Senior Finance Business Partner (SFBP)

Job Title: Senior Finance Business Partner (SFBP)

Service: Corporate Services

Responsible to: Finance Director (Deputy S151)

Line Management Responsibility for: 5 Finance Business Partners, HRA Business Partner, Finance Officer.

Contact with: Senior Officers and other staff of the Council, Elected Members, external organisations and other local authorities.

Purpose of job: As part of the Finance Leadership Team, the SFBP will take the lead in providing strategic and operational financial advice to Heads of Service, ensuring robust financial management and reporting of the Council’s finances. Working closely with the Finance Director, the postholder will also be day to day lead on managing the Medium-Term Financial Strategy and draft and final budget preparation and submission.

Budget responsibilities: £400,000

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Responsibilities

• Manage, motivate and develop staff within the team, ensuring clear performance management objectives, championing training and development, and fostering a strong team work ethic within a culture of respect and continuous improvement. Including managing the team’s Human Resources in terms of performance, development, attendance and health and safety.
• Ensure that Heads of Service and their teams are fully supported in the following areas of financial management:
  • Budget management (setting, monitoring and forecasting)
  • Financial planning and reporting
  • Housing Revenue Account
  • Costing and financial input into Business Cases
  • Use of financial systems (eFinancials, Collaborative Planning)
• Lead on the production of high-quality reporting (e.g. monthly, quarterly and outturn, budget update reports), managing inputs form Finance Business Partners and others.
• Take ownership of day-to-day management of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), updating as required to reflect emerging pressures (internal and external such as Government funding) and savings.
• Work closely with the Finance Director on draft and final budget preparation, taking ownership of preparation of the MTFS, preparing budget submission reports, supporting in briefing of elected Members and other core tasks.
• Support the Corporate Finance team where appropriate on closedown of the accounts preparing of working papers, dealing with audit queries and reviewing processes and timescales to enable deadlines to be met.
• Work closely with the Finance Leadership Team and others in preparing for the impact of Local Government Reorganisation.
• Work closely with the Capital and Treasury Manager to support reporting of the Capital Programme and preparation of robust cashflow forecasting.
• Ensure statistical/ financial returns and grant claims are prepared to a high standard and submitted on time to Government departments/agencies.
• Support the development of improved financial awareness of elected members, budget managers and staff through the development and organisation of management training.
• Deputise for the Finance Director where appropriate.
• Be responsible for the collection, maintenance and integrity of personal data ensuring confidentiality is maintained and data is processed in an accountable manner. Comply with our data protection policies and procedures to ensure we meet our legal responsibilities under data protection legislation. Ensure that the team/s you manage have an understanding of this legislation and meet compliance requirements.

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Person Specification

What we expect you to have:

• Full membership by examination of a CCAB recognised body (eg CIPFA, ACCA, CIMA)

What we hope that you have:

• Have experience in a similar role in another Local Authority

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Skills

Role-specific technical skills:

• Proven experience in finance role at this level
• Knowledge and awareness of issues affecting local government and wider public sector
• Ability to lead on preparation of complex budgets
• Understanding of financial systems
• Ability to lead on preparation of complex budgets
• An effective communicator, capable of building good working relationships with Heads of Service and other budget holders, members, Senior Leadership Board, finance committee and other stakeholders

Leadership/Management

• Have integrity
• Be able to inspire and motivate others
• Have organisational and political awareness
• Empower and enable staff

Impact and influence

• Be decisive
• Have business and financial acumen
• Develop team performance and motivate staff
• Deal with conflict
• Use appropriate management styles
• Be able to plan, monitor and prioritise change
• Understand risk management

Project Management

• Be able to plan, monitor and prioritise change
• Meet deadlines
• Be methodical and able to problem solve

IT Skills

• Microsoft Office365 applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint)

Data Protection

• Up to date knowledge and understanding of the principles of data protection legislation to ensure compliance.