Financial Management Associate

Established for over 30 years, the Cambridgeshire County Council Training Scheme offers graduates an extraordinary opportunity for a rewarding career in public finance and internal audit, allowing you to influence key local authority decisions that matter to communities.

We are looking to recruit a number of enthusiastic and determined individuals to join our scheme, specialising in Financial Management. Successful applicants will have strong communication and analytical skills and be able to think creatively. You are not required to have any previous finance or accountancy experience.

Successful applicants will have, or will be expecting to achieve, a 2:1 degree or higher in any discipline and 3 Bs (or equivalent in UCAS points) at A-Level or equivalent recognised qualification. Please include details of all these qualifications with the grades or predicted grades in your application as they are the essential criteria.

Candidates should also demonstrate that they have the Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours detailed in the Person Specification pdf, which can be found on the Council's job advert webpage, in the Supporting Statement section of their application.

All trainees will study for the CIPFA Professional Accountancy Qualification at the CIPFA Education Training Centre in London and at the end of the three and a half years qualify as a Chartered Public Finance Accountant.

Over three and a half years, you will undertake different placements in Service Finance, Corporate Finance and Internal Audit, on a 12-month rotation cycle. This gives you a breadth of experience across the whole council and teaches you a wide range of technical and managerial skills, so you can learn where your interests lie and have the ability to pursue a career in your chosen area. Each placement will provide you with real responsibility from the start. You will have a varied mix of monthly tasks and high-level projects, supporting the needs of your CIPFA studies and your development as a public sector finance professional.

You will get the opportunity to support a selection of budget managers, including service managers and directors, providing professional financial advice to inform their decision making and maximise their service delivery. You will support services through budget setting and monitoring, and advising on resource allocation and savings proposals. You may get the chance to work on projects to procure new services, from care home provision to our major highways contract and gain a knowledge of technical accounting and working across Public Sector organisations i.e. NHS Trusts, schools. You will develop, complete and report on your own Internal Audit assignments to analyse and improve the Council’s control environment.