Finance Lead – Orchard Hill College

Salary:  £46,851 per annum - £54,971 per annum, to be pro rata dependent on hours (PO5/6/7 pay scale)

Hours: 36 hours per week (negotiable), throughout the year

Applicants wanting to work flexibly or hybrid (between our offices and their home) are welcomed

Location: Sutton, Surrey, SM2 5AS but will be required to visit other sites

Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust (OHC&AT) is a family of specialist education providers for over 1500 pupils and students from nursery to further education across 14 academies and 8 college centres in London, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire. Supporting our academies and college, OHC&AT also operate learning support, such as nursing and therapy, and a central business support team which includes HR, finance and IT.

Pupils and students within the OHC&AT family have a wide range of learning abilities and additional needs including autistic spectrum disorder; speech, language and communication difficulties; social, emotional and mental health; profound and multiple disabilities; and physical disabilities including multi-sensory impairment and complex health needs.

OHC&AT is a rewarding and inspirational place to work, where everyone works together to create the best possible outcomes for students. To find out more about us, and what makes us a special place to work please visit www.ohcat.org

We are looking for a Finance Lead – College, to join our Finance Department. You will be responsible for managing the Management accounting team for Orchard Hill College, providing development and maintaining a high-quality internal reporting service alongside designing efficient systems and processes to report and advise on budget management, ensuring accuracy of information, regular deadlines and supporting advice to budget holders.

A key part of the role will be supporting the College leadership in developing the ESFA & GLA SEND cost bandings so knowledge of special needs funding and student top up arrangements is highly desirable.

This is a hands-on position and the successful candidate is expected to work closely with Principals, Directors, Heads of Service and will form part of the Senior Finance Management Team. You will be sufficiently flexible to deal with the range of challenges, responding quickly, effectively with creative innovative solutions which remain coherent with our core purposed values.

You will have strong communication skills, robust knowledge of policy, good planning and strong first class influencing skills. These will of critical importance in driving forward the departmental objective and the development of a high performance and sustainable culture throughout the growing family.  Beyond ensuring the smooth-running operational effectiveness and service delivery, you will be require the vision to be intuitive, resilient, financially astute, problem solving and energetic.

We can offer you:

·       Competitive pension scheme (LGPS)

·       A supportive team focussed on collaborative working

·       The opportunity of hybrid working, splitting your time between the office/College and home

·       28 days annual leave and flexible working schemes in addition to bank and public holidays and a Christmas closure period

·       Access to counselling advice and support via Health Assured (our employee assistance programme)

·       Commitment to wellbeing supported by our occupational health service and mental-health first aiders

·       Scope for developing your career through regular training and development and opportunities for progression

·       Electric car lease scheme

·       Enhanced parental leave schemes

·       Cycle to work scheme

·       Season ticket loans

·       Employee referral scheme

·       Discounted gym membership subscription including digital fitness

Closing Date: 9am, Monday 22nd May 2023

Interview Date: Friday 26th May 2023

We may close this advert and interview before the closing date if we receive applications from exceptional candidates.

To apply for the role please use the quick apply option to submit an application. If you have any queries, please contact jobs@orchardhill.ac.uk.

Your application form will be scored according to each of the requirements laid out in the person specification for this role. Please demonstrate in your statement how your experience, skills and knowledge match the criteria that are required for the role.

Please note that CV applications cannot be considered.

Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Appointments made will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020.