Accountant

THE JOB

The Accountant will assist and report to a Senior Accountant or such other person as may be designated in the provision of financial management services to local and corporate business units. This will include specific responsibility for the co-ordination of revenue/capital budgets, financial management reporting systems, completion of annual financial statement, treasury management, governance arrangements and supporting strategic and operational planning.

The role of the Accountant is a challenging position for ambitious, qualified accountants with a wide range of relevant experience. The role requires an assertive, creative individual who is able to influence decisions and to manage and positively motivate staff. Financial management, governance and stewardship are supported by this role.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE SHALL

• have an ability to work and deliver results within tight deadlines, in a changing and fast moving environment;

• be able to work within, and where necessary lead, multi-disciplined teams and have the ability to motivate, empower and encourage personnel under their control to achieve maximum performance;

• possess good influencing skills;

• have strong interpersonal and communication skills;

• have well developed IT skills including familiarity with an Integrated Financial Management System;

• be able to deputise at a senior level.

QUALIFICATIONS

CHARACTER

Each candidate shall be of good character.

HEALTH

Candidates shall be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, ETC.

Each candidate must, on the latest date for receipt of completed applications:

(a) hold a professional accountancy qualification with one of the professional accountancy bodies;

(b) have a minimum one year’s relevant experience;

(c) have good knowledge and awareness of Health and Safety Legislation and Regulations, the implications for the organisation and the employee, and their application in the workplace.

DUTIES

The duties of the post include, but are not limited to, the following:

• provision of accounting information for decision support as required by management;

• assisting in the preparation of annual revenue and capital budgets and statutory financial statements;

• monitoring income and expenditure against revenue and capital budgets on a quarterly / monthly basis;

• ensuring all essential information is captured at month end to provide for quality information within the monthly financial reports;

• recording assets and maintaining asset records;

• assisting in the production of quarterly management accounts/ annual accounts;

• ensuring adequacy of controls for payments and receipts;

• supervising and training of accounts staff;

• advising and communicating with local management on relevant matters;

• ensuring compliance with corporate financial standards;

• supporting corporate tax compliance and familiarity with VAT, RCT, PSWT etc;

• deputising for other officers when required;

• carrying out such other duties as may be assigned from time to time.

The particular duties and responsibilities attached to the post may vary from time to time, without changing the general character of the duties or level of responsibilities entailed. The post holder may therefore be required to perform duties appropriate to the post, other than those detailed above, and to take instructions from and report to, an appropriate Officer or such designated Officer as may be assigned from time to time by the City Council.

The duties of the post are to give to the local authority and to:

(a) the local authorities or bodies for which the Chief Executive is Chief Executive, and

(b) to any other local authority or body with which an agreement has been made by the local authority or by any of the authorities or bodies referred to in sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph,

under the general direction and control of the Chief Executive or of such officers as the Chief Executive may from time to time determine, such appropriate computing, technical, management, administrative, executive, supervisory, advisory and ancillary services as may be required by any local authority or body hereinbefore mentioned in the exercise and performance of any of its powers, functions and duties and to exercise such powers, functions and duties as may be delegated to them by the Chief Executive from time to time, including the duty of servicing all committees that may be established by any such local authority or body.

The holder of the post will, if required, act for an officer of a higher level.

SELECTION PROCESS

• Posts of Accountant will be filled from this publicly advertised competition. Selection shall be by means of a competition conducted by or on behalf of Dublin City Council.

• Candidates should note that the information provided by them in their application form and assessment questions will form the basis on which eligibility and short listing is conducted.

• Dublin City Council reserves the right to undertake eligibility and / or shortlist candidates in the manner it deems most appropriate.

• A panel may be formed on the basis of interviews. A candidate whose name is on a panel and who satisfies the Council that they possess the qualifications declared for the post and that they are otherwise suitable for appointment may, within the life of the panel, subject to the appropriate Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage sanction, be appointed as an appropriate vacancy arises.

• The life of the panel shall be for a period of one year from the date of its formation.

• Dublin City Council shall require any person to whom an appointment is offered to take up such appointment within a period of not more than one month and if they fail to take up appointment within such period, or such longer period as the Council in its absolute discretion may determine, the Council shall not appoint them.

SHORTLISTING

Dublin City Council reserves the right to shortlist candidates to proceed to the interview stage of the competition. Shortlisting of candidates will be on the basis of information supplied on the Application Form, in conjunction with the answers given in the assessment question(s). It is therefore in your own interest to provide a detailed and accurate account of your qualifications/experience in your application.

The shortlisting process will provide for the assessment of each applicant’s application form against predetermined criteria that reflect the skills and depth of experience considered to be essential for a position at this level.

INTERVIEW

The interview will be competency based and marks will be awarded under the following competencies:

• Management and Change

• Delivering Results

• Leading, Motivating, Managing Performance and Communicating Effectively

• Personal Effectiveness

• Local Authority Knowledge and Experience

SALARY

The salary scale for the position of Accountant is:

€57,322; €58,689; €60,356; €63,491; €65,363 (Maximum); €67,690 (1st LSI) (after 3 years satisfactory service on the Maximum); €70,030 (2nd LSI) (after 3 years satisfactory service on the 1st LSI).

Entry point to this scale will be determined in accordance with Circulars issued by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. In accordance with Departmental Circular letter EL 02/2011, a person who is not a serving public service employee on or after 1st January 2011 will enter the scale for the position at the minimum point.

Rate of remuneration may be adjusted from time to time in line with Government Policy.

Under the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013, the working hours for newly appointed/promoted staff are 35 hours per week.

PARTICULARS OF POSITION

(a) The post is permanent, whole time and pensionable.

(b) Dublin City Council reserves the right to, at any time, assign an employee to any Department now or in the future.

(c) A period of one year’s probation applies where a person is permanently appointed to Dublin City Council.

CITIZENSHIP

Candidates must, by the date of application, be:

a) a citizen of the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA consists of the Member States of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, or

b) a citizen of the United Kingdom (UK), or

c) a citizen of Switzerland pursuant to the agreement between the EU and Switzerland on the free movement of persons, or

d) a non-EEA citizen who is a spouse or child of an EEA or UK or Swiss citizen and has a stamp 4 visa, or

e) a person awarded international protection under the International Protection Act 2015 or any family member entitled to remain in the State as a result of family reunification and has a stamp 4 visa, or

f) a non-EEA citizen who is a parent of a dependent child who is a citizen of, and resident in, an EEA member state or the UK or Switzerland and has a stamp 4 visa.

Dublin City Council welcomes all nationalities and ethnic backgrounds to join its diverse workforce and hereby reserves the sole discretion to vary the above requirements from time to time subject to the business needs and staffing requirements.