- Are you a CCAB qualified accountant with effective technical skills and an eye for detail?
- Do you enjoy collaborating with others and managing large and complex processes?
- Would you like the opportunity to review and transform some of our critical finance processes?
If so, we would like to hear from you
The Corporate Finance Team sits in the centre of the council's finance service and is responsible for the delivery of corporately held budgets. It is responsible for coordinating the council's capital and revenue budget processes across the financial year from setting, to monitoring and closing the accounts. The teams ensures strong governance and the consistent application of best practice throughout.
Expected interview dates: 9/10 July 2026
There is full information about the role below and attached but, if you would like an informal discussion, please email
[email protected]
About the role
This is a key technical role at the centre of the council's financial management framework. You will lead and coordinate some of the council’s core financial processes such as budget setting and monitoring, ensuring robust processes are in place. You will also be responsible for maintaining and forecasting some of the more complex centrally held budgets, such as Housing Benefit Subsidy, which includes contributing to cross council working groups to help create innovative solutions to resolve financial pressures.
There is also the opportunity to contribute to the council's ambitious and far-reaching transformation activity, including the review of finance's own processes.
As Principal Accountant for Revenue you will have:
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Strong technical finance expertise and will be comfortable dealing with complex data and explaining financial issues clearly to a range of audiences.
- A CCAB Accounting qualification
- Experience of coordinating large financial processes, such as budget setting, monitoring and/or financial reporting within a complex organisation
- Strong understanding of financial ledgers, controls and data integrity
- The ability to manage and quality‑assure complex calculations with material financial impact
- Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical issues in clear, accessible language for diverse audiences
- A collaborative approach, with the confidence to work constructively and inclusively with finance colleagues and service managers across the council
- A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusive practice in how you work
We can offer you a wide range of benefits including:
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Access to ongoing professional development and learning opportunities
- The chance to be part of a collaborative, learning-focused team that encourages innovation, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement
- Flexible working arrangements to support a healthy work life balance
- A supportive and inclusive environment, with access to staff networks and a strong organisational commitment to wellbeing and equality
- A local government pension scheme and family-friendly policies
- Employee benefits including discount schemes and a cycle-to-work programme
Encouraging a diverse workforce
Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled or trans.
Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).
Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:
- be connected
- be confident
- be innovative and creative
- be diverse and inclusive
- be healthy and psychologically safe
For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including generous leave entitlement, excellent pension as well as details of our training and development.
How to apply
Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.
As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.
AI advice for candidates
We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.
We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.
All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.
Additional information
Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.
Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.
We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.
