Essex County Council is one the largest and most complex local authorities in the UK, with a turnover of £2bn. We are a Council with high ambitions, and we pride ourselves of being innovative, dynamic and entrepreneurial.

Our finance function is at the heart of our organisation, helping the Council to achieve its ambitions against a challenging financial backdrop through the provision of financial advice and information that supports decision making, enables the Council to balance its budget and ensure that external financial reporting is delivered to the highest standards and in line with statutory deadlines.

The complex and ambitious nature of the Council means that we need a highly skilled and diverse Finance function to support it. We are very focussed on our people and their professional development; we are a continuing professional development accredited employer for CIPFA, ACCA, CIMA and AAT and we operate an annual technical and professional training programme too, to ensure our people possess skills that remain fit for purpose.

Our finance function includes a team of expert financial accountants, whose responsibilities include delivery of the Council's statutory financial reporting requirements, management of the Council's investment and borrowing activities and advising on and promoting compliance with relevant accounting standards, codes of practice and government regulations (including those related to UK taxes and duties).

As one of our Financial Accountants, you will be responsible for promoting adherence with government regulations, accounting standards, CIPFA Codes of Practice and government regulations (including those related to UK taxes and duties) through the provision of high-quality advice to finance professionals.

You will also specialise in, and support, the delivery of aspects of the Council's financial accounting programme and related activity, treasury management or regulatory requirements in relation to taxation, to ensure that the required standards and deadlines are met.

In addition, you will provide practical advice and guidance consistent with the Council's accounting policies, internal financial controls and relevant legislation, regulations and Codes to ensure the highest standards of financial governance in all the Council's decision making and operations.

You will support the provision of high-quality strategic advice on financial strategies, projects and other initiatives.

You will be expected to build strong relationships with finance colleagues and internal and external partners and will be a key and active member of manager forums.

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• You will possess a full CCAB qualification (potentially recently qualified).

• You should have knowledge and an understanding of government regulations (including those related to taxes and duties), accounting standards and codes of practice and have some experience of applying these in practice.

• You will have experience of working within, and influencing, multi-disciplinary teams to achieve service outcomes.

• You will have highly developed interpersonal and communication skills and possess an ability to build effective working relationships and establish credibility with colleagues, including the commissioning of work and quality assurance of outputs.

• You will possess a strong delivery/performance focus.