Director Financial Sustainability

Borough of Waltham Forest; Walthamstow; On-site; GBP 124,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government council in Walthamstow is seeking a strategic financial professional to support budget management and deliver savings across services. The ideal candidate will have a degree and a professional qualification. This role requires strong collaboration with various stakeholders to enhance service delivery. Competitive salary and benefits available.

Responsibilities

• Lead identification and delivery of significant savings to the Council.
• Prepare financial strategy and budget-related returns.
• Evaluate service project opportunities for better citizen outcomes.
• Maintain relationships with partners and service providers.
• Advise on major initiatives and transactions.

Education

Degree level or equivalent

Post graduate qualification or relevant professional qualification

Job description

Overview

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: CD2 £124,475.65 – £134,194.60

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract (18 months)

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 10/10/2025

Proposed Interview Date: TBC

Reference: 1901

About Us: Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

Role

As a member of both Finance and the Transformation leadership teams, the role is to support the Strategic Director of Resources in achieving a sustainable financial position over the MTFS period. This will be a key role in leading the working with the Transformation team to drive £47m costs out of the organisation. Working with both members and officers to drive out cost from the demand-led services: Temporary Accommodation, Adult Social Care, SEND and Children’s services. This is not a finance reporting nor PMO role; the successful applicant will be expected to personally deliver programmes and drive out the necessary savings (either in terms of price or number of units/demand).

Role Profile: available on request.

Key Responsibilities

• Responsible for identifying and delivering significant savings to the Council’s general fund, including challenging all services of the Council.
• Feed into the preparation of the Medium Term Financial Strategy, Annual Revenue Budget, and statutory financial returns to government, funding bodies, and the Audit Commission with regard to transformation and savings programmes.
• Identify and evaluate opportunities for service projects to secure better outcomes for the citizens of Waltham Forest whilst ensuring Value for Money.
• Develop and maintain an effective relationship with key partners, service providers, stakeholders and the wider community in order to facilitate the delivery of high quality services that meet user needs.
• Provide advice on major initiatives, partnership working, and land/development transactions to ensure the appropriate mechanisms are in place and that the technical issues raised by the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 (as amended) are dealt with in a timely and appropriate way to safeguard the council’s assets.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Educated to degree level or equivalent standard.
• Post graduate qualification or relevant professional qualification.

Terms and Conditions

The below terms and conditions apply to this role: Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks; Satisfactory declaration of interest; Continued professional body registration;

As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the Apply button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. The Council is committed to meeting its equality objectives and ensuring equality of opportunity in the workplace.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, and internal candidates are considered first for jobs graded up to and including SO2. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances while meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss flexible working options, please contact the person named below or discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit the Waltham Forest jobs site.

Contact Information: If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Rob Manning, Strategic Director of Resources at [e-mail]

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at [e-mail]

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email [e-mail] so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.