***Internal Applicants Only***

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO12 £79,119- £85,677

Contract type: Full time Permanent

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 27/02/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC

Reference: 2038

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

About the role:

Senior Finance Business Partners act as trusted advisors and critical friends for Directorate senior management and service users, including budget holders. They add value to the delivery of sound financial management and organisational decision-making. The post holder will be required to:

provide expert financial advice to senior management and elected members to inform strategic decision-making and ensure alignment with the organisation’s long-term financial goals; and
develop, implement, and monitor financial strategies that support the organisation’s objectives and enhance financial sustainability, including being a trusted advisor on transformation, efficiency and wider savings plans, programmes and initiatives.

The post holder will be required to translate complex financial information to non-financial stakeholders so that Directorates understand and take ownership of their budgets where the post holder moves from a “doing” role to a “facilitating” role. They will develop strong relationships across the organisation, and particularly with the Directorate(s) for which they are responsible, to champion good financial management, and a sound fiscal ethos, and promote the Finance team’s Service Offer across the organisation. They will also act as a liaison between Finance and operational teams, ensuring financial considerations are integrated into all business planning and (service) operational activities.

The post holder will be a senior leader within the Finance team and will support the Corporate Director of Financial Services to role model financial rigour, high-quality advice, and delivery of best practice. They will produce high-quality financial analysis and provide robust assessment of financial risk to support decision-making.

As well as being an excellent technical accountant, the post holder will think strategically and support the organisation to achieve its objectives, being aware of the political and commercial context. They will think innovatively, focus on key priorities, and make clear decisions.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

Promoting a culture of strong financial management, both within the Finance service and across the organisation.
Collaborating with Directorates to understand their financial needs and objectives, ensuring that Directorates have the requisite skills, knowledge and ongoing support to manage their own budgets.
Analysing financial data to provide risk-based insights and recommendations.
Providing specialist financial advice to ensure strong financial management and consistent financial grip.
Overseeing the delivery of prompt, accurate and meaningful management reports and translating data into meaningful outputs.
Preparing and presenting informative, high-quality reports to members and other senior stakeholders that aid in informed service and corporate decision-making.
Aligning Directorate financial strategies with overarching organisational objectives and contributing to long-term planning to ensure that the organisation remains on track from a long-term financial sustainability perspective.
Identifying financial risk and working with Directorates to mitigate those risks. Developing and maintaining robust risk management processes, identifying and mitigating financial risks to safeguard the organisation’s assets and resources.
Driving evidence-based policy making by providing financial insight.
Challenging and supporting the organisation to enhance decision-making and increase performance.
Identifying weaknesses in process compliance within the organisation and reporting on control effectiveness.
Supporting the financial evaluation and management of major projects (both revenue and capital) and initiatives, ensuring robust business cases and effective resource allocation.

Qualifications and Requirements:

Essential

Fully qualified accountant (CIPFA, ACA, ACCA, CIMA)

Evidence of post-qualification continuing professional development

Desirable

Educated to degree level or equivalent

Terms and conditions:

Standard DBS check required.
Satisfactory employment references
Satisfactory declaration of interest;
This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;
Satisfactory DBS check;
Continued professional body registration;
As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Paul Atkinson, Assistant Director Finance Business Partnering at paul.atkinson@walthamforest.gov.uk

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.