Finance Manager

Reports to: Operations Director, Ark Start

Location: West London (White City) with occasional travel to nursery sites

Contract: Permanent

Pattern: Full Time (37.5 hrs per week)

Closing date: 22/04/2024 at 10am

Interviews: w/c 29/04/2024 and 06/05/2024

Salary: £45,000 to £52,000 (depending on qualification and experience)

About the role:

Ark Start is looking to recruit a Finance Manager to manage the finance function across the Ark Start nurseries and Central support function. We currently have two nurseries in South London, expanding by a further three nurseries by September 2024.

As the Finance Manager, you will be responsible for ensuring efficient and effective finance support for Ark Start including managing all operational and month end processes and management reporting and budgeting.

We are looking for a passionate, hard-working, and extremely organised individual who wants to be part of this exciting new venture.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Responsible for ensuring the finance & nursery systems are set up and being managed correctly
• Responsible for ensuring that the procurement process is followed by all staff, with the finance team ensuring value for money and ordering on behalf of the Ark Start team
• Complete and sign-off all month end reconciliations and prepare quarterly pack
• Prepare management accounts monthly, for internal review, and quarterly, for Ark Management Team
• Manage apprentice levy funding and reporting
• Set-up and manage monthly cashflow reporting to ensure Ark Start maintains positive working capital and maximises interest
• Monitor and report on grants for regular fundraising reports
• Prepare detailed budgets annually, for sign-off by the Board, working with budget holders

Key Requirements:

• 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and Maths
• Professional accountancy qualification or Part-qualified with significant relevant experience
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent organisation and planning skills
• Good knowledge and experience of working with spreadsheets and large amounts of data
• Good knowledge and experience of finance systems, including sales and purchase ledgers and bank reconciliations
• Good understanding of the requirements of a procurement process
• Ability to work flexibly, independently and as part of a team
• Willing to work flexibly, with a minimum of 3 days in the office and other days in the office/ at nursery sites as required
• Resilient and excited about working in a dynamic start-up

View the full job description and person specification here

About Us

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’re a network of 39 schools, educating around 30,000 pupils in areas where we can make the biggest difference and we’re recognised as one of the highest achieving academy groups in the country. We want to change the lives of children everywhere, not just in our own schools. So, we create and incubate Ventures designed not only to help pupils in Ark schools, but also to improve education systems.

The dedicated Ark Start team work together to ensure that every child has a joyful, engaging, and secure nursery experience and leaves us ready to start school happily and confidently. We are driven by our values in everything we do: Aim High, Be Brave, Be Kind and Keep Learning.

Ark Start is at an exciting time in its evolution. We have two nurseries in South London and aim to expand our reach over the coming years. As we expand, we are looking for a Finance Manager to join our founding team.

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years’ service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays
• Full office closure between Christmas and New Year
• Hybrid working, with currently a minimum of three days a week in our state-of-the-art office in West London working alongside colleagues
• Regular social events, monthly free breakfast, and daily fruit
• A flexible approach to working with understanding and consideration for work life balance and personal commitments
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests

How to Apply:

Apply with a CV and cover letter on our online recruitment portal. Applications to be submitted by Monday 20^th April 2024 at 10am 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.

This ATS application form should take no longer 20 minutes to complete. At any time, you can pause, save, and log back in. If you have any difficulty with meeting the deadline for application, please contact recruitment@arkonline.org

Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.  

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this link. 

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this link.