Principal Accountant - ARB

Department: Financial Services

Closing Date: Sunday 25th October 2026

Argyll and Bute Council’s Financial Services Department are seeking a Principal Accountant within the Accounting and Budgeting Team. This is a permanent full time post, working 35 hours per week and can be undertaken remotely.

Let us tell you about why this could be a great move for you.

Argyll and Bute is one of Scotland’s most stunning areas. As its award-winning council, we play a vital part in the day-to-day life and long-term future of our beautiful and diverse communities. Our unwavering purpose is to make Argyll and Bute the place to be, the place where people want to live, to work and do business. And we are committed to making the council the place to have a great career, by providing excellent benefits and a friendly, dynamic working culture so that each of our 5000 colleagues can deliver services that help our corner of Scotland thrive.

Join us to make a difference.

About the role:
We seek a Principal Accountant to join our Accounting and Budgeting Team to lead the delivery of strategic financial advice, monitoring, budgeting and control for one of our service departments. Knowledge of Scottish Local Government is advantageous but not essential as training will be provided. You will collaborate with the department’s management and finance teams and senior Financial Services staff to develop sustainable financial plans, mitigate risks and maximise the benefits for our local communities.

Additionally, you will assist the Head of Financial Services and Finance Managers with corporate financial services, including year-end accounts and financial accounting.

About you: You will be a CCAB qualified finance professional with significant management accounting or finance business partnering experience

Our employees make good things happen in the day-to-day life and for the longer term future of Argyll and Bute. We want you to feel valued working for us. We offer various benefits to support you, such as a competitive salary, pension scheme, generous leave entitlement, cycle to work scheme, discounts on gym memberships and leisure centres, wellbeing initiatives, and opportunities for learning and career growth.

We also embrace a modern approach to work, offering a flexible first approach where possible to requests from our employees to how they work.

We provide information to help with moving to the area, from finding somewhere to live to securing employment, and from schools and wider education to the varied lifestyles available here. If you have any enquiries, you’re welcome to get in touch with us at settleme If your enquiry is only about housing, you are welcome to contact work directly.

We care about our people and the world around us and always aim to do the right thing. From employee recognition schemes to environmental policies we have many initiatives in place to help us look after the things we all care about. Learn more here Argyll and Bute Employee Recognition Programme, Disability Confident, Armed Forces, Fair Work First Statement, Equality and Fairness, Climate Change, Flexible and Hybrid Working Policy 

Argyll and Bute Council recognises the numerous benefits of a positive work-life balance to the wellbeing and productivity of our employees. We will take a flexible first approach to requests from our employees to change the way that they work. While we must balance such requests with the need to ensure the quality of the important services we deliver are not compromised, we will ensure that each request is given careful consideration with a view to achieving a positive outcome wherever possible.

We want everyone applying for a job with Argyll and Bute Council to feel confident, supported and informed…