Principal Accountant

The role

The Role

An exciting development opportunity has arisen to appoint a Principal Accountant to fill one of two Principal Accountant posts within Accountancy. This post will give the successful candidate invaluable experience across the board of technical accounting and give the opportunity for them to lead their own sub team of Senior Accountants. This post is a great opportunity for a Senior Accountant wanting to step into management.

The team’s primary task is to close the accounts for both Wandsworth and Richmond Councils, including the production of the Statement of Accounts and assisting to lead the team and wider finance colleagues through the subsequent external audit. The team also has the day to day responsibility for capital (strategy, reporting and financing), financial accounting, the Collection Fund, a large combined investment portfolio of £1bn, treasury and cashflow management, banking administration, asset accounting, and VAT.

The appointed Principal Accountant will likely lead the team on treasury management for both boroughs and also lead closing and the audit of one borough, with other responsibilities where needed. It is anticipated Principal Accountants rotate specialisms every 2 years to facilitate progression and training at this level.

As a lead member of this technical team, you will have an analytical mind, be a well-developed communicator, be self-motivated and be committed to providing good customer care. The Principal Accountant posts are designed to provide a great opportunity for talented and ambitious professionals to gain experience in a wide breadth of accounting areas and in working for the two Councils in a single role.

The Principal Accountant post holders will work closely with the Head of Accountancy in providing high quality technical work year-round and in the day to day development of the Senior Accountants who will support them in the team’s ambition to be a high level technical knowledge hub. The post holders will also support the continuous improvement in the Accountancy Service through project work, and the planning and implementation of quality initiatives.

You will have knowledge of statutory financial reporting requirements and financial regulations combined with some experience of leading an area within local authority accounting or extensive knowledge of an area within the teams remit. Experience in Treasury Management, and closing and the audit of accounts is desirable but not essential.

The Accountancy Service is based in Wandsworth Town Hall and the team are currently working between home locations and the office.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to someone about the roles, please contact Steve Carter, Chief Accountant on (steve.carter@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk) or Alicia Attoe, Head of Accountancy on (alicia.attoe@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk).

At Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, we care more about how you work and what you achieve, rather than where you work on any given day. The difference you can make to our local communities is what really matters most to us, service delivery must always come first. We have carefully considered agile ways of working to provide the best experience for residents, stakeholders and our staff. Our agile working strategy actively supports and encourages a dynamic work environment and daily working experience. Agile working helps put the needs of our staff at the centre of everything we do, so if specific flexible working arrangements helps you with this, feel free to let us know.

Your wellbeing and the flexible way in which you can work is and will remain a key priority for Richmond and Wandsworth Councils. We want you to thrive and feel empowered in your work!

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed or part-time hours, term time only, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore. We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 39 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities.

In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

Closing date: Wednesday 7^th December 2022

Interview date: Tuesday 13^th December 2022 (applicants will be informed if they have been shortlisted on Thursday 8^th December 2022)

Useful Information:

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the advertised dates for interviews may change due to the current Covid-19 situation. If they do, we will let you know as soon as possible. Your health and wellbeing is our top priority. Should you become unwell due to Covid-19 during the recruitment process we would very much appreciate receiving an update from you as soon as possible.

We particularly welcome applications from all sections of the community. Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

The application process for this campaign will be anonymised.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information:

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.