Finance Manager (Business Lead)

Dear prospective applicant,

In the top 12% of schools nationally, Crown Hills Community College blends a 70-year history of inclusive education with an innovative, forward-looking approach to providing a state education like no other to 1,500 students from inner city backgrounds.

The School now seeks to appoint an exceptional individual to work alongside the Chief Operating Officer and two additional finance staff, who together comprise the Finance Team. The role of Finance Manager (Business Lead) is involved in all areas of school life due to the importance that finance plays in every day school life. This is, therefore, an exciting opportunity to play an integral role in making the school even more financially astute and to ensure our systems and processes are compliant.

To be successful, you will be smart, hungry and humble. We recruit our staff based on attitude as well as skill and if you possess the right balance, we will support you on your journey to further leadership.

You will also possess a proven track record of providing excellent operational delivery across a comparable, diverse portfolio. We are looking for an adept manager with strong financial acumen and experience of managing people.

Candidates will be assessed on their understanding of effective strategic leadership and their ability to work with others.

This role will suit professionals with a high level of personal credibility and financial awareness of school systems and processes. Outstanding communication skills and the personal authority to build strong relationships with outside

agencies, staff and parents are essential, as is a deep commitment to the School’s aims and values.

We welcome applications from those with both non-educational and educational backgrounds across the private, public and third sectors.

How we lead is as important as the direction we are taking staff in. You need to have the emotional intelligence to deal with sensitive matters with clarity as well as trusting those around you to deliver and, when needed, have tough love conversations to improve delivery. We have 200 staff and 1500 students, so your ability to work with different groups of people in a dynamic environment is paramount and a key part of the role.

We are a PFI school and outsource our major services to third parties and the successful candidate will at times need to liaise with these on a daily basis. These are G4S for site etc, Aspens for catering and Capita for IT.

Our mission is simple, we want every student to be the best that they can be, thrive in the best possible career and contribute positively to society.

This position is pivotal in achieving our mission statement as it knits together all of the support services and allows us to make strategic decisions based on key financial information. It doesn’t come without its challenges though, as leading in a climate of ever increasing accountability and diminishing resources is extremely challenging but I truly believe that when leaders lead by staying true to their values, the impossible becomes possible.

You will see from our site that our three key values permeate all that we do and have allowed us to grow from strength to strength:

Aspiration - Be the best you can be

Commitment - Do what it takes for as long as it takes

Success - Be ready to take on the world

As Principal, it has always been my philosophy to grow and nurture new talent so that we create the next generation of leaders, it is something that I have done throughout my career, and this role will support the successful individual on their journey.

If you have high aspirations for children from deprived backgrounds and experience of delivering educational excellence by providing a high quality education for the most vulnerable of students as well the business acumen to know how external services contribute to making this happen, we would like to hear from you.

If you would like to discuss the role in confidence, please cont act me on 07821543443.

We are looking for the role to start as soon as possible so that there is a sufficient handover with the current post holder.

We have also organised one online information evening, please contact my PA Jo Amey by email jamey@crownhills.leicester.sch.uk to confirm your attendance:

Information Evening – Tuesday 25th May at 5.30pm

Deadline for applicants is 9am on 7th June to jamey@crownhills.leicester.sch.uk

Yours sincerely,

Mr F Adam

(Principal)

*All appointments will be subject to references and pre-employment checks.