Wakefield Council - Head of Financial Management

Salary: Competitive (senior management package)

Location: Wakefield / Hybrid

Wakefield Council is a large and ambitious authority serving more than 350,000 residents across a diverse district of city, towns and rural communities in West Yorkshire, focused on strengthening our communities, growing our economy, improving health and wellbeing, and delivering a greener and more sustainable district.

Finance plays a critical role in enabling those ambitions.

We are now seeking to appoint a Head of Financial Management who will be tasked with strengthening financial planning, business partnering and strategic financial insight across the organisation.

Reporting to the Service Director – Finance (Deputy Section 151 Officer), you will lead the Council’s Financial Management and Business Partnering function, supporting services and senior leaders to make informed decisions about the use of public resources.

You will be responsible for supporting the development of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy, overseeing budget setting and in-year monitoring, and ensuring robust financial management across revenue and capital programmes. You will also work closely with Directors, Members and senior stakeholders to strengthen the quality of financial advice, business cases and strategic planning.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a central role in modernising the way finance supports the organisation, helping to build a more analytical, insight-driven and digitally enabled finance function.

We are looking for a CCAB or CIMA qualified finance professional who brings:

• Technical expertise in financial planning, budget management and financial reporting
• Experience of leading or operating within a finance business partnering model
• The ability to analyse complex financial information and communicate it clearly to senior stakeholders
• The desire to develop and inspire a high-performing finance team.

This role offers an excellent opportunity for an experienced finance manager or aspiring public finance leader to take on a strategic role within a major local authority and contribute to the continued development of our finance service.

For further information, please download the candidate briefing pack by clicking the link below:

Candidate Briefing Pack - Head of Financial Management

For a confidential discussion, please contact:

• Andrew Tromans on 078 0522 6301 or Andrew.tromans@penna.com
• Mark Baldwinson on 077 6469 8139 or Mark.baldwinson@penna.com

Closing Date: 11:59pm, Sunday 10^th May 2026

How to Apply

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2.     Complete the short mandatory fields on the next page.

3.     Use ‘Add Attachments’ to upload your Supporting Statement and any other documents.

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5.     Ensure both CV and Supporting Statement are uploaded before submitting your application.

6.     If you have a long-term health condition or disability and would like your application to be considered in accordance with a Disability Confident Scheme, please email: execapplications@penna.com to inform the Penna team.