting.
- Good working knowledge in the use of MS Excel and good specialist use of SAP, Oracle, or similar large IT system used for accountancy. Including the ability to perform accurate complex financial calculations and manipulate statistics and budgets.
- Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualified or equivalent qualification or experience which demonstrates that level of applied and theoretical knowledge in accounting plus knowledge of the related systems, procedures and policies.
- Experience providing specialist advice to managers or customers. Including explaining complex financial information or other similar technical information.
- Experience of working in a customer orientated environment.
Rewards and Benefits
As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.
- In addition to working within a great team and a competitive salary you will have access to:
- 26 days annual leave (going to 27 days leave from 1st April 2023) plus bank holidays with the ability to buy additional leave annually.
- Access to a generous, defined benefit pension scheme.
- A range of flexible working options.
- Maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave.
- Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring.
- A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers with the opportunity to save over £1,000 (Including: Argos, Samsung, ASOS, B&Q and many more)
- Discounted membership at selected local sports and fitness centres.
- Free access to employee assistance programmes.
- A range of commuting and business travel discount and initiatives.
For a full list of the benefits offered to you as a West Sussex County Council employee you can find them on our Rewards and Benefits page.
Further Information
The reference number for this role is EIE01058.
For issues or queries regarding your application please contact [email protected].
To apply, upload your CV and cover letter explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.
West Sussex County Council is an equal opportunities employer committed to promoting an environment that is inclusive and free from all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and values the diversity of its people. We actively welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and take every possible step to ensure that no individual will be disadvantaged.
For information regarding your eligibility to apply for this role under our Disability or Veteran’s Guaranteed Interview Scheme, this can be found on our application help page.
Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!
Job Reference: CRS00670
