What's involved with this role: JOB TITLE: Strategic Finance Manager REF: Barking 1692-1 Pay rate: £71.43 per hour PAYE, TBC (Provisional rate) Contract Type: Temporary, Anticipated 6 months Working Arrangement: Hybrid working available, subject to line management agreement and attendance at meetings as required The role: On behalf of a local council, we are seeking a Strategic Finance Manager to work within a Housing, Environment and Communities team with experience in options appraisal and driving/ influencing change in service operating model. You will provide expert financial input into the implementation of the new agency leisure contract and other procurements, contracts, and commercial decisions undertaken in the Enforcement division and Inclusive Growth directorate. Key Responsibilities: Establish and maintain procedures for posting private rented property licences (PRPL) into the financial ledger in line with PRPL regulations. Conduct monthly reviews of enforcement income forecasts, incorporating year-to-date trends and service-level insights to ensure robust financial planning. Support service managers to conduct quarterly reviews of rechargeable costs to the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and other internal services, contributing to accurate full-year financial forecasts. Provide line management and professional oversight for one service accountant and an apprentice that fosters their development. Provide financial analysis and modelling to support Enforcement divisions on-going staff reorganisation and deliver evidence to support final decision-making on the restructure. Ensure services are delivering on saving proposals and where proposals are slipping supporting the service to find alternative savings for the year. Lead year end closing activities for service areas indicated above and respond to audit queries emanating from the year end process. Lead financial planning, budgetary control, capital financing and capital programme management processes including setting a balanced budget, evidence-based forecasting and be accountable for the accuracy and reliability of the financial data and information submitted for the Enforcement division in Housing, Environment Communities (HEC) directorate and the Inclusive Growth directorate. What the client is looking for: CCAB/CIMA qualified accountant (e.g., CIPFA, ACA, ACCA, CIMA) or equivalent. Experience in local authority finance systems and housing/communities sector financial frameworks. Proven track record in a senior finance role within local government, housing, environment, communities, or related public sector services. Experience in options appraisal and providing financial insight into large-scale service redesign and procurement projects. Demonstrated success in supporting senior managers with evidence-based decision-making on restructures, contracts, and commercial initiatives. Direct experience managing budgets, delivering savings proposals, and ensuring compliance with financial regulations. Previous involvement in year-end processes, including closing accounts and responding to audit queries. Experience in capital programme management and setting balanced budgets. Line management experience, including supporting the development of accountants or apprentices. Familiarity with Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA), enforcement income, and private rented property licensing (PRPL) or similar schemes How to Apply Quote the Job Title and Reference Number in your application. Submit your CV in Word format. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis —early submission is recommended. We will also add your details to our mail out lists. Please note you may receive details of roles outside of your immediate vicinity, as many candidates are able to relocate temporarily for work. Please disregard any such emails that are not of interest and let us know if you would rather not receive such mailouts and/or if you wish us to delete your details and prefer to apply direct to our advertised roles. If you do not hear from us within three working days, unfortunately your application has not been shortlisted on this occasion. Thank you for your interest in working with us Please quote the Job Title & Vacancy Reference No. in your application, or we will be unable to match your CV to the role being applied for. AD Please note that clients invariably ask us to strip out contact details from CVs before we submit them for consideration. This is always quicker and easier to do if you send your CV to us in Word format, rather than as a PDF please.