Head of Business Partnering

Job Title: Head of Business Partnering (Adults & Health)

Application closing date: Sunday 12th January 2025 at 23:59pm

Location: Civic Offices, 2 Watling Street, Bexleyheath, DA6 7AT

Salary: £65,764pa - £76,152pa (inclusive of Bexley Choices)

Employment Type: Permanent

Bexley is an outer London Borough, offering a unique blend of urban and rural living, making it an ideal place to experience the best of both worlds. It sits conveniently between the vibrant energy of central London and the serene landscapes of Kent, known as the Garden of England. The Borough is home to several award-winning parks and open spaces, and boasts a number of listed heritage sites, adding historical charm and character to the area.

The challenges faced by Bexley Council reflect broader national trends, as rising energy costs, increasing demand for vital social care services, and the growing costs of essential goods and services place significant pressure on local finances. These pressures make it more difficult to meet the ever-growing needs of the community, but despite these hurdles, the council remains dedicated to its mission of prioritising the services that matter most to residents.

We are looking to appoint a Head of Business Partnering across the following area: Adults & Health.

Key Responsibilities include:

• To proactively lead the financial advice and support within Business Partnering, particularly with reference to delivering savings and maximising service outcomes to residents.
• To proactively identify areas of weak financial management, risks and pressures and to work with the relevant service to improve them
• To work with directors and senior stakeholders to ensure they have the information and tools and develop the skills to manage their finances themselves.
• To lead, manage and motivate staff through excellent communication, professional guidance, support and development in accordance with the council's policies and procedures.
• To collaborate with stakeholders to proactively identify areas where finance can add value, including in particular better use of financial data analytics.
• Contributes to the development and monitoring of service level agreements, KPls, defining respective roles and responsibilities and quality service delivery.
• To deliver the wider finance activities such as closure of accounts, budget development.
• Lead in providing strategic financial advice to enable services to deliver continuous improvement in line with corporate priorities and the Council's Medium Term Financial Strategy, encouraging services to always be looking several years ahead.
• To ensure effective financial support to programmes and projects, this will include financial modelling, preparation and the review of business cases and providing advice on commercial aspects of projects
• To work with the relevant stakeholders and senior teams, to analyse business objectives, activity drivers and performance issues and identify prioritised financial strategies and plans designed to meet financial needs.
• Attendance at evening meetings will be required.

To be suitable for the role you need to hold a CCAB/CIMA accountancy qualification or equivalent. You will have extensive accounting and budgetary experience and a sound knowledge of local government finance frameworks including S.151, statutory requirements and relevant codes of practice and influences on the strategic finances of the authority.

For more information about the role please refer to Home | Bexley-draft or for a confidential discussion contact Rob Phillips at Allen Lane - robertphillips@allenlane.co.uk or 07921 336 507.

To apply, please submit your CV to bexley@allenlane.co.uk alongside a supporting statement (no more than two pages) stating why you are interested in applying, what you can bring to this role and highlighting your relevant experience and suitability.

Equal opportunities

Bexley Council is an inclusive employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Subject to business needs, we will be pleased to consider applications from candidates seeking flexible working arrangements and support hybrid working, whereby staff attend the workplace for part of their working week and work from home, or elsewhere, remotely for the rest of the time.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the advertised role.

Bexley Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment.