Deputy Chief Finance Officer
Introduction
A message from Taryn Eves, Director of Finance and Support Services
“Thank you for your interest in joining me and the Finance and Support Services senior management team at West Sussex County Council.
Just 10 months in as Director of Finance and Support Services, I know that the County Council is an exciting place to be, both within our own Directorate and across the whole council. We are halfway through our four-year corporate plan, which has an ongoing commitment to design and deliver good services to our residents, communities and businesses, and as Deputy Chief Finance Officer, you will play an integral part in delivering on the financial framework to achieve these ambitions.
Like many others, our financial position is challenging, but together we can develop a long-term approach and align our financial resources to deliver on our priorities that will put us on a sustainable financial footing for the future.
There is still more work to do, and you will play a key role in shaping and delivering changes across the Directorate and wider organisation, working closely with me, the Executive Leadership Team, the wider senior management team and our Members. If you are someone who has vision, creativity, passion and resilience with an absolute focus on innovative improvement, I would love to hear from you.”
Taryn Eves
About us
West Sussex County Council (WSCC) has set itself a bold ambition via Our Council Plan. We are focused on:
- keeping people safe from vulnerable situations
- a sustainable and prosperous economy
- helping people and communities to fulfil their potential
- making the best use of resources.
All of this is underpinned by responding to climate change and protecting our environment. We believe in collaborative working across the local government family and the wider public and private sectors. We believe in changing the lives of all our 858,000 residents for the better and we are immensely proud of being a part of achieving this and hope you will share our passion.
As an organisation, we have a strong political commitment to improving the lives of our residents. Despite the challenges which lay ahead for us, we have plans to meet these challenges and you will be part of this journey.
As a directorate, we are a suite of enabling services that are part of the ‘Corporate Centre’. We have a vision to work together as a single directorate to support the rest of the organisation, to further strengthen our business partnering way of working, whilst promoting good governance, control and compliance. We want to achieve this through the whole directorate and you will play a vital role in championing this way of working across your finance function and the management team.
No day is ever the same, so if you like variety, a challenge and being part of making a difference, West Sussex can definitely offer you all three.
Key documents
About the role
Reporting to the Director of Finance and Support Services, you will be the County Council’s Deputy Chief Finance Officer (Deputy 151 Officer) and part of the Finance and Support Services senior management team.
You will lead and drive a culture of continuous improvement, leading a strong and resilient finance function and create successful relationships across the organisation.
You will be CCAB qualified and support the organisation in meeting its financial statutory responsibilities, have experience of leading the financial management of a large and complex organisation, have experience of working closely with senior decision makers and elected politicians.
You will have a track record of delivery, see beyond the numbers and understand how finance is part of our business planning process and be one of the council’s voices in working with our partners, across the sector and with Government.
Apply
- Apply below by uploading a CV, a supporting statement (no more than four sides of A4) and complete a candidate application and equal opportunities monitoring form.
- Ensure all gaps in employment and education history are fully explained on your CV. We may wish to verify this information during the recruitment process.
- Make sure you complete your application by the closing date. No applications will be accepted once the shortlisting process has begun.
Supporting information
For a confidential conversation, or further information regarding the role, please phone Taryn Eves, Director for Finance and Support Services on 033 022 23564 or Chloe Chatfield on 033 022 22041.
Apply for the role of Deputy Chief Finance Officer (external link)Timescales
Closing date: Sunday 1 October 2023
Interviews: Week commencing Monday 16 and Monday 23 October 2023
West Sussex
The county of West Sussex sits on the south coast of England. It covers 768 square miles and is predominately rural in character, but with large administrative and economic centres in Chichester, Horsham, Crawley, Bognor Regis and Worthing.
Contained within the South Downs National Park is some of the country’s most beautiful countryside, as well as some of England’s most picturesque villages.
If you love outdoor activities, then this is the county for you. The coast from West Wittering to Worthing offers stunning beaches and the opportunity for kite surfing, sailing and kayaking, while the South Downs are a rambler’s paradise. We also hold some of the country’s finest events:
- Cowdray Park is the home of British polo
- Goodwood Festival of Speed
- Glorious Goodwood
- Goodwood Revival.
If you’re a theatre goer, you can take in a show before it hits the West End at the renowned Chichester Festival Theatre.
There's something here for everyone; great shops, lovely homes and a better quality of life. We're also surprisingly well connected with good transport links to London, Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton, and Gatwick Airport in the north of the county offers excellent national and international connections.
With its own internal airport and proximity to London, West Sussex is well serviced by transport links. Some approximate journey times by train and plane to some of the UK’s major cities are:
- London - 30 minutes by train
- Manchester - 3 hours by train
- Liverpool - 4 hours by plane
- Newcastle - 4 hours by plane
- Norwich - 3 hours by plane
- Cardiff - 3 hours by train
- Birmingham - 2 hours 15 minutes by train
- Southampton - 2 hours by train
- Exeter - 3 hours by train
- Glasgow - 1 and a half hours by plane
- Edinburgh - 1 hour 15 minutes by plane
- Belfast - 2 hours by plane
- Dublin - 1 and a half hours by plane
You can find out more about West Sussex on our dedicated Experience West Sussex website.