Adviser - Local Government Finance

3 positions available: 1 full-time permanent post; 2 full-time fixed-term posts for 12 months

About us

The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. We work on behalf of our member councils to support, promote and improve local government.

We are a politically led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong, credible voice with national government. We influence and set the political agenda on the issues that matter to councils to help them deliver local solutions to national problems.

We also provide councils with the tools and resources to respond to challenges present and emerging, and support improvement across the sector.

About the role

The run up to a Spending Review, multi-year settlement and potential changes to the local government finance system is an exciting time to be working in local government finance. Can you help us make the case for local government funding and policy changes that would benefit councils? Can you develop and nurture relationships with central and local government and share knowledge with member councils, and others, on local government's, and our, vital work? Are you great with numbers and Excel but also have excellent written and presentation skills?

If so, you could work right at the centre of the LGA's analytical and policy work with local government, working within the LGA's local government finance policy team. Collaborating with colleagues across the breadth of our policy work, as well as with local and central government, your role will be to deliver high quality financial, analytical and policy advice to support the LGA's policy programme on local government finance, as well as financial aspects of other policy areas.

We are recruiting to one full-time permanent adviser role, and up to two full-time fixed-term roles for a period of 12 months. Secondments for these fixed-term posts are welcome. These roles provide a real opportunity both to raise your profile and to demonstrate your co-operative working strengths, with a particular focus on the funding of local government.

About you

It is essential that you have strong analytic and Excel skills in order to undertake complex analysis and interpret financial data, to understand the financial the economic context and the impact of local government finance policies on councils. This is not about accounting but creating ways to understand the impact of various proposals on council finances and being able to explain these to technical and non-technical audiences.

It is desirable that the candidate has a good understanding of the funding of local government and the key issues affecting councils. We are also looking for a candidate who has the ability to learn and grasp complex concepts and issues quickly.

We are looking for a candidate who is confident and whose skill set will enable the LGA to be an effective lobbyist and advocate, championing and furthering the interests of local government and helping councils to respond to the challenges they are facing.

It is important that you are politically aware with the ability to exercise discretion, judgement and confidentiality when dealing with politicians and officers at every level. This will be complemented by good presentation, research, and analytical skills. Your ability to grasp issues quickly will make you stand out.

You must have the right to work in the UK, the LGA are unfortunately unable to offer sponsorship visas. Evidence for the right to work in the UK will be requested at the interview stage.

To apply

If you would like to be considered for the role, please complete the online form and include a supporting statement detailing how you meet the criteria of the role before the closing date.

We are specifically assessing candidates against the criteria in the person specification in the job description attached below.

We use anonymous recruitment, which is the practice of hiding candidates' identities. This process involves removing any identifying information from candidates' applications which includes names.

Closing Date: 5pm, 13th December 2024.

Interview Date: To be confirmed.

At the LGA we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open competition, with appointment on merit. The LGA are proud to be awarded a "Disability Confident Leader". If you are require an reasonable adjustment, which is a change to the format or conditions of the recruitment process to accommodate any disability-related needs you may have. Please contact us via

Our benefits:

• LGA annual leave entitlement is 29 days, rising to 31 days after three years' service and to 33 days after five years' service, plus all UK public holidays (pro rata for fixed term and part time contracts).
• Flexible & agile working - office-based staff are required to work in the LGA's London office two days per week as a minimum, subject to business need and this may vary significantly between different roles and from week to week.
• Future development - face-to-face and virtual courses are scheduled in line with developmental goals
• The LGA offers 24/7 access to a free, confidential employee assistance programme managed by Health Assured. This service is also available for Dependants.
• Family friendly policies

For more of LGA's benefits and working with us, please view our webpage

Our values & behaviours

Our Values and Behaviours are there to give us an understanding of who we are as an organisation and who we want to be. They are a framework to help us understand:

• how we work with each other
• how we work with our members and stakeholders
• our expectations for ourselves and each other

Our values are:

• Inclusive - We ensure that our work is inclusive of all voices.
• Ambitious - We are ambitious for councils and their communities and are committed to striving for excellence in all that we do to support our colleagues, our membership and the sector to deliver the best possible outcomes.
• Collaborative - We bring together the expertise and skills needed, working as one team.