Interim Assistant Director of Finance & Governance (Deputy S151 Officer) - Basildon Borough Council

Basildon Borough Council

Temporary (6 months), Full Time

£750 - £850 per day

Location: Basildon

Closing Date: 20th August 2026

Essex County Council (ECC) are delighted to be supporting Basildon Council to recruit an interim Assistant Director Finance & Governance (deputy S151 Officer). Please note his is a temporary opportunity for a period of 6 months, with the expectation of being in the office a minimum of 3 days per week.

Role Purpose

The postholder will provide strategic leadership across the Council’s Finance and Governance Services, including Revenues and Benefits, Commercial and Procurement, and Audit and Risk, while acting as Deputy Section 151 Officer. They will provide expert financial and governance advice to senior leaders and elected members, lead the delivery of key priorities, policies and strategies, and ensure compliance with statutory requirements. The role will support income generation and service improvement, promote collaboration and best practice across the organisation, and champion the Council’s equality and diversity objectives. The successful candidate will provide visible leadership through clear communication, maintain an office presence of at least three days per week, and lead service committees while supporting Scrutiny Committees.

Accountabilities

To support the Executive Director of Resources & Governance, in developing and delivering the corporate vision, value and priorities of the Council and the projects for which the post holder is responsible.

To ensure the delivery of the council’s finance, commercial procurement, insurance, audit, risk and revenues and benefits services. To lead, direct and effectively manage high performing, customer focused services, ensure that the Council performs its duties in accordance with relevant statutory obligations and the principles of good governance.

Build strong corporate partnering and commissioning relationships with partners, governmental bodies and stakeholders ensuring that influence and evidence is used to promote better outcomes for Basildon’s community.

To focus on service improvement issues working under the direction of the Executive Director of Resources & Governance, and in partnership with the Council’s chosen support partners on the service improvement journey and to lead on special projects to deliver service improvements and redesign, both on their own and within a team to enhance efficiency and to meet key performance indicators.

Ensure the strategic development of the Revenues and Benefits shared service with Brentwood and Castle Point and explore further opportunities for the provision of Revenues, Benefits and create, develop and implement wider partnership opportunities across the relevant services and corporately.

Champion good governance through the Local Code of Governance and provide the independent assurance to the Council on the overall corporate governance arrangements and assurance framework through regular routine reports to Members and Senior Management, and the provision of the Annual Governance Statement and the Annual Audit Opinion.

To ensure the provision of timely, quality financial and governance advice and support to a range of major corporate projects, as well as supporting the Chief Executive to deliver and enforce the council’s ethical and governance frameworks.

To manage organisational talent by leading and inspiring individuals, ensuring that effective succession planning exists and building robust, resilient and measurable capacity and capability throughout the service areas and across the organisation.

Maintain current and broad knowledge of all portfolio related topics in order to advise upon, develop and implement agreed policies, strategies and practices to enable delivery of effective council services and new ways of working.

Deploy internal resources and co-ordinate and manage external service providers to provide a consistently reliable service for the day to day delivery of all Basildon Council’s priorities, within agreed budgets. Ensuring effective management and delegation arrangements are in place and contributing to organisational savings initiatives and efficiency requirements.

To carry out efficient and effective performance and financial management ensuring that appropriate corrective action is taken promptly when necessary and that budgets are adhered to.

To attend and provide professional guidance and advice to any relevant Committee, Sub-Committees and working parties and to be responsible for authoring committee reports, interpreting policies and preparing proposals and recommendations as required.

Deputise for the Executive Director of Resources and Governance, as required.

To be the responsible Information Asset Owner for the service; leading and fostering a culture that values, protects and uses information for the public good by actively managing the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all information assets within the service areas.

You must plan, direct, control and monitor all Health and Safety matters; ensuring you demonstrate you’re committed to Health and Safety by leading by example.

Undertake all the duties within the framework of Equal Opportunities

You must ensure that you comply at all times with the General Data Protection Act, relating to personal information held by the Council. Any employee who mis-uses, accesses or discloses personal data relating to a living individual without checking that it is to be used for an authorised purpose relevant to the Authority, may be prosecuted in a Criminal Court, as well as facing disciplinary action.

Any other duties appropriate to the post: These other duties must be equivalent to or below the salary and status of the role and, where appropriate, under the Equality Act 2010, due consideration must be given to any employees with a “protected characteristic”.

The Experience You Will Bring

CCAB qualified or equivalent i.e. CIMA re S151 regs.
Membership of an appropriate professional body.
Evidence of CPD re: professional body requirements, plus additional wider as appropriate.
Demonstrable experience of providing effective and expert financial and governance assurance advice and guidance in a complex political environment.
Significant experience of successfully leading, managing, motivating, developing and inspiring teams through significant periods of change.
Proven experience of dealing with Chief Executive, key stakeholders and elected Councillors at all levels within a local government context.
Significant experience in Local Government constitution, financial regulations and Local Code of Governance.
Demonstrable experience of negotiating at a high level with a range of stakeholders including within complex political environments.
Experience of delivering complex services and making successful improvements to processes and the services.
Flexibility and ability to work under pressure including meeting deadlines and managing a complex workload simultaneously.
Experience and expert knowledge of the statutory requirement and operational delivery of an internal audit service to a major public body.
Experience and knowledge of the operational delivery of an insurance service to a major public body.
Experience of working in pursuit of collaborative/organisational goals.
Takes control and exercises leadership. Initiates action, gives direction and takes responsibility.
Supports others and shows respect and positive regard for them in social situations. Puts people first, working effectively with individuals and teams, clients and staff. Behaves consistently with clear personal values that complement those of the organisation.
Communicates and networks effectively. Successfully persuades and influences others. Relates to others in a confident and relaxed manner.
Shows evidence of clear analytical thinking. Gets to the heart of complex problems and issues. Applies own expertise effectively. Quickly learns new technology. Communicate well in writing.
Open to new ideas and experiences. Seeks out learning opportunities. Handles situations and problems with innovation and creativity. Thinks broadly and strategically. Support and drives organisational change.
Plans ahead and works in a systematic and organised way. Follows directions and procedures. Focuses on customer satisfaction and delivers a quality service or product to the agreed standards.
Adapts and responds well to change. Manages pressure effectively and copes well with setbacks.
Focuses on results and achieving personal work objectives. Works best when work is related closely to results and the impact of personal efforts is obvious. Shows an understanding of business, commerce and finance. Seeks opportunities for self-development and career advancement.

If you would like to see a copy of the full role profile, please email thea.towers@essex.gov.uk

Basildon Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults, and expects all employees, contractors and volunteers to share its commitment to prevent abuse, harm or exploitation.

The Council applies a robust recruitment vetting process. If you are successful you will need to undergo a Pre-employment Vetting Procedure.