Finance Apprentice

About the role:

Horsham District Council is looking for an enthusiastic apprentice to join our finance team, giving you insight into all aspects of finance. This is an ideal opportunity for a school leaver looking to start their career or someone who is looking to retrain or who has been out of the workplace for a period of time.

You will be working within the finance team supporting transactional areas of finance. This role will give you the opportunity to work in accounts payable, accounts receivable and cash receipting, gaining an understanding of the Council’s financial processes and help improve them.

You will be fully supported to achieve a Level 3 Diploma in Accounting Apprenticeship through a mix of classroom workshops and remote learning, with 20% of your working week dedicated to off-the-job learning. As part of your apprenticeship programme you will learn; management accounting techniques, business awareness and preparing financial statements. We will provide the necessary resources and on-the-job mentoring to equip you with the skills, experience and knowledge required to fulfil this role. To find out more about the apprenticeship standards you will be working towards, go to:- https://www.aat.org.uk/apprenticeships.

Towards the end of successful completion of your apprenticeship contract, the Council will work with you and provide information, advice, and guidance, to endeavour to help you find suitable employment at the end of your contract.

About you:

To succeed as Finance Apprentice you will be someone who is positive, enthusiastic and enjoys working with others. You will be ready to learn and develop the skills you need to communicate with colleagues within the Council, organisations that we work and members of the public. You will also be building your confidence and ability to work in a fast-paced environment, using your initiative, adapting to challenges, and changing priorities. At the end of the apprenticeship, you will have the skills and experience you need to become an excellent accounting technician, as well as a greater understanding of local government finance.

For an informal discussion about this role please call Samantha Wilson, Head of Finance and Performance on 01403 215309.

About us:

We have a friendly and supportive working environment and being a smaller Council, you can really get to know everybody.

We encourage and support our employees to have a healthy work life balance by offering 28 days’ (207.2 hours) annual leave plus bank holidays (pro-rata), and flexible/hybrid working options where applicable.

We offer a generous benefits package including an online platform offering discounts from online retailers and access to a car lease scheme. Staff are also eligible to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), where the Council contributes circa 20% of pensionable salary.

To support employees’ professional development the Council provides reimbursement for professional subscriptions and a number of training opportunities, including extensive in-house learning resources, short courses, Apprenticeships, and qualifications such as Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM), Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Visit our Jobs and careers page to find out more about Working for Horsham District Council and Our employment commitments.

To apply:

If you would like to apply for the role, we highly recommend you show clearly within the ‘Experience Section’ of the application form how you meet the essential criteria detailed within the Role Profile when applying. If you do not make this clear, it is unlikely you will be shortlisted for interview.

Internal applicants, if you would like to apply for the role, please submit an expression of interest to HR@horsham.gov.uk explaining clearly how you meet the criteria and what you feel you can bring to the role.