Senior Finance Officer Role A

Licensed sponsor Hove Flexi Hours Posted 11 hours ago

Do you enjoy working with numbers and using financial information to solve problems?

Can you explain financial information clearly and build effective relationships with Budget Holders and colleagues?

Would you like to develop your experience in local authority capital finance within a supportive and collaborative team?

If so, we would like to hear from you.

We are looking for a proactive and organised Senior Finance Officer to join our team. You will enjoy working with numbers, solving problems and working collaboratively with others to provide valuable financial support to our capital programme and corporate revenue budgets.

Interview Date: Friday 11 December 2026

This post is being advertised on a fixed term basis for 2 years.

Please email Haley Woollard, Head of Corporate Finance and Deputy Chief Finance Officer, at haley.woollard@brighton-hove.gov.uk if you'd like a discussion about this role.

About the Role

You will principally support the Principal Accountant (Capital) with the effective financial management of the Council's £250m annual capital programme. You will also provide business partnering support to the council's Central Hub revenue budgets.

Your work will include:

supporting the preparation and timely monitoring of the capital programme and corporate revenue budgets;

assisting with the council's Capital Strategy and preparing the 5 year Capital Investment Programme;

supporting the closure of accounts for capital;

liaising with budget holders and senior managers to produce timely and robust forecasts;

supporting the council's Capital Programme Board;

providing financial advice and information to budget holders and project managers;

completion of government returns.

About you

We are looking for someone who is proactive and organised and who enjoys working with financial information, solving problems and working collaboratively with others.

We are particularly looking for someone who can:

Confidently analyse financial information and solve problems, using numerical and analytical skills to contribute to budgeting, forecasting, monitoring and identifying issues and working through potential solutions;

Use data and digital tools effectively, working comfortably with excel and financial systems;

collaborate with a diverse range of stakeholders, and be able to explain financial information clearly and build positive and inclusive relationships with colleagues with differing levels of financial knowledge and experience

be organised, accurate and willing to learn, being able to prioritise work to meet deadlines and produce accurate and robust financial information.

In return, we can offer:

The opportunity to gain valuable experience in finance within a large portfolio.

Ongoing training and development, helping you build skills and progress your career within finance

The chance to work in a supportive and collaborative team where knowledge is shared and continuous improvement is encouraged

Flexible working arrangements to support a health work-life balance

A supportive and inclusive working environment, with access to staff networks

A local government pension scheme and family-friendly policies

Employee benefits including discount schemes and a cycle-to-work programme

Encouraging a diverse workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).

Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:

be connected
be confident
be innovative and creative
be diverse and inclusive
be healthy and psychologically safe

For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.

How to apply

Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.

As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

AI advice for candidates

We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.

We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.

All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.

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