Finance and Operations Manager

The School:

The Sir Robert Woodard Academy, an Ofsted 'good' school and part of the Woodard family of schools, is a thriving 11–18 Academy serving primarily the students of Lancing, Sompting and West Shoreham, though we welcome students from all surrounding areas. We are committed to ensuring that every student is known and nurtured and is provided with teaching and learning experiences that allow them to fulfil their potential. We believe that students succeed when the school environment is caring and orderly; every member of staff has a part to play in achieving this. 

The Position:

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly skilled Finance and Operations Manager to join our Academy and the busy finance team on a permanent and full time basis.

The successful candidate will be committed to providing excellent financial and operational management to the Academy and Trust. The Finance and Operations Manager will report directly to the Finance Business Partner/Head of Operations as well as to the Trust Finance Director, as part of the Trust wide Finance Team. The successful post-holder will directly manage the Finance Officer, Site Manager, Catering Manager, IT Manager and Office Manager. Previous experience of successfully managing teams is essential. This incredibly broad role requires experience in schools financial management, site and premises development, IT and administration management, health and safety and payroll input. This role would suit School Business Managers, or those who have deputised or supported in a similar role.

Please review the job description for further details on the role responsibilities and the Person Specification for the required attributes of the post-holder.

Role type:        Permanent and Full time, 52 weeks per year

Work location: Onsite 4 days per week, option to work remotely 1 day per week

Hours:      37 per week, Monday to Friday, flexible between 8am-5.30pm

Salary:     £49,814-£54,269p.a. (dependant on experience)

Annual leave:  26 days per year, plus public holidays

Benefits:

●     modern and spacious working environment

●     free use of the Academy’s fitness suite

●     free employee wellness programme and onsite wellbeing support

●     generous employer contribution pension scheme of 21.5%

●     free on-site parking and easy access to local public transport

●     cycle to work scheme.

The Person:

At SRWA, our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with wellbeing support, coaching, mentoring and a wide range of top-quality training and CPD programmes delivered at every level up to senior leadership.

A Staff Well-being survey in June 2023 revealed our staff consider these areas ‘outstanding’:

Staff morale, workload and job satisfaction

Appreciation of staff achievement/contribution

Opportunities for staff to develop.

The successful candidate will:

• be highly skilled, self-motivated and enthusiastic with a positive ‘can do’ approach
• be a natural leader, able to hold staff to account and drive improvement where necessary
• be able to work independently, managing multiple tasks at once and reacting appropriately to changing priorities
• display excellent financial management and operational management skills, proven by previous experience
• have a good working knowledge of IT systems, including experience with financial/accounting software
• be able to communicate in a professional and friendly manner with a range of stakeholders.

 Please review the person specification for further details on the skills and attributes required of the post-holder. Only those who clearly evidence meeting the essential criteria will be considered for shortlisting.

Our commitment to Safeguarding and Equal Opportunities:

The Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share in this commitment. All posts will be subject to safeguarding and vetting checks, including the receipt of two satisfactory references. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a criminal record self-declaration form and to give consent for an online search to be carried out against their name. Successful applicants will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check, therefore individuals on the children’s barred list (and adults barred list where relevant) should not apply. There is a six month probation period for all post-holders. The Academy is committed to equality of opportunity. We positively welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Online Application Process:

CVs alone will not be accepted. Please visit The Sir Robert Woodard Academy website and navigate to 'Current Vacancies'. Select the job role and click 'fast apply'.