The Role

Are you passionate about delivering high quality sustainable services to children and young people?

Are you able to ensure that schools’ and LA funding is safeguarded and used as effectively as possible to deliver outcomes for children?

Are you efficient, pragmatic and obsessive about managing finances within budget?

Are you passionate about making improvements and implementing change?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

We have an exciting opportunity for a qualified accountant (preferably) to join our Children’s Services Schools Finance team safeguarding schools’ Dedicated Schools Grant and the LA authority’s education budgets.

The opportunity will provide the right candidate with the opportunity to diversify or enhance their local government experience under the guidance of a very high performing team.

About the role

As Assistant Finance Business Partner – Education/Schools, you will report to the Head of Schools Finance with the primary aim of supporting the Head of Service to ensure that the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools Grant is managed within budget and that our management information for Special Needs is of a high standard. For this reason, previous experience of working within a Schools Finance team and a decent understanding of the technicalities of school’s finance is a requirement.

The role provides an excellent opportunity to develop your people management skills as you will be liaising with multiple stakeholders and managing a small team of 3 people. This is an exciting time to join a highly motivated team that is committed to achieving the visions set for Wandsworth Council. 

About you

For this role, you will need to ideally have a background in Children’s Services finance and Schools Finance and an ability to communicate complex financial information to people without a finance background.

The successful candidate will also need to have demonstrable experience of schools funding rules and technicalities as well as helping to close both LA and Dedicated Schools Grant year end accounts.

You will have a proactive approach and willingness to build effective relationships with services, schools and any other key stakeholders across the organisation.  The environment is fast paced, with tight deadlines therefore you will need to be a good communicator, well organised, have excellent written, numerical and analytical skills and sound IT abilities.

Contact details

If you would like to have an informal chat about the role, please contact Michael Hallick by email at michael.hallick@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk.

Benefits

We do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, job shares and other arrangements. Please just let us know in your application or at any stage throughout the process (and beyond) if these are options you’d like to explore.

We also offer a generous holiday allowance of 39 paid days (pro rata) including bank holidays and a wide range of learning and development opportunities. In addition, we offer a comprehensive range of staff benefits such as membership of the Local Government pension scheme, childcare vouchers, new technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments.

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

• Closing date: 11:59pm on Sunday 1st August 2021
• Shortlisting date: Monday 2nd August 2021
• Interview Date: Week commencing 9th August 2021

Useful Information: The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. We strongly advise you to complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please note that the advertised dates for interviews may change due to the current Covid-19 situation. If they do, we will let you know as soon as possible. Your health and wellbeing is our top priority. Should you become unwell due to Covid-19 during the recruitment process we would very much appreciate receiving an update from you as soon as possible.

Equality Statement

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.

Important Information

This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. It replaces the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA).

How to apply

To be considered for interview your CV and supporting statement must highlight your knowledge, skills and experience listed in attached Job Profile located at the bottom of the advert.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils