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Senior Finance Business Partner

£42,708 - £44,711 per annum

Overall Job Purpose

To be a member of Business Planning & Performance Management  team in its entirety ensuring that a professional, technical and innovative financial function is operated and effectively meets the needs of the Council and its services, ensuring compliance with the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) statutory requirements.

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Key Areas of Focus

1.  As Single point of Contact for allocated Group heads and budget holders the post holder will provide full service coverage for expert, technical, commercial and financial advice service ensuring all relevant reporting is completed including Financial reports to Committees and review of financial elements of all required reports, thus delivering a balanced budget for current year and Medium Term Financial Planning ( MTFP). To ensure Finance Service continuity each Business Partner will take a lead on key areas within the wider business partner team that includes Establishment, Consolidation, Capital, MTFP, Reserves, Treasury and any other areas that are appropriate to deliver the service.

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2.  Ability to lead and aid decision making while adhering to the Council's Constitution, Financial Governance Framework and all Policies and Procedures within as well as in accordance with Delegation of Authorities.

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3.  For allocated areas, group heads and budget holders, the business partner will act as a single point of contact where possible to manage the delivery of Business Planning and Performance management via efficient and robust transactional Finance activities, Monthly meetings, Budget setting and monitoring, and Closures of annual accounts ensuring all relevant reporting is completed including Financial reports to Committees and review of financial elements of all required reports.

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4.  To contribute to, deliver and manage Financial calendars and content plans particularly for Budget setting, monitoring and closedown including month, quarter, year-end activities with rolling Medium Term Financial Planning (MTFP) 6 years forward looking with robust accurate and timely reporting as required.

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5.  To actively participate in accordance with HR guidance, policy and procedures Valuing Individual Performance (ViP) reviews, direct objectives and deliverables for immediate reports where relevant with development and training where appropriate and applicable to own VIP.

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6.  The post holder has several responsibilities to ensure consolidated management and reporting of resources including a combined spend budget of circa £100m (£50m General Fund, £30m Capex, £20m HRA), covering a Workforce of 400+ employees, 50+members, 23 wards, Population of circa 160,000 with multiple internal / external stakeholders.

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7.  Other appropriate duties as required that are relevant to a functioning Finance department or to Deputise as Senior Business Partners or Head of Business Planning & Performance Management as appropriate.

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Additional Information (non contractual)

1. Local government Finance knowledge will be required although not a pre-requisite and can be developed to deliver the Councils budgets and monitoring.

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2. The postholder is expected to contribute to the improvement of service delivery standards.

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Role Requirements

The following outlines the criteria for this post. Applicants will be shortlisted and interviewed to assess if they meet the criteria for the role. (E) = Essential, (D) = Desirable, (Y) = Yes, (N) = No.

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Professional Qualifications

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  • Accountancy or Finance related qualification (E)

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Experience

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  • Business/accountancy/budget management experience. (E)

  • Experience of managing, motivating and performance managing a cross-business teams. (E)

  • Experience of monitoring and managing financial accounts in a Social Housing or Local Government environment. (D)

  • Experience of communicating detailed technical information to Budget holders. (E)

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Knowledge

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  • An analytical approach to financial issues and the ability to make clearly reasoned conclusions and recommendations. (E)

  • Excellent communications skills and the ability to explain complex financial issues in a tactful and diplomatic way that can be readily understood by others. (E)

  • Strong character and negotiation skills to ensure managers and partners remain within budgets. (E)       

  • A detailed knowledge of the financial climate and funding regime under which local authorities operate. (E)

  • Ability to give advice and guidance to trainee accountants. (E)

  • Experience in leading technical projects. (E)

  • Mentoring and supervision skills. (E)

  • Problem solving abilities. (E)

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Behaviours

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  • Accountability - Acknowledges mistakes with patience and understanding and offers support to rectify the situation, putting in place measures to prevent future errors. (E)

  • Adaptability - Ability to remain flexible and resilient when encountering new or different circumstances and identifying solutions. (E)

  • Active Listening - Listens effectively to others and is able to clarify understanding through effective questioning/ paraphrasing. (E)

  • Commitment - Embraces and champions Aruns values, with a strong work ethic, commitment, and motivation, to achieve and deliver outcomes. (E)

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Competencies

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  • Leadership - Able to provide supervision or lead a team confidently, living Arun’s values with enthusiasm, seeking positive change. (E)

  • Change Management - Understands the concept of effective change management, who to include in decision making and implementing changes, and able to persuade others. (E)

  • Strategic Thinking - Understands and can articulate how the team’s role fits into the bigger picture and how it impacts others. (E)

  • Influence - Understands internal and external politics and is able to wield influence effectively, tailoring actions to achieve the impact needed. (E)

  • Communication - Able to communicate (sometimes contentious matters) clearly, appropriately and respectfully at all levels. (E)

  • Emotional Intelligence - Demonstrates, and actively seeks to evolve with own self-awareness, self-management (emotional self-control/adaptability/ outlook), social awareness (empathy) and relationship management. (E)

  • Decision Making - Encourages and coaches’ staff to make decisions in order to meet customer and service delivery expectations. (E)

  • Organisationally Aware - Understands the general functions of the council, the political environment and the impact of decisions on other areas of the council. (E)

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Other

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  • Does this role require a Basic/Enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check? (Y)

  • Will the post holder be required to take card payments via MOTO. (If yes – needs basic DBS). (N)

  • Is this a Politically restricted post? (N)

  • Does this role require any out of hours/ weekend/ evening/ rota work? (N)

  • Does this role require a driver’s license and access to a vehicle? (N)

  • Does this role attract an essential car user allowance? (N)

  • Does this role attract a market supplement? (N)

  • Does this role require a uniform? (N)

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