Regional Finance Assistant

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Job description

Regional Finance Assistant

Reporting to: Senior Finance Manager

Start date: ASAP

Location: North London (mixture of working from school mainly based in Enfield, Barnet and Wembley and some remote working)

Contract: Term Time only plus 2 weeks - 12 month fixed term (view to permanent) - 37.5 hours per week

Closing date: 10am on Friday 3 December

Salary: £19,800 - £23,400 pro-rated (£22k - £26k FTE)

The Role:

This is a regional position to support Ark academies in North London. This regional role will involve travel within the North London region where we have schools based in Ilford, Enfield, Wembley, Barnet, Paddington, White City and Acton. You will have set days working in Wembley, Enfield and Barnet and the remainder will be supporting the rest of the region. You will work closely with (and report to) the Senior Finance Manager and will also work with the relevant Principal and Finance leads at the school(s) you are supporting.

As Regional Finance Assistant, your role is an integral part of the schools in the region, responsible for ensuring high standards of financial integrity. Depending upon which school you are supporting, you will manage the daily and monthly financial processes in the school, ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Academies Financial Handbook. Your duties in each school may vary slightly as you may be required to support the current Finance team(s) in place.

Key Responsibilities:

• Working closely with the (Senior) Finance Manager and Finance leads to ensure the continuing financial stability of the school
• Placing orders, receiving goods and maintaining a professional relationship with suppliers
• Ensuring accurate and timely processing of purchase invoices and other documents using Concur and PS Financials accounting software, reconciling supplier statements, and preparing payment runs for authorisation
• With support from school finance teams where appropriate:
  • reconciling schools bank accounts, credit card statements and financial ledgers
  • operating petty cash; receiving, recording and banking monies paid into the school, ensuring all monies outstanding are collected
  • assisting the (Senior) Finance Manager or Finance leads with the preparation of month end and year end accounts
  • working with the Operations leads to ensure goods and services are processed in compliance with current and relevant procurement legislation, ensuring best value is achieved
  • assist with the administration of school's parent payment system

Requirements:

Qualification Criteria

• English and Maths GCSE grade A-C, or equivalent
• Part-qualified AAT, ACCA, CIMA, ACA desirable

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Experience of running effective administrative and financial systems, ideally within a school environment
• High level of proficiency with Microsoft Office, especially excel, PSF financials and Concur desirable
• Experience using financial databases and confidence and interest in learning new technologies

Other

• Commitment to equality of opportunity and the safeguarding and welfare of all students
• Willingness to undertake training and other professional development e.g. AAT, ACCA
• This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave (pro rata) plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service
• We are committed to providing high-quality professional learning throughout your career with us and offer a variety of training sessions and experiences designed to meet your needs
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bicycle and gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym

About Ark

Ark is an international charity, transforming lives through education. We exist to give every young person, regardless of their background, a great education and real choices in life. In the UK, we are a network of 39 schools, educating around 28,500 pupils in areas where we can make the biggest difference. We also incubate start-up programmes (Ark Ventures) that improve the education system.

How to Apply:

Apply with a CV and cover letter on our online recruitment portal. Applications to be submitted by 10am on 3 December 2021 but please note: we will be reviewing applications on an on-going basis and this advert may close earlier than advertised depending on the level of response.

For a full job description and to apply, visit our dedicated careers portal - arkonline.org/careers

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in our academies. In order to meet this responsibility, we follow a rigorous selection process.

This process is outlined here , but can be provided in more detail if requested. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.