Assistant Director (Revenues and Benefits)

• Job Type: Interim, Initial 6 months.
• Rate: £700 - £800 per day
• Location: Warrington, with 2 days per week on site and 3 days flexible/home-based
• Hours: 40 hours per week, with occasional evening and weekend work where required

A local authority is seeking an Assistant Director to provide strategic leadership across revenues and benefits, risk and insurance, and procurement. This Assistant Director position will support the Section 151 leadership team to strengthen financial resilience, maximise income, maintain strong governance, and ensure high-quality transactional services for residents. The Assistant Director will play a key role in shaping strategy, leading improvement, and overseeing critical income and control functions.

Day-to-day of the role

• Provide strategic leadership across revenues and benefits, exchequer services, risk and insurance, and procurement.
• Support the Section 151 leadership team in delivering strong financial management, income maximisation, and statutory compliance.
• Oversee council tax, business rates, sundry debt recovery, housing benefit, council tax support, accounts payable, fees and charges, and corporate mailing functions.
• Lead on income collection performance, subsidy management, debt recovery strategy, and financial controls, taking corrective action where risks or shortfalls are identified.
• Report to senior stakeholders, committees, and leadership groups on service performance, financial resilience, risk exposure, and improvement activity.
• Drive digital transformation, automation, and systems improvements to improve service efficiency, customer experience, and value for money.
• Lead cross-functional working with finance, operational leaders, audit, external partners, and regional networks to improve outcomes and share best practice.
• Ensure services are delivered in line with legislation, statutory guidance, audit requirements, financial regulations, and local policy.

Required skills & qualifications

• Full membership of a CCAB body, CIMA, or IRRV, with significant post-qualification senior leadership experience in revenues, benefits, and financial management.
• Strong senior management experience within a unitary authority or similar public sector setting, ideally covering transactional finance, income collection, and benefits.
• Experience overseeing or working closely with risk and insurance and procurement functions.
• Extensive knowledge of local government finance, relevant legislation, welfare benefits, audit requirements, subsidy management, and financial control frameworks.
• Proven ability to lead service improvement, performance management, policy development, and large-scale change in a complex organisation.
• Strong track record of managing budgets, income performance, debt recovery, and service delivery within agreed resources.
• Excellent communication, influencing, and presentation skills, with the credibility to work effectively with Members, senior leaders, external partners, and the public.
• High levels of political awareness, resilience, integrity, and commitment to equality, customer service, and supporting financially vulnerable residents.