Director of Financial Services

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Job description

"Are you a qualified accountant who is committed to public service? Could you manage your team to develop and allocate resources in innovative ways to improve the lives of the residents of our Borough? Do you value and actively promote the combination of difference of backgrounds, perspectives and approaches in all your colleagues? Will you be able to work with other leaders to develop the talent within the Council? Could you balance the advantages of taking risk to meet our ambitions with the long-term responsibility of public accountability?

LBWF is appointing a Director of Financial Services (Deputy Section 151, and one of the deputies to the Strategic Director of Finance and Governance) as part of the seven strong management team of the Finance and Governance Directorate. The team is responsible for providing effective strategic and corporate financial services for the council, assessing and paying housing benefit and collecting council tax and business rates, compliance, financial planning, setting financial targets and developing innovative ways of financing the Council's capital programme. This is a great opportunity to develop the skills and knowledge that will lead to becoming a Section 151 Officer.

At this exciting time for the Council as we rewire the way staff work and how we deliver services to the residents, the priorities for the role, alongside the statutory responsibilities, are to:

• develop innovative financing options for our £1/2bn capital ambitions
• find ways of engaging all staff across the Council to enhance the quality of financial management;
• develop your team's strategic capability;
• build on our strength to look outwards by increasingly working in partnership with other organisations in the public and private sector to identify new ways of doing things.

We are keen to hear from anyone who meets the job criteria. We firmly believe that diversity within our teams produces the best team performance. We are proud of and driven by our Diversity Rationale and aim to have a workforce, at all levels, that reflects the communities we serve. We are determined to close the gap for groups in staff underrepresented at a more senior level. In order to tackle this, we would particularly encourage Women, people of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic heritage, people who live openly as LGBTQI+ or those with a disability to apply.

We recognise that people from different classes and backgrounds have often had less access to career development, so we are committed to supporting them to overcome that lack of advantage. We see what people bring through their personal experiences, background and identity as a great asset that significantly enhances the Council's ability to understand the diversity of our staff and the residents we provide services to."

"Waltham Forest is a Disability Confident Employer."

If you are interested in being part of this exciting opportunity and working for an employer with flexible working options and award-winning family friendly policies, please go to WalthamFORESTforyou.co.uk for more information and to apply. If you would like a confidential conversation, please contact Az Ahmed on or Julie Towers on to discuss this opportunity.

The closing date is Friday 17 th December.