Principal Finance Officer

Principal Finance Officer

Role Context and Purpose

The Finance Directorate plays a leading role in shaping the future of the Client, by being responsive to customer and stakeholder needs through an empowered, flexible and commercially focused team and by aligning resources to provide a professional service appropriate to future organisational needs.

This is in addition to keeping the organisation safe and secure through appropriate financial control. The Directorate will ensure that the basics are done well with emphasis on challenging the client to spend its money better, especially in the context of becoming more strategic and forward looking.

This role will provide reliable, efficient and effective flexible support to a team (or across teams) of a high level administrative nature relating to the delivery of a specialist financial service. Including responding to typical client queries, giving standard information and guidance relating to the service, maintaining records and producing standard correspondence providing support and day to day processing according to set procedures.

Person Specification

Level of Knowledge

• Thorough and authoritative understanding of technical theories, issues and related principles in a specialist professional area.
• Advanced knowledge of MS Excel and comprehensive knowledge of either SAP finance or equivalent IT finance package. Sound and accurate overall IT knowledge including Microsoft Office.

Qualifications and Professional Membership

• Relevant degree or equivalent qualification or experience which demonstrates that level of applied and theoretical knowledge, plus knowledge of the related systems, procedures and policies.
• Relevant chartered status of a professional body e.g. CIPFA or equivalent high level experience of involved practices.

Experience

• Significant experience delivering either a professional accountancy service with a high level accountability for resources on behalf of various clients.
• Experience line managing staff and developing an effective team to work together to meet objectives.
• Experience contributing to setting and monitoring budgets and plans for a specific service within a large organisation or for a small overall business.

Skills

Key skill 1

• Excellent analytical skills in order to interpret complex and varied financial and/or performance information and develop practical l plans, strategies and budgetary solutions with an awareness of performance outcomes

Key skill 2

• Strong problem solving and decision making skills with the ability to make sound pragmatic decisions that take into account the on-going impact on performance and resources.

Key skill 3

• Strong customer focus with the ability to work as a key client contact and provide a professional service to meet their needs.

Key skill 4

• Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills in order to interact effectively with a range of high level clients and create and maintain effective working relationships. Including the ability to challenge and influence clients to make financial decisions that they would not otherwise make, to promote understanding of technical information and to successfully advise and guide clients to make sound decisions which could have a significant impact.

Key skill 5

• Effective people management skills including performance management skills and the ability to provide direction and support to individuals and teams.

Key skill 6

• Ability to adapt to changing situations in a measured and flexible manner in order to adapt the service provided to respond to changes in circumstances whether
• legislative, structural, client related etc.
• Ability to forward plan over the long term, making effective judgements in order to continuously develop and review the effectiveness of service and staff to meet deadlines and objectives.
• Advanced technical skills in the use of MS Excel and good specialist use of SAP finance or similar financial database application for accountancy. Including the ability to perform complex financial calculations and manipulate statistics.
• Sound and accurate overall IT and keyboard skills, for daily office duties (for example using e-mail/ producing reports).

Rate of Pay

PAYE: £24.51

Umbrella: £32

Location: PO191RQ