Apprentice –Professional Finance/Audit Practitioner
Fixed Term for 4 years
Grade 4 - £34,434- £37,280. Consultation grade - subject to formal evaluation under the Pay Equity Review.
Working 36.5 hours per week
Aim of the Programme
Birmingham City Council is looking to help shape the future leaders of public finance by recruiting people who are ready to grow and adapt with the changing needs of our Local communities.
This is not just about gaining a finance qualification—it is about helping you grow into a confident and capable leader.
Our 4-year Apprenticeship programme is both exciting and supportive, giving you the tools and experience to build a meaningful career in public service:
Achieve a Level 7 Accountancy Professional Apprenticeshipwith CIPFA to become a Chartered Public Finance Accountant.
* Gain a breadth of work experience, both finance and non-finance through a structured programme of work placements.
* Receive expert guidance and mentoring throughout the programme.
* Discover an excellent benefits package that improves as your training progresses.
* Realise long-term career opportunities at Birmingham City Council when your programme ends.
We welcome enthusiastic and motivated individuals who are ready to learn, grow, and make a real difference in our community.
What is the Programme?
Professional studies
As part of our apprenticeship programme, you will attend face to face workshop session and complete online classes to study for the CIPFA Professional Qualification. We will:
* Cover the cost of your training, exams, and student membership fees
* Birmingham City Council supports a generous amount of study time to assist in your development with 20% of your working time allocated to off the job learning. This time will cover day release to attend workshops, study days, and attendance at examinations.
Your day-to-day work programme is designed to help you build an impressive CIPFA Portfolio. We will
* Pay the End Point Assessment submission fee,
* Offer you the opportunity to gain sufficiently diverse work experience, and
* Provide support to allow you to develop your project report.
We recognise that professional qualifications can be challenging. We will:
* Support you throughout your studies, including with your preparations for exams.
* If you need to resit an exam, we will cover the cost of one resit per stage in the CIPFA qualification (Certificate, Diploma and Final Stage).
Starting in December 2025, you will undertake the Level 7 Accountancy Professional Apprenticeship, rotating between a number of our teams, giving you the chance to gain invaluable experience.
A breadth of work experience designed to inspire
In your four years with us, you will gain invaluable finance and wider leadership experience, through a programme of rotational work placements, of varying lengths each. The placements cover the eight Statement of Expertise areas in the CIPFA Portfolio:
Financial and performance reporting, including producing our annual accounts, statutory returns to central government and VAT;
* Strategic and operational financial management, including budget setting and monitoring;
* Audit and accountability, including the opportunity for a placement with Internal Audit and working closely with external audit;
* Partnership and stakeholder relations;
* Change, risk and project management;
* Procurement and contract management;
* Governance, ethics and values; and
* Leadership and strategic management, including supervising staff, typically in year 4.
This programme gives you a solid grounding in both financial and management accounting, along with hands-on experience across our core services. With a wide range of placements and learning opportunities, you’ll gain a clear understanding of your strengths, interests, and the career path that’s right for you.
You will start as an apprentice, with little or no prior knowledge of local authorities or Finance and become a qualified CIPFA accountant within 4 years, at which point you’ll be expected to progress to a Senior Business Analyst (subject to KPI’s being achieved).
Long-term career opportunities at Birmingham City Council
The apprenticeship programme concludes when you become a full member of CIPFA and achieve Chartered Public Finance Accountant status—typically within 3 to 3.5 years and you have completed and passed the End Point Assessment. As you approach the end of the programme, we’ll work with you to explore permanent opportunities within Birmingham City Council, subject to your performance and career goals.
We’re proud that many of our senior leaders began their journey as apprentices, and we’re committed to helping you build a long, rewarding career here. If you choose to apply for internal roles before the programme ends, we’ll support a smooth and successful transition into your next chapter.
Benefits of working at Birmingham City Council
* 30 days annual leave –Increases to 33 days after 5 years and 35 days after 10 years, plus option to purchase additional leave
* Access to voluntary benefits providers that support health, wellbeing and making the most of your leisure time
* Family friendly policies e.g., maternity/adoption, paternity, shared parental leave, carers’ leave
* Health and wellbeing support networkse.g., independent, and confidential employee assistance and counselling, occupational health, etc.
* Employee communities and support groupsincluding Corporate Black Workers Support Group, Disability and LGBT+ Networks, Menopause Support Forum, etc.
* We are a disability confident employer
* Membership of job-related pension scheme, West Midlands Pension Fund or Teachers’ Pensions, with generous employer contributions
* Access to ‘My Rewards’ –over 800 individual brands providing discounts and savingsincluding high street stores, supermarkets, utility, and insurance providers, as well as great days out … to name but a few!
* Opportunities to join greatsalary sacrifice schemese.g., Cycle to Work, Annual Travel and Car Parking, as well as making the most of Tax and National Insurance savings (additional schemes to launch soon)
For any informal enquires please contact:Resourcing@birmingham.gov.uk
Please upload your up-to-date CV via the attachments part of your application, this is required for shortlisting. Unfortunately, we cannot consider any applications without a CV attached.
Birmingham City Council is an accredited Disability Confident Leader employer, andwe arecommitted to employing, retaining and developing all of our people.
We want to ensure your recruitment journey with us is a positive and equitable one, so please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments, additional support, accessibility needs, or if there is any way in which we can support you through your application.
We are dedicated to supporting internal mobility and the development of our people. As such, applications from internal employees and those under S118 will be given priority and reviewed before external applications are considered.
We welcome applications from people with caring responsibilities and flexible working options will be considered.
Proof of Right to work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance withUK Home Office requirements, before any employment offer can be confirmed.
Job Description and PersonSpecification
We strive to advertise all roles for a minimum of two weeks. However, due to high application volumes vacancies may close earlier than the stated deadline. We encourage you to submit your application without delay to ensure consideration.
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