Senior Programme Accountant

Senior Programme Accountant | 10870 | 12 Month Fixed Term Contract | 37 hours per week | £58,790 to £64,684 per annum (Scale M) | County Hall, Norwich

This Senior Programme Accountant - Children's Services is focussed on supporting Children's Services to deliver it's transformation.  It provides dedicated financial support to the Children’s Services change programme.  The role will develop, plan and monitor the financial costs and benefits for the service, potentially including the impact across the wider system where the interventions and financing is influenced through integrated and partnership working.

Do you like a challenge?  Do you enjoy working with numbers and have an affinity with people?  Are you good at communicating and influencing?  Are you motivated and enthusiastic to support and enable transformational change in the public sector?  If yes, then this role may well give you the opportunity to take the next step in your career. 

We are offering an exceptional opportunity for one CCAB qualified accountant to join us in Norfolk County Council’s Financial Management community. Working for the Children's Services Finance Business Partner and Assistant Director – Local First Inclusion and Dedicated Schools Grant Strategic Lead (Children’s Services), this role offers you the chance to enable, support and drive real change for one of the Council’s most important services.  

Children’s Services is currently on an ambitious, transformational change journey to improve outcomes for children, young people and families in Norfolk by meeting their needs earlier, whilst reducing demand for specialist support, as recently evidenced by our Outstanding ILACS inspection outcome earlier this year. 

Our transformation also aims to improve inclusion for all children in Norfolk, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.  This role plays a vital part in enabling this transformation to be successfully delivered within the resources available, shaping key investment decisions and the direction of travel while ensuring the financial impact is understood and tracked.  

Whilst a finance role, the postholder will be embedded into the change programme within Children’s Services. You will therefore get the opportunity to be part of a wide array of interesting and thought-provoking pieces of work.  In working closely with both programme managers, service leads, and other accountants you will have plenty of opportunities to develop and enhance your existing skill set. 

You will be expected to have a level of technical financial skills to support non-financial staff with the creation of business cases and key project documentation.  You will need to be able to balance both challenge and support as we seek to ensure our investment of taxpayer monies is based on strong evidence and offers value for money.  You will need to work closely with the service department, the wider finance team, and external partners to monitor and evaluate the financial benefits associated with the changes we are making.  At times you will be asked to look into specific topics in detail, while at others, you will need to employ a more strategic approach and mindset.

We are looking for a confident individual, who is solutions focused and can remain calm under pressure.  It is crucial that you are both competent with numbers but also have an ability to be effective in communicating and influencing.  Whilst a very rewarding role, at times the job will present you with challenges and therefore it is important that you are adaptable and resilient in your approach.  You will be supported in your pursuits, and each day will be varied and interesting.  If you are the right person for the job, we don’t believe that you will ever be bored in the role. 

For an initial informal discussion regarding this vacancy, please contact Seán Salter, Finance Business Partner (Children's Services) – [email protected]

These are some benefits you can enjoy by working for Norfolk County Council:

• Competitive salary

• Generous holiday entitlement

• Health and Wellbeing services including fast-track physiotherapy and a free counselling service

• Flexible working opportunities including flexi-time, part time, remote and hybrid working – dependent on your job role and business need. 

• Financial benefits such as:

  • ‘Norfolk Rewards’ our employee discounts programme which helps you save money on almost anything, from everyday groceries and clothes, to holidays, new technology, gym membership, trips to the cinema and days out.   

  • A Blue Light card for Fire Service and Social Care Workers

  • Relocation expenses (where applicable)

  • An advance of your expenses if you travel for work

  • Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution, life assurance, death in service payments and dependants’ pensions

  • Tax efficient ways of getting extra pension and new bikes

  • Access to our tax efficient car lease scheme for greener travel enabling you to lease a brand new, ultra-low emission vehicle (subject to eligibility)

  • A payment if you refer someone you know to a hard to fill job

We want our people to be inspired and motivated to work well together, make the most of our workspaces, enjoy a healthy work-life balance, and deliver excellent services to Norfolk and its people. Flexibility is built into the way we work, with hybrid working a key feature for many roles. Our technology platform and equipment are first class, enabling you to connect and collaborate remotely. We ask that you have in place good Broadband connectivity.

Before you apply, we recommend reading the full Job description and person specification to help you demonstrate how you meet the criteria. You can also find information on our Terms and Conditions here.

Already a Norfolk County Council employee? See and apply for all internal and external vacancies via myOracle using your @norfolk.gov.uk or @nccal.ac.uk email.

Redeployment closing date: 14 September 2026 23:59

All other applicants closing date: 21 September 2026 23:59