Functional Compliance Lead

West Northamptonshire Council; Northampton; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government organization in Northampton seeks a Functional Compliance Lead to ensure compliance and audit readiness within their ERP systems. This role involves collaborating with stakeholders, interpreting regulations, and leading improvements in compliance workflows. Candidates must have strong ERP compliance knowledge and experience in audit workstreams. A supportive working culture focused on ambition and innovation awaits applicants.

Qualifications

• Strong experience of compliance or audit workstreams within ERP or finance systems.
• Deep understanding of financial controls, audit expectations, and statutory frameworks.
• Ability to interpret complex regulations and apply them in a system context.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for statutory, financial and audit compliance within the Business Systems team.
• Interpreting financial regulations ensuring ERP configurations align to audit standards.
• Driving improvements to compliance workflows in collaboration with Finance, Audit, and IT.

Skills

ERP compliance knowledge

Financial control frameworks

Analytical mindset

Stakeholder management

Problem-solving

Education

Professional qualifications (e.g. AAT, ACCA, CIPFA, CISA, ITIL)

Job description

We’re looking for a Functional Compliance Lead to join our ERP (Business Systems) team at West Northamptonshire Council. This is a key role in a complex, multi-organisation environment where compliance, transparency, and audit readiness are vital. You’ll act as the subject matter expert on statutory, financial, and audit compliance within our shared ERP environment, ensuring our systems meet legislative and regulatory expectations.

Reporting to the Compliance & Improvement Manager, you’ll be responsible for compliance assurance, risk identification, audit preparation and responses, and system integrity. You’ll work closely with stakeholders across Finance, Audit, and IT, as well as providing technical support and leadership to Compliance Officers and Analysts.

This is a great opportunity for someone with strong ERP compliance knowledge, a practical understanding of financial control frameworks, and an analytical mindset who’s confident working with stakeholders and complex audit challenges. If you’re looking for a high-impact role in a collaborative team, this could be the right fit.

Our benefits

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council.

What will you be doing?

1. Responsible for statutory, financial and audit compliance within the Business Systems team
2. Interpreting financial regulations and ensuring ERP configurations align to audit standards
3. Designing, testing, and implementing controls to protect data integrity, access, and traceability
4. Responding to internal and external audit queries and ensuring timely, accurate evidence is provided
5. Supporting system changes and upgrades by overseeing compliance testing and risk assessments
6. Driving improvements to compliance workflows in collaboration with Finance, Audit, and IT
7. Providing day-to-day support, guidance and escalation for Compliance Analysts and Officers
8. Supporting onboarding of new entities/systems from a compliance and governance perspective

About you

You’ll bring:

• Strong experience of compliance or audit workstreams within ERP or finance systems
• A deep understanding of financial controls, audit expectations and statutory frameworks
• Confidence working across functions and with stakeholders including auditors and IT
• The ability to interpret complex regulations and apply them in a system context
• Proactive problem-solving, with a mindset focused on improvement and assurance
• Ideally, professional qualifications (e.g. AAT, ACCA, CIPFA, CISA, ITIL) or significant equivalent experience
• Comfort working in a multi-stakeholder environment and motivation to protect system integrity and enhance compliance standards

About us

At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, innovate with new ideas, demand better ways of working, care about every detail, and embrace challenges. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences and opportunities, empowering your career and connecting you with like-minded colleagues.

Our vision is “to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive”. We uphold our corporate values, THRIVE—Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate, and Empower—which underpin everything we do.

Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it’s like to work at West Northants Council.

We are committed to diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion. As a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner, we support all colleagues to develop and reach their full potential. For additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, please email [e-mail].