Finance Business Partner

Cambridgeshire County Council; Huntingdonshire; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government authority in the United Kingdom is seeking a Senior Finance Business Partner to lead the financial aspects of business planning and budgeting, oversee an established finance apprenticeship program, and manage financial contributions to local government reorganisation efforts. The ideal candidate will be a fully qualified accountant with strong technical skills, proactive work ethic, and experience building constructive relationships in a finance environment.

Benefits

Comprehensive wellbeing package

Additional annual leave through salary sacrifice scheme

Flexible bank holidays

Tax savings on pension contributions

Development opportunities and coaching

Paid volunteering hours

Peer Support Groups for inclusion

Employee Recognition Awards

Access to discounts and rewards schemes

Qualifications

• Commitment and self-motivation in a finance role.
• Ability to manage a varied workload effectively.
• Support with business planning process.

Responsibilities

• Driving the financial business planning process and ensuring budget robustness.
• Leading financial input into local government reorganisation.
• Managing the finance apprenticeship scheme.
• Supporting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategies.

Skills

Strong technical skills

Ability to build constructive relationships

Experience in local authority finance

Proactive work ethic

Collaboration with senior stakeholders

Education

Fully qualified accountant or equivalent experience

Job description

Overview

The Finance Service at Cambridgeshire County Council plays a pivotal role in safeguarding public funds and ensuring value for money for local taxpayers. We are a diverse, well-regarded team at the heart of organisational decision-making, supporting leaders across the Council with high-quality financial insight and stewardship. With local government reorganisation underway in Cambridgeshire, we are entering a period of significant change. This brings both challenges and opportunities, and we are strengthening our team to provide the focus and capacity needed to support this transformation. We are recruiting a Senior Finance Business Partner to lead the financial elements of the Council's business planning and budgeting processes, and to play a central role in shaping the funding and financial framework for local government reorganisation. The role will also oversee our long-running and successful finance apprenticeship programme. You will report to the Strategic Finance Business Partner for Corporate Finance and work closely with the Head of Finance, senior leaders, and directors across the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Driving the Council's corporate financial business planning process, ensuring funding assumptions and proposed budget changes are robust and evidence-based
• Integrating revenue, capital and treasury planning into a unified and co-ordinated financial planning process
• Leading the financial input into local government reorganisation, including budgeting, funding analysis, and contributing to the finance workstream of the LGR programme
• Managing and developing the Council's finance apprenticeship scheme, building on more than 25 years of successful professional development
• Working closely with the Head of Finance and other senior colleagues, contributing to a varied and stimulating workload with opportunities to develop new skills and shape the future of the service
• Supporting the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and IDEAL network to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment

Qualifications and Experience

We are seeking a committed and self-motivated finance professional who can bring both energy and expertise to this role. Alongside strong technical skills, you will be able to build constructive relationships across the Finance Service and the wider Council, supporting a robust business planning process and helping to deliver the financial elements of local government reorganisation. You will be a fully qualified accountant, or otherwise qualified by experience, with the confidence to work proactively, manage a varied workload, and collaborate effectively with peers and senior stakeholders. Experience within a local authority environment would be an advantage, but we welcome applications from finance professionals with transferable skills who are operating at, or aspiring to operate at, this level.

Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.

Benefits

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro-rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
• Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
• Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth
• Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
• Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
• Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards
• An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes