Lead Accountant (Technical Accounting & Treasury Management) - Ref RT10523

• Salary: G12 (SCP 42-47) - £50,512 - £56,239 per annum
• Contract: Full time, permanent

Walsall Council is transforming and with it, so is Walsall’s Financial Services. This is an exciting time to join our team. The Walsall Proud Programme is our transformation Programme, which aims to transform the way the council works so that we can provide a better customer experience, increase staff satisfaction and engagement, and improve service efficiency and performance to our customers and communities. The Programme is closely linked with our medium-term financial strategy and Walsall’s Financial Services are a key driver in achieving the organisation’s aspirational vision.

So what do we need from you?

We are looking to recruit an experienced financial professional to support the Technical Accounting and Treasury Management teams.

This post will be responsible for working with a team of finance officers, embracing and helping develop our excellent business partnering approach in support of our service managers and directors, leading on areas of technical accounting such as financial reporting, government returns, audit and VAT, alongside leading on treasury management activities such as managing the investment and borrowing portfolio, risk and daily cash needs. We are looking for enthusiastic and pragmatic individuals, with a can do attitude, significant experience of financial stewardship, financial reporting and treasury management, along with excellent people, communication and staff management skills.

Though this role is for specific areas, the post is a generic Lead Accountant position and therefore can be deployed to work across the services, supporting the organisations key directorates, Adult Social Care, Children Services, Environment and Economy and Resources and Transformation on their transformation journey.

What does Walsall’s Finance Service offer you?

Our commitment to you is to provide a safe learning environment, where we will offer you the platform to develop and enhance your career prospects, with the aim to support your drive and commitment to progress and build on your existing experience. The diverse services that we support and the progression of our transformation programme, brings with it exposure to many scenarios requiring financial support and advice. You can therefore expect opportunities to get involved and strengthen both your accountancy knowledge and your broader skillsets, enabling you to adapt to an ever changing business environment and support the many challenges public sector organisations face.

The Councils finance team has been shortlisted for the Public Finance Awards 2023 - Finance Team of the Year for Councils and Local Services, which recognises the journey the service has been on and the achievements of individuals and teams.

As a Lead Accountant you should hold a CCAB / CIMA qualification, be undertaking CPD and be able to demonstrate extensive experience in managing staff. In recognition of the knowledge that experience in other sectors can bring, whilst an understanding of local government finance would be an advantage we would stress that it is not essential.

On top of this, we provide an attractive employment package that includes a generous annual leave entitlement of up to 33 days, a flexible working scheme that allows up to a further 12 days leave per year, split between working from home and in the office with emphasis on an optimum work life balance arrangements and service delivery and a career average pension scheme.

These posts are covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers.

View Job Description and Employee Specification

View Information for Applicants

The closing date for applications is 10th December 2023.

Interviews will be conducted in person at the Civic Centre in Walsall and will consist of a test / presentation followed for successful applicants by an interview.

It is likely the first part of the process will be held week commencing 11th December 2023.

For more information or an informal discussion please contact Richard Walley Richard.walley@walsall.gov.uk or Ross Hutchinson Ross.Hutchinson@walsall.gov.uk

For further reasons to join us, please visit: https://go.walsall.gov.uk/employee-benefits.