About the role
Financial Management and Internal Audit Training Scheme
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 two schemes, specialising in either Financial Management or Internal Audit. 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.
All trainees will study for the CIPFA Professional Qualification through the Level 7 Apprenticeship programme 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. To find about more about the qualification, please visit the CIPFA website: https://www.cipfa.org/
Financial Management and Internal Audit Streams
For the 2023 intake we have 2-3 vacancies across the two streams. Expected start date is August 2023.
The application process will take the form of assessment centre and final interview, to be held in February 2023. As part of this process, you will have the opportunity to indicate a preference for the Financial Management or Internal Audit specialism.
Closing date for applications 15th January 2023.
For enquiries about the scheme, please contact Tabitha Appleyard (Tabitha.Appleyard@cambridgeshire.gov.uk; 07793 234 238).
What will you be doing?
Financial Management stream
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. Opportunities include:
- Supporting a selection of budget managers, including service managers and directors, providing professional financial advice to inform their decision making and maximise their service delivery
- Supporting services through budget setting and monitoring, and advising on resource allocation and savings proposals
- Working on projects to procure new services, from care home provision to our major highways contract
- Gaining a knowledge of technical accounting and working across Public Sector organisations i.e. NHS Trusts, schools
- Developing, completing and reporting on your own Internal Audit assignments to analyse and improve the Council’s control environment.
Internal Audit stream
Over the three and a half years, you will remain primarily based in the Audit team, supporting the service in providing independent assurance on the effectiveness of the organisation’s risk management, governance and internal control processes. You will work closely with management to recommend and agree improvements to systems based on your own work, which will include a wide range of assignments across financial audit, contract audit, project management, IT audit and work in social care and fraud investigations. You will also have opportunities to develop your own areas of specialisation; this may include undertaking placements in other services such as professional finance, and/or expanding your skillset by undertaking audit work with external partners, including schools.
About you
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.
In your application please make sure to include all school exam grades and degree grade/predicted grade.
Please see the person specification for more detail of the characteristics that successful applicants will demonstrate in their application in addition to the above qualification requirements. Please detail in your supporting statement how you meet the person specification.
Our benefits
We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits:
- Flexible working
- Flexible Bank Holidays
- A comprehensive wellbeing package
- Our Cambs Rewards employee discounts
- A comprehensive pension scheme
- IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network.
- Camweb our staff intranet helping to keep you informed
- An employee recognition scheme
About us
Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.
We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we believe benefits our employees, the organisation and our communities.
Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.
Attached documents
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