The Role

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

Are you exceptionally good at building relationships with schools and other community focused organisations?

Do you have strong management experience of ensuring that schools and LA funding is safeguarded and used as effectively as possible to deliver outcomes for children?

If yes, we have the perfect role for you!

We have an exciting opportunity for a qualified accountant to join our Children’s Services Schools Finance team on a full time basis as the manager responsible for safeguarding schools’ Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and the Local Authority’s education budgets. Wandsworth is an LA without a huge DSG deficit which is an exceptional opportunity to join a team managing schools funding well. Come and join us!

About the role

As Head of Schools Finance, you will report to the Assistant Director of Business and Resources in Children’s Services, and the primary aim is to safeguard the schools’ financial system in Wandsworth. This will entail ensuring that the Dedicated Schools Grant is managed within budget, that financially vulnerable schools are supported back to financial health and that our management information is of a highest standard. For this reason, previous experience of a leading schools’ finance teams is a requirement.

With the role you will manage both a school’s facing Financial Advisory service that provides direct support to schools within schools and the internal schools finances teams managing the DSG and education budgets.

This is an exciting time to join a high performing and extremely motivated team that is committed to supporting an outstanding education system in Wandsworth. For this role, you will need a background of leading a school’s finance team and an ability to communicate complex financial information to people without a finance background. You will also need to have demonstrable experience of schools funding rules and technicalities as well as helping to close both LA, schools and DSG 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

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Hiring Manager Michael Hallick by email Michael.hallick@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. These include a majority of home working (dependant on service needs but unlikely to be more than a few days a month in the office) and in line with COVID 19 guidelines.

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 professional qualification fees reimbursed, 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 31st October 2021
• Shortlisting date: Week commencing 1st November 2021
• Interview date: Week commencing 8th November 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

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

How to apply

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

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils