Principal Accountant | Schools

Salary £55,612 - £60,147per annum | Permanent, Full Time 37 hours per week | Preston/Hybrid We are currently recruiting… A dynamic and innovative Principal Accountant – Schools to work within Financial Management at Lancashire County Council. Are you an outstanding Accountant with an abundance of experience and knowledge in the world of finance? Can you be assertive and decisive whilst remaining approachable and inspirational towards your colleagues? If so, this role is sure to interest you and it is the perfect opportunity to enhance your career, by getting involved in crucial decision making and getting your voice and opinions heard. We want someone who is ready to tackle financial challenges, providing saliant, practical advice to service areas and Lancashire Schools. You will be managing a team of experts and know exactly how to harness and utilise the talents within your team in the most effective way possible. This role is stimulating and fast paced, so we need professionals who are ready for a challenge representing the views of the service. With your determination and dedication, you will help us to achieve our goals, allowing services to flourish and continue to remain operational What we are looking for… Resilience – you will be tasked with reporting findings and details to the Heads of Service, Directors and External Boards (such as Lancashire Schools Forum), therefore your resilient and tactful persona will be a key element to these meetings – we want you to be persistent and confident when presenting to your senior colleagues with a firm but respectful approach – you will have the ability to build strong, lasting working relationships with your seniors and team, but not afraid to make tough decisions when necessary – you will be responsible for Schools funding and budgets across the County Council and also be a senior finance representative on Strategic Boards supporting developments across Education. It will be your responsibility to decipher where funds are allocated and work with the Education service to determine how funds are allocated, and work with senior colleagues to support and develop strategic projects. Challenge – within the current climate finances are restricted and it is not always possible to provide funding for every single requirement – you will be expected to advise and work with the service to enable them to prioritise, make decisions and allocate where funding is needed the most, which can involve challenging conversations with budget holders and Senior Managers across the service and externally – this is why we need you to be persuasive and unwavering in these discussions, getting your point across and taking advantage of your excellent communication skills – you will have the ability to prioritise effectively, paying equal attention to the day to day management of your team as well as helping services to deliver what they need Service Excellence – this role is an exciting mixture of managing the budget and getting involved and influencing strategic projects across the county council. The role will be dealing with ad hoc queries that can present themselves at any given moment – you will be reactive and proactive when faced with random ad hoc requests, ensuring they are dealt with swiftly and competently – the best part of your job will be seeing the outcomes your advice and direction has achieved within the community, allowing services to make the changes they want to happen – there is so much activity happening and no two days are the same, so this is the ideal chance to push your limits and professionally add real value to the organisation Why join us… Benefits: There's fabulous flexibility and the opportunity to create the work life balance you'll love with up to 32 days annual leave plus bank holidays, 2 additional days at Christmas and then an additional 20 days that can be purchased too – we have a generous Local Government pension with shared AVC's available then a benefits package which has everything from dog care to day care, holidays at home or abroad, long service awards, Medicash, support groups, cycle to work schemes and eye tests plus much more Development: you'll get support and development along the journey – there will be time for supportive reflection and supervision for yourself, opportunities for personal growth and development, multidisciplinary initiatives, mentoring, the opportunity to make a difference, feel valued and achieve the job satisfaction you've always wanted Inclusivity: we don't have a "one size fits all" idealism, we embrace diversity and that includes around personal and family requirements so appreciate that you'll want to be working from home when you can, your hours may vary or change and for us – delivering successful outcomes is more important than watching the clock How to apply… Please feel free to contact us for an initial informal and confidential chat: Kate Lee on 01772 531733 ( [email protected] ) or John Betts on 01772 538780 ([email protected]) Closing Date: 2 nd August 2026 Interviews: 13 th August 2026 Please ensure you upload a supporting statement demonstrating how you meet the criteria for the role. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications. Job Description & Person Specification