Commercial Finance Business Partner
£57,160 - £63,230 per annum
Overall purpose of the job
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Norwich City Council generates some £26m (about half of its gross expenditure budget) in fees, charges, and rental income (excluding the Housing Revenue Account) with much of this income being from commercial or quasi commercial activities.
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With continued financial pressures on local government to generate and grow income streams, principally to address reduced funding from central government, the Council has a strategic need to recruit a talented commercially-minded finance professional who can help the Council navigate the new economic environment and help create new opportunities to generate income.
In addition, the Council owns extensive land and property assets, and has an active programme of purchasing additional commercial property in order to generate a revenue return. It has an ambitious programme to redevelop the city and build more housing and is exploring and undertaking such opportunities using “non-traditional” business models, such as Joint Venture arrangements with other councils, public private partnerships, and by utilising its own company, Norwich Regeneration Limited.
The post holder will be expected to play a key role in the Council’s commercialisation agenda by providing commercial financial advice to senior officers and project teams and by developing robust Business Cases for possible new income streams. In particular the post holder will have the following key tasks:
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To provide commercial financial advice to the Council in order to maiximise, where appropriate, its non-tax (i.e. Council Tax and Business Rates) income streams.
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To undertake financial modelling of large/complex projects including company set-ups, Joint Venture arrangements, organisational transformation projects, and new housing / redevelopment projects. The post holder is likely to be required to assist in financial negotiations with potential private sector partners.
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To provide financial management advice to the Directors of Norwich Regeneration Ltd (the Council’s wholly owned housing company) to enable and influence decision-making by the Board.
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To undertake the financial appraisal of potential commercial property acquisitions advising decision makers on forecast cash flows, yields, tax implications and the associated financial risks of the specific investment.
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Main accountabilities
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To work with the Corporate Leadership Team and other senior managers to develop, implement and maintain an appropriate commercial strategy for the council.
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To work with the CFO, Corporate Leadership Team, and other senior Service Managers to identify commercial opportunities for the Council and assist or project manage their implementation. To keep up-to-date with other local authority commercialisation initiatives, models, income delivery mechanisms and programmes.
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To review the Council’s fees and charges and, working with Service Managers, give advice on fee levels, pricing strategies, income forecasting and associated risks.
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To provide financial advice to the Directors of Norwich Regeneration Ltd (the Council’s wholly owned housing company) to enable and influence decision-making by the Board. To work with the company’s project managers, quantity surveyors and estate agents to maintain and further develop the company’s financial model with updated house construction costs, updated building schedules, house sale values, rental forecasts, company costs & taxation, and new housing development projects.
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To undertake the financial appraisal of potential commercial property acquisitions advising decision makers on forecast cash flows, net yields, tax issues, and the associated financial risks of the specific investment.
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Working with the Council’s property managers, to monitor the performance of the commercial property portfolio to enable decision-makers to make periodic sell or invest decisions for individual assets.
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To provide financial expertise and modelling, or to commission such expertise, to the s151 officer and Norwich City Council on key projects including company start-ups, Joint Venture arrangements, organisational transformation projects, and other regeneration/housing projects often involving non-traditional alternative business models.
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To lead on the provision, or to commission such advice, of company taxation issues such as VAT, SDLT and corporation tax.
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As a member of the Finance Management Team, to contribute to the strategic and operational management of the LGSS Norwich team.
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To carry out any other duties which fall within the broad spirit, scope and purpose of the job description.
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Person Specification
Qualifications, knowledge, skills and experience
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Minimum levels qualifications required for this job
Minimum levels of knowledge, skills and experience required for this job