Financial Compliance and Direct Payments Manager

Job Description

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO8£59,111 - £62,766

Contract Type: Full Time/Permanent

Working hours per week: 36 hours (Hybrid Working, 4 days Remote, 1 day Onsite)

Application Deadline: 13/10/26

Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC

Reference: 2260

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

About the role:

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Direct Payments & Financial Compliance Manager to play a key role in Adult Social Care financial operations specifically in relation to payment compliance and invoicing, ensuring compliance with the Care Act 2014 and delivering high-quality financial support services. As part of this the successful candidate will oversee Direct Payments, care provider payment cycles, client contribution billing, financial compliance, and income recovery, while managing multi million pound social care budgets.

You will be an experienced and motivated leader with a strong background in Adult Social Care finance, financial compliance and service improvement. You will bring expertise in budget management, Direct Payments, charging and financial assessment processes, alongside the ability to analyse complex data and use insight to drive performance and informed decision-making.

You will lead, manage and develop the Direct Payments Support Team and the Finance & Customer Support Team, drive service improvement, provide expert financial guidance to senior stakeholders, and ensure robust governance, audit, and performance management arrangements are in place. This is an excellent opportunity for a strong leader with expertise in social care finance, Direct Payments, financial assessments, and service transformation.

With excellent communication, stakeholder management and influencing skills, you will be confident working with senior leaders, partners and customers in complex and sensitive environments. You will have a proven track record of leading high-performing teams, delivering change, improving customer outcomes and ensuring robust financial governance. Most importantly, you will be passionate about making a positive difference for residents through high-quality, efficient and compliant Adult Social Care services.

Key Requirements: Knowledge of the Care Act 2014, a robust understanding of Adult Social Care finance, experience managing complex financial services and budgets, strong leadership capabilities, excellent analytical skills, and the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

• The role involves leading and managing the strategic delivery of Adult Social Care financial operations, ensuring compliance, efficiency, and stakeholder engagement.
• Oversee financial support services for Direct Payments, Client & Provider Pay Runs, and Client Contributions, ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Manage budgets, control expenditure, and maximize value for money.
• Develop and implement policies, systems, and procedures aligned with legislation, especially the Care Act 2014.
• Lead on risk management, compliance, and quality assurance to meet internal and external standards.
• Provide expert advice to senior management, partners, and external bodies on financial and legislative issues.
• Lead, motivate, and develop staff, ensuring a high-performing, outcomes-focused team.
• Monitor performance through KPIs, reporting progress to stakeholders and driving continuous improvement.
• Manage complex, politically sensitive issues, including recovery of surplus funds and billing discrepancies.
• Maintain effective relationships with internal teams, external partners, and stakeholders, representing the service externally.
• Ensure data accuracy, system integrity, and compliance with financial regulations and audit requirements.

Skills and Experience

• Extensive knowledge of the Care Act 2014, financial management, and data systems like Mosaic or Oracle.
• Proven leadership, strategic planning, and change management skills.
• Strong communication, negotiation, and stakeholder engagement abilities.
• Experience in budget oversight, income maximization, and customer satisfaction improvement.
• Relevant professional qualifications and a degree or equivalent experience.

Resourcing and Governance

• Manage direct reports including team managers and officers.
• Oversee multi-million-pound budgets and provider & service user payment cycles.
• Ensure policies and procedures support compliance and service excellence.

Qualifications and Requirements:

To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:

• Degree level or equivalent experience
• Relevant professional qualification

Terms and conditions:

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;

• Satisfactory declaration of interest;

• This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/ or vulnerable adults;

• Satisfactory Enhanced DBS check;

• As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We are a Home Office–licensed sponsor; however, for this specific role we are not able to provide Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. To be considered, you must already hold a form of UK work authorisation that does not require sponsorship.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Lucia Hedderley at lucia.hedderley@walthamforest.gov.uk

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Fraud Awareness Notice:
The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic).

We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.

If you are contacted by a third party claiming to represent the Council, please verify the vacancy via our official careers website before sharing any information.

If you have concerns about a job advert or communication, please report it to:
fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.