Regional Finance Assistant

Reports to: Senior Finance Manager

Location: North London

Contract:  Permanent

Pattern: Part time (30 hours per week-0.8 FTE)

Closing date: 19/07/2024 at 10am

Interviews: 24/07/2024 and 26/07/2024

Start date: 20/08/2024 (depending on notice periods and availability)

Full Time Salary: £25,712 to £29,000 (depending on experience)

Part time Annual Salary: £20,570 to £23,200 (depending on experience)

About the role:

We are seeking a passionate Regional Finance Assistant to join our dynamic team at schools in the North London Region. In this role, you will play a key part in our daily financial operations, ensuring compliance and maintaining the highest standards of financial integrity. You will also be instrumental in optimising resources across the academies. Your responsibilities will include managing resource orders for our schools and working closely with senior leaders and the finance team to implement best practices.

The ideal candidate will:

• Have experience with financial procedures, cash handling, and maintaining cash security
• Bring experience from a school, public sector, or similar charitable environment
• Demonstrate advanced proficiency in spreadsheets and computerised accountancy software
• Embrace Ark’s ethos of setting high expectations

Key Responsibilities: 

• Assist the North London Region, with the day-to-day financial processes and procedures required of the academy, ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Academies Financial Handbook
• Ensure high standards of financial probity and value for money within the academy
• To work with the Senior Finance Manager to achieve the most competitive pricing for goods and services in compliance with current and relevant procurement legislation
• To take responsibility for the processing of financial transactions within the academy, including purchase orders, invoicing, credit card reconciliation, BACS payments and petty cash
• To undertake monthly bank reconciliations
• To take responsibility for the receipt, safekeeping and banking of all monies received by the academy
• To maintain the finance filing systems, ensuring that records are suitable for audit purposes
• To accurately administrate and manage the school resources ordering system across both primary and secondary phases
• To ensure procurement best practice is adhered to

Key Requirements:

• No financial qualifications are required, but would be desirable
• Right to work in the UK
• Excellent literacy and communication skills, including written and oral
• Highly competent computer skills, using Excel, Internet, Email and financial databases
• Understands the importance of confidentiality and discretion
• Experience of financial procedures, cash handling and cash security
• Experience in a school, similar public sector environment or charity (desirable)
• Strong attention to detail
• Well organised and resourceful
• An interest in learning about finance and procurement
• Demonstrates resilience, motivation and commitment to driving up standards of achievement

View the full job description and person specification here

About Ark

We’re 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.

You’ll be joining a group of like-minded, ambitious individuals who work collaboratively and are all committed to our core mission, that every child has the potential to succeed. Having just celebrated our 20^th anniversary, we are shaping our goals for the next 20 and there has never been a more exciting time to join us.

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
• 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. Depending on your role you may also be entitled to LGPS which is a defined benefit scheme where you contribute a percentage based on how much you earn (as do we) in exchange for a guaranteed amount in your pension pot every year
• 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 Friday 19^th July 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.