I’m delighted that you have chosen to find out more about these exciting opportunities to join Torfaen County Borough Council, a vibrant and innovative Council in South East Wales. These are two crucial and rewarding finance roles at the Council. Though it’s perhaps unusual to be appointing these two roles together, we believe it offers an excellent opportunity to build on the very strong foundations laid by their predecessors. If you want to make a difference to the way the council works and really influence the area, then these are the jobs for you. We are not looking for the best accountants but financial strategists.

Torfaen’s ambitious strategic plan looks beyond the provision of excellent day-to-day services, and shows how the council wants to achieve its vision of improving the sustainability, connectivity and well-being of our county by strengthening our communities, creating a thriving local economy, and protecting and enhancing our environment. These themes guide our policymaking and service design, and help to ensure decision-making and planning are always focused around the ‘big picture’ for the County. We have a really corporate approach to the way we work and there is strength and support through all layers of leadership. We embrace agile and hybrid working.

We are realistic about the scale of the challenge, and we face tough choices about where to focus resources. So financial resilience and innovation is vital if we are to continue to serve Torfaen’s communities, and we must invest prudently to continue delivering the services that people need. We also recognise that in a regionally competitive Wales, Torfaen needs to stand out in order to attract the inward investment that will secure our future prosperity.

These roles will play a pivotal part in achieving our potential, and I very much look forward to meeting you.