Finance Business Partner

Finance Business Partner - Thurrock Council

Salary: £53,000 - £62,000

Grays, 2 days per week in office

Job Purpose:

As a key member of the management team, you will proactively manage and mobilise resources to support Thurrock's ambition for Finance to be "best in class." You will contribute to a high-performing, continuously improving culture that delivers leading-edge financial and commercial management, underpinned by robust analysis and the promotion of best practice methods and standards.

You will lead by example in modelling and embedding the Council's values and behaviours, working collaboratively with Members, services across the Council, partners, and stakeholders. Through this, you will help deliver the Council's objectives and priorities, supporting the development of a sustainable, highly effective organisation and strengthening our reputation for delivering excellent value to residents.

Key Accountabilities:

• Provide a comprehensive finance business partnering service to allocated service department(s) and other agencies. Proactively manage work with budget managers to confirm savings proposals and outturn position. To support with capital projects assisting with costing and the review and challenge of potential pressures and savings, actively participate in regular meetings with business area to challenge and scrutinise monitoring figures, undertake service analysis to support the year-end position and the year-end accounts
• Anticipate and identify key financial issues and risks affecting the business which require the attention, resolve issues with Senior Managers and identify mitigating actions to ensure net expenditure is within budget, escalate to Strategic Finance Manager and other senior colleagues any business issues not resolved by Service Managers
• Be an effective liaison point between the business, the Corporate and Strategic Finance Team and Government Departments to ensure completion of all statutory returns
• Work proactively with the Strategic and Corporate Finance Teams to produce financial and commercial analysis to support the financial strategy, decision making and service reviews.
• Deliver robust financial and commercial analysis for business cases including signing-off financial implications for reports and other reviews as required
• Manage financial modelling of new services or changes to existing services including impact from specific legislation /policy changes, assessing and understanding the financial and non-financial implications for the Council

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• CCAB/CIMA (Or Overseas Equivalent)
• Post graduate or relevant knowledge and experience

Experience:

• Wide understanding of strategic financial planning and techniques and their application in a budget setting scenario.
• Knowledge of the issues facing local government and those relevant to service/functional responsibilities, together with the legal, financial and political context of public sector management and the statutory responsibilities of this post.
• Experience of maintaining partnerships and productive working relationships within a complex policy and service environment with senior managers and councillors, and a wide range of other bodies, such as partner organisations, communities, public agencies and statutory bodies.