Job Description
OverviewLeeds City Council is seeking an exceptional financial leader to join us as Deputy Chief Officer - Corporate Financial Services. This is a high-impact, strategically vital role supporting the Chief Officer - Financial Services in delivering the Council's statutory Section 151 responsibilities and ensuring strong, transparent and innovative financial management across the authority. You will lead the Council's strategic budgeting, accounting and financial planning functions—shaping financial strategy, ensuring compliance, promoting best practice, and enabling informed decision-making across services, Members and senior officers. This is an opportunity to influence the long-term financial sustainability of one of the UK's largest local authorities and play a leading role in delivering excellent outcomes for the citizens of Leeds.ResponsibilitiesLead the strategic management of the Council's financial planning, budgeting, accounting and reporting functions.Provide high-level financial advice and insight to Members, senior managers and service areas to support effective and accountable decision-making.Help develop and deliver the Council's financial strategy, ensuring services align resources to priorities and operate within risk-aware, compliant frameworks.Act as the Council's Deputy Section 151 Officer, maintaining the integrity of the Council's accounts, systems and professional standards.Drive continuous improvement and modernisation in financial management practices, ensuring the service is proactive, high-performing and adding organisational value.Build strong relationships with internal and external partners, including elected Members, Trade Unions, regional bodies and other agencies.Lead, motivate and develop finance managers and teams, promoting a high-performance culture and an inclusive, people-centred approach.Contribute to cross-Council transformation, service reviews and strategic planning programmes.Ensure efficient stewardship of financial resources, assets and budgets, supporting the Council's commitment to value for money.Additional Roles & RequirementsTo manage the strategic budgeting and accounting functions of the Council, with direct responsibility for the technical and strategic functions within the Financial Management structure.To initiate and develop financial strategies, plans and policies to support the professional development of the service, ensuring delivery of compliant, proactive and highly effective professional services aligned with the Council's policies and priorities and meeting all legal and professional requirements.To assist the Assistant Chief Executive Finance, Traded and Resources in discharging their Section 151 statutory responsibilities and act as the Council's joint deputy Section 151 officer.Key RequirementsAssisting the Assistant Chief Executive Finance, Traded and Resources in planning, organising, managing and developing the provision of high quality, effective and consistent services, providing strategic leadership and management that adds value and supports the delivery of the council's strategic objectives.Delivering programmes of strategic significance to enable the council to deliver services in line with council priorities.Providing senior managers, budget holders and staff with financial information, guidance and advice to enable them to take responsibility to effectively manage their revenue and capital budgets and to align available resources to priorities.Providing financial information and advice to officers and Members to enable them to make better informed decisions.Providing overall strategic financial management of the council's finances.Providing advice and guidance to Members on all aspects of financial management.Aiming to maximise the council's financial resources within levels of acceptable risk and to support the organisation's longer-term financial sustainability, including identifying robust and deliverable savings plans for future years.Promoting efficient and effective stewardship of assets and resources.Ensuring compliance with statutory financial and professional obligations.To use strong people management skills in order to motivate, develop and performance manage staff within your service area to drive service improvements.To be responsible for the development, delivery and monitoring of a service plan area, priorities and initiatives, and to contribute and take the lead where required to ensure targets are met and improvements achieved.Actively support continuous improvement initiatives through contributing to cross-Council projects, collaborative working with partners and supporting Directorate Management Teams.Within a service area to take responsibility for maintaining effective communications with staff, service users, councillors, trade unions, partners and other stakeholders.To work with elected members, service users and community representatives in ways which support open, inclusive, responsive and accountable government.Working as a team for Leeds by developing and maintaining good working relationships with internal and external customers, other stakeholders and partners to achieve excellent outcomes for the citizens of Leeds.To provide high level advice relating to the work of the Directorate to Members and council officers so as to manage risk and support them in their respective roles.To be actively involved in preparing, managing and controlling budgets and take responsibility where appropriate for assigned budgets.As a senior leader in the Council to work flexibly as required to meet Directorate and Corporate priorities.As a leader in the organisation with key people management responsibilities to undertake duties in relation to people management and workforce policies such as Investigating Officer and Hearing Officer and to ensure these are applied within Financial Services.To motivate, develop and coach managers within your major area of the Directorate so that they manage the directorate staff and other resources to contribute towards the delivery of the Council Plan and Service Plan objectives.To support open, responsive and accountable government and ensure compliance with financial and procurement procedures.To support the role of the Council's Section 151 Officer by ensuring at all times that the integrity of the Council's accounts and financial systems and procedures are maintained and controlled in accordance with relevant codes of practice and best practice.To maintain a professional image of the finance service and to work in accordance with professional standards and ethics as laid down by the appropriate professional bodies.To develop a highly performing financial function through effective performance management, ensuring that the service adds value and supports the achievement of the Council's strategic objectives.To take the lead in the provision of financial management of the council's finances, at both corporate and directorate level including the delivery of the financial strategy, budget monitoring and the production of accounts, including statutory reporting.Supporting effective decision making by providing financial information, guidance and advice to senior officers, members, and external partners (including schools and health).To lead on the development of elements of the Council's financial strategy supporting strategic planning linking financial resources to performance and objectives, leading and supporting service reviews and service prioritisation.To lead on the development of financial management policies and practices, including communication and consultation programmes and service integration issues, with Senior Management, Members and other groups.To manage a significant Council budget within legal, statutory and Council compliance frameworks.To work in partnership across other agencies to deliver outcomes, including assuring governance arrangements.Responsible for representing the Deputy Chief Executive Council's Section 151 officer at nominated fora.Other duties which are commensurate with the grade and within the purpose of the post.QualificationsDemonstrate strong leadership and management skills to develop a high performance culture across the service(s) where everyone can achieve their potential and 'feel they count' and where there is a drive to deliver the most efficient and effective solutions. There is evidence of a high performing, engaged and productive workforce along with effective leadership and management that leads to focussed solutions and quality outcomes.Contribute to and influence the strategic direction of the service area working with a range of internal and external partners and stakeholders and Business plans are in place for the service, and contingencies are identified so that plan objectives can be met.Lead the development, implementation, promotion and evaluation of strategies and policies. Contribute to overarching strategies and the management of key plans, projects and programs at an organisational, directorate wide and local level. You use strong leadership and management skills to develop innovative strategies to support a high performing culture where the service's plan and policies are translated into excellent service outcomes.Collaboration & innovation: Create a vision and direction that challenges and looks beyond the obvious and inspires and motivates others to achieve by driving change, leading by example and promoting the ambition to become the best city. There are examples of innovation in managing and implementing solutions on complex issues and in transformational change programmes.Establish, develop and maintain effective and collaborative working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders and partners to improve and enhance service delivery and innovation ensuring the Council promotes, secures resources and is effective in delivering its agenda through work with peers, Members and other partner organisations...
