The Role

Are you keen to play a central role in achieving positive outcomes for children?

Do you want to build on your analytical skills? And are studying for your CIPFA/ACCA (or equivalent), or working already as a financial technician?

If so, you could work with a leading London Council, offering a competitive package alongside a wide range of learning and development opportunities. Come and join us!

We are looking to recruit a Finance Officer to join our amazing Children’s Services and help play a central role in achieving positive outcomes for children in Wandsworth.

About the service

In order to support the successful inclusion and wellbeing of children and young people with SEN in their educational settings, Wandsworth Council’s Schools Finance Team works alongside SNAS (Special needs assessment service) to ensure that SEN data is up to date so accurate payments are made to schools, further education institutions, therapy providers etc, both in and outside the borough.

This is an exciting time to join a highly motivated team, which is committed to achieving the visions set for Wandsworth Council.

About the role

As the Finance officer for High Needs and Early Years, you will report to the Assistant Finance Partner for Education. The core tasks of this role include working as part of a team to monitor and maintain complex pupil data, upload payment journals into the accounting system and post budget changes. This includes being able to proactively identify data needs in relation to missing, incomplete or inaccurate data, and liaise with the relevant schools to resolve and make accurate data entries to the team database/spreadsheets, schedules, and make accurate and timely payments.

This role provides an excellent opportunity to develop your people and analytical skills, as you will be liaising with multiple stakeholders and analysing SEN data and providing budgetary/statistical information to senior management.

To be shortlisted to interview for this position your CV and personal statement (no longer than two sides of A4) will clearly evidence:

• Your experience in Finance and Excel will be critical in this role.
• You will have a proactive approach and a good understanding of the pupil’s specific needs and the impact that they can have on their education and well-being. 
• The environment is fast-paced and demanding. The successful candidate will need to be a good communicator, well organised, have strong written and IT skills, be empathetic with a pragmatic approach to problem solving.

Contact details

If you would like to have an informal chat about the role, please contact Abhay Gupta by email at Abhay.Gupta@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

Benefits

We recognise the importance of a good balance between work and home life so we do everything we can to accommodate flexible working including, working from home, compressed or part-time hours, term time only, 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 11^th December 2022
• Shortlisting Date: week commencing 12^th December 2022
• Interview Date: week commencing 19^th December 2022

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, you application must show us how you meet the criteria outlined in the Job Profile located at the bottom of the advert.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils