STRATEGIC FINANCE BUSINESS PARTNER (ENVIRONMENT, HOUSING AND NEIGHBOURHOODS)

Employer
Sutton Council
Location(s)
Sutton
Contract Type
Permanent
Working Hours
Full Time
Grade
10
Hours Per Week
36
Salary Range
£55,155 - £63,879 (£66,156 unconsolidated maximum)
Salary Basis
Per annum
Leave Entitlement
32 days
Application Deadline
01/09/2024, 23:55
About the Borough
n Sutton, there is much for us to be proud of both as a council and as a borough. This includes high levels of resident satisfaction, the quality of our services, our success in addressing our financial challenges to date, the way that we involve and engage with residents on key issues facing the borough, and the enthusiastic and motivated staff that we employ.
Looking ahead, there are plans for the delivery of new homes and new schools and the London Cancer Hub is being developed, while the Council is also seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment.
All of this demonstrates a good track record and an authority that is ambitious and set to deliver more improvements for the borough. We’ve set out our vision for the future of Sutton in our corporate plan - Ambitious for Sutton. This strategic plan will shape the outcomes we achieve, the services we provide, and the impact we have on residents, to make Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Situated in Zone 5, Sutton is less than 30 minutes by train from central London, and south and south west London are easily accessible by public transport. There are 10 train stations which serve key neighbourhoods within the borough providing direct connections to London Victoria, London Bridge, London Blackfriars and St Pancras International. Sutton also has direct rail connections with Epsom, Dorking, Guildford and Horsham, as well as Wimbledon for an interchange with the London Underground and West Croydon for the London Overground. There’s also an extensive road network which provides close and easy access to the M25 and M23.
About the Role
Sutton Council is seeking an exceptional candidate to fill the role of Strategic Finance Business Partner in its shared finance service with Kingston Council. Whilst this role sits within the shared service, its focus is on Sutton Council only. It will focus its support on the council’s Environment, Housing and Neighbourhoods directorate, which includes: Highways, Housing (via an ALMO called Sutton Housing Partnership), Parking, Parks, Planning and Building Control, Temporary Accomodation and Waste.

This key role supports the Head of Financial Planning and Business Partnering by providing strategic support for services and their senior officers. The primary focus will be on revenue but elements of the capital programme may fall within their remit. The successful candidate will take responsibility for:

• being the senior finance professional for one or more directorates, which includes developing subject matter expertise and taking responsibility for ensuring that services produce accurate and useful financial information and forecasts based on sound assumptions and realistic estimates
• supporting services and colleagues to develop the medium term financial plan and then to deliver their services within budget
• providing direct support to one or more council directors, enabling them to play their part in protecting the financial health of the council
• providing high quality professional advice on the financial implications of corporate proposals and drafting financial comments within committee reports to inform decision making.

About Us
This role is part of the Financial Planning and Business Partnering team that supports Sutton Council only, within the shared finance service. The team has 17 positions that combine to deliver revenue and capital financial planning and business partnering services.

The aim of the shared finance service is to add value and inspire success and we do this by:

• Translating business intelligence into business success by delivering clear professional advice and insight
• Safeguarding the financial health of our Councils
• Empowering our customers to manage their finances
• Learning, improving and exceeding; supporting each other to develop our talent and achieve more.

About You

The successful candidate will have:

• Experience providing business partner support to services including waste and recycling; housing and homelessness/temporary accommodation; planning and building control
• Experience providing support and challenge to senior officers and leadership in a local authority
• Experience in leading or providing financial support to a change/transformation programme
• A relevant professional qualification (e.g. CIPFA, CIMA, MBA etc) or demonstrable equivalent experience of operating at that level
• Strong numerical and analytical skills with the ability to provide detailed and accurate information at pace with little oversight
• Proven leadership skills and the ability to engage and inspire.

One of the postholder’s duties is to provide oversight of the housing revenue account (HRA) finances that are day-to-day managed by the council’s ALMO. Therefore, preference will be given to candidates that have experience supporting a local authority’s HRA.
Our Offer To You
As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across - however big or small - will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.
In addition, we offer a modern and flexible working environment for our staff, supported by our IT infrastructure, including Google Chromebooks and Google Apps. Our Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme embraces new ways of working. It provides improved work life balance for our staff as it allows staff to work from a variety of locations and staff are not required to work within the office 5 days a week.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits, some of which include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply)
• Flexi-time (Please note, this applies to roles at grades 1-9 only)
• Three volunteering days per year in Sutton
• Comprehensive learning and development programme
• Local and national discounts for shopping, eating out and leisure activities
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Car parking scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Zip car scheme
• Free eye tests and contribution towards glasses
• Confidential wellbeing and counselling support
• Subsidised gym membership

Application Process
Please apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please ensure you refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application.
To support our diversity agenda and reduce the risk of bias in our recruitment activities, our short listing process completely anonymises personal information that can identify job applicants e.g. name, title etc. Our hiring managers review and short list applications based on the information provided as part of your application as to how well you meet the requirements and criteria for the role, as outlined in the job profile.
The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
Additional Information
We pride ourselves on being a diverse, inclusive and welcoming Borough and we aim to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve - the key highlights from our recent Equalities Workforce Report can be seen here. We are respectful of difference and realise the positive value of diversity in our workforce. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and disabled candidates, as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce. As part of our Disability Confident Committed status, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.
We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.
The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance.

LI-JT

• being the senior finance professional for one or more directorates, which includes developing subject matter expertise and taking responsibility for ensuring that services produce accurate and useful financial information and forecasts based on sound assumptions and realistic estimates
• supporting services and colleagues to develop the medium term financial plan and then to deliver their services within budget
• providing direct support to one or more council directors, enabling them to play their part in protecting the financial health of the council
• providing high quality professional advice on the financial implications of corporate proposals and drafting financial comments within committee reports to inform decision making