Head of Finance (Headquarters, Chelmsford/Agile Home Working) (Chelmsford, GB) presso None

Location of Role: Chelmsford 

Advert Closing Date: 15/09/2025 

Starting Salary: £74,226.00 (pro-rata for part-time vacancies)

Part/Full Time: Full Time 

Contract Type: Permanent 

Working Pattern: Mon-Fri 

Weekend/Evening Working: No 

Are you a strategic finance leader ready to make a difference in public service? Essex Police is seeking a dynamic and experienced Head of Finance to lead our financial operations and drive excellence across budgeting, accounting, and strategic planning.

About the Role

Reporting directly to the Chief Finance Officer, the Head of Finance will:

• Lead the preparation and monitoring of revenue and capital budgets.
• Oversee the closure of final accounts and production of statutory statements.
• Provide strategic financial advice to Chief Officers and budget holders.
• Manage financial aspects of major incidents and operations.
• Drive continuous improvement and value-for-money initiatives.
• Represent the Force and deputise for the Chief Finance Officer when required.

You will also be responsible for managing a team of three direct reports, providing leadership, coaching, and development to ensure high performance and professional service delivery.

About You

You will be a qualified CCAB Accountant with:

• At least 5 years’ post-qualification experience, including 2 years at senior management level.
• Proven leadership in financial management within a large organisation, ideally in the public sector.
• Strong communication, project planning, and analytical skills.
• A commitment to innovation, continuous improvement, and professional development.
• IT literacy and proficiency in Microsoft Office and financial systems.

Working Arrangements

We operate in an agile and flexible working environment, offering the opportunity to work from home. In the event that home working is agreed for the successful candidate, there will be a requirement to regularly attend the contractual workplace for a minimum of two days per week. Flexibility in working hours may be needed due to operational demands.

You will be based at Essex Police Headquarters, Chelmsford, which is within walking distance of the city centre, train station and bus routes. Occasional travel across the county is required.

What We Offer in Return

• 24 days annual leave per year, increasing with service.
• Opportunity to support the delivery of policing services within Essex.
• Enrolment into the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Access to health services via our in-house Occupational Health and Welfare team.
• For members of the Sports and Social Association: access to on-site gym facilities, discounts at a variety of shops and restaurants, and discounted excursions.

For further information about the role, please contact Chief Finance Officer Annette Chan at [email protected] or 07889 703174.

For the full job description please click here.

Your application for this role will be shortlisted on the content you provide within the “reason for application” question, within the application form itself. CV’s, covering letters or attachments are not included in the shortlist. Within your “reason for application” answer, please refer to any experience, skills, and abilities you feel you have that will make you suitable for this role, based on the role criteria stated in the job advert or job description. Please provide as much detail as possible as insufficient content may mean you do not meet the shortlisting criteria, however please note this question is limited to 9000 characters and this system will count spaces and blank lines as characters. This count may differ from the Microsoft Word word count function therefore you may wish to use a different online character counter to check the characters used.

All of our posts require a level of vetting and security clearance.  During the recruitment process you will be sent vetting information forms to complete. 

Kent Police and Essex Police welcomes applications regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, sex, or employment status.

Please let us know if you require extra support at any stage of the application process, or for further information regarding this position, please email us at [email protected] stating ‘Application Support and Adjustments’ in the title of your email. Alternatively, you can call us on 01245 452833. Where appropriate we will make adjustments to the selection process, working arrangements and/or the working environment provided it is reasonable in all the circumstances to do so.

If you’re not from the UK, you must be a resident in the UK and have lived here continuously for the last three years. You must also be free from restrictions with indefinite leave to remain. If you’re from the UK you must have lived here continuously for the last three years. This doesn’t apply to those serving abroad in the British Armed Forces.

As a Disability Confident Leader we:

• have subjected our Disability Confident self-assessment to external challenge and validation
• are taking an active leadership role in encouraging and helping other employers on their journey to becoming Disability Confident.

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion are central to the values of our organisation. At Essex Police we value and embrace the unique experiences, identities and abilities that each of us bring to our roles. We strive to empower everyone to bring their authentic self openly and safely to work.

Through the dedicated commitment of our support networks, DE&I team and wider HR departments, we are on a journey to embed our DE&I commitments, ensuring Essex Police is an employer of choice; where everyone feels included.

Essex Police and Kent Police are an equal opportunities employer. Communications may be recorded for monitoring purposes.