Finance Managers

A group of workers working together.

£53,807 - £56,089 (pro rata)
Full time, Part time and Term-time only can be considered

The Divisional Financial Management teams are currently looking for Finance Managers to join:

One role in Growth and Regeneration

The Housing team where you will be focussed on the delivery of housing across the city. This includes all social housing, council housing and temporary accommodation.

Two roles in Children and Education

Finance Manager for Education, Inclusion and Skills: this role is focussed on supporting the provision of education services, schools, and associated transformation and capital projects.

Finance Manager for Childrens Social Care: where this role is focussed on supporting Placements, Fostering, Asylum Teams and associated transformation and capital projects.

All roles will manage a team of Group Accountants and support the Business Partner with Executive Meetings and with other committee and member support responsibilities.

About the roles

You will be the trusted advisor to senior members of the council on financial matters. That includes setting annual budgets as well as 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 and 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.
  • Build excellent professional relationships with key senior stakeholders across the council, external partners and government departments as appropriate. Representing the council at appropriate external forums & maintain relationships to ensure that proposed initiatives are financially viable and delivered as effectively as possible.
  • Interpret financial performance for council wide services or activities and provide options to managers to assist them achieve required efficiencies and spend to budget position on an on-going basis.
  • Provide independent analysis & interpretation of complex financial data, to facilitate support & challenge to both internal and external stakeholders and allow decisions to be made following consideration of financial resource and risks implications.
  • Draft and present reports on the analysis of financial performance for budget holders 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.
  • Expand on management responsibilities to include support of more complex management issues and to provide coaching and mentoring as appropriate.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

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:
    • CCAB (or equivalent qualification)
    • Experience of analysing, interpreting and presenting financial management to key decision makers on challenging issues
    • Ability to lead a team and establish excellent working relationships with senior colleagues and customers

Email your CV and supporting statement to finance_recruitment@bristol.gov.uk

Please indicate if you wish to be considered for any of the Finance Manager roles in particular. Experience of Housing Revenue Accounting or the Dedicated Schools Grant would be an advantage for those roles.

All 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.