Trust Finance Officer Role Information for Applicants

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Trust Finance Officer Role Information for Applicants Job Description and Person Specification August 2018

Introduction from Karen Burns, Chief Executive Office, Victorious Academies Trust As the Chief Executive of Victorious Academies Trust I would like to thank you for your interest in our Trust. We aim to recruit outstanding people. We would rather make no appointment than appoint someone who is not suited to our ethos. For this reason we clearly articulate our vision, values and expectations when putting together information for applicants and we always give a lot of attention to appointing the right person. We aim to recruit staff who are excited by their role and subscribe to the ethos of the Trust, focus on collaboration and on ‘going the extra mile’ in terms of time and commitment to get the very best from our staff and young people; are quick to praise and slow to criticise; and see themselves as potential leaders of the future. If this is your first contact with our Trust I hope what you read, along with anything else you discover about us, inspires you to apply for one of our posts. We are excited by the continued opportunity to grow the Trust and our academies in Tameside and hope that you would like to come on this journey with us. Here are some of the comments from our most recent surveys of staff working for the Trust telling us what they like best about working for our Trust:    

‘Working with a team of highly dedicated people who all want to support each other and achieve the best outcomes for the children’; ‘Being part of something new and exciting with a clear vision working towards being an exceptional, leading educational provider’; ‘I am being given the support and encouragement I need to develop as well as new opportunities – the supportive leadership team are fantastic’; and ‘I feel valued and very much part of a team’.

Victorious Academies Trust is a multi academy trust based in Tameside. We currently have three primary schools within our Trust:   

Inspire Academy, Ashton under Lyne opened in September 2015 – Ofsted May 2018. Discovery Academy, Hattersley, opened in September 2016. Poplar Street Primary School, Audenshaw joined the Trust in April 2018.

Our ambition is to create a sustainable Trust with a cluster of schools supporting each other and championing collaboration. We have a number of good schools in the process of joining the Trust and we aim to grow to ten schools locally, creating a beacon of excellence to improve outcomes and opportunities for pupils. Our vision for education is one that builds pathways for all, focusing on personal strengths, academic progress, character development and progress to employment. This is linked to lifelong learning, professional development and community involvement. We want to remove barriers to achievement and to inspire individuals by setting their learning in the context of their future aspirations. Our Trust values are:     

Inspiring – Encouraging all to be as creative and motivating as possible; Discovering – Seeking opportunities to expand knowledge and experience; Caring – Providing support and guidance for the whole school community; Improving – Striving to better ourselves at all times; and Achieving – Teaching to attain aspirational targets.

Senior leaders at our academies tell us: “Being part of a Trust that is well led and managed at every level, by Members who care and are invested in our success, we are enabled to provide the very best to all stakeholders in our communities but most of all our children and families. As the trust expands and becomes more successful, this naturally supports the growth of our school and community both internally and externally. Great trust development management sits right at the centre of this.

Trust Finance Officer Our Trustees would like to recruit one full time permanent Finance Officer to work within the Trust Core Team. The Core Team currently comprises the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operations Officer and Chief Finance Officer. This post will be reporting directly to the Chief Finance Officer. The post will be based in Tameside and the successful candidate will be expected to work across a number of academies within the course of each week. The Trust is currently going through a period of growth with additional schools expected to join during 2018 / 2019 and 2019 / 2020 academic years. Salary Range (TMBC Grade G – points 29-32) - £24,416 - £27,913 Weeks worked – Term Time Only (39 weeks) plus 4 additional weeks - total of 43 weeks annually.

Job Description JOB PROFILE NAME:

Trust Finance Officer

LINE MANAGED BY:

Chief Finance Officer

PROFESSIONALLY REPORTS TO:

Chief Finance Officer

Victorious Academies Trust Overview Our Trust was established in January 2018 and currently comprises three academies in Tameside. Our ambition is to grow the Trust to a hub of 10 primary academies initially encouraging good schools to join the Trust. In the longer term our academies will include schools across the age, achievement and challenge continuum but they will have common threads. Trust schools will be dynamic, they will set achievement at the heart of what they do, they will understand their significance to the community and a moral purpose will inform their work. Additionally, they will take a collective responsibility for our success, leverage the capacity and capability within all our schools - particularly those that demonstrate outstanding practice. Victorious Academies Trust aims to extend opportunity for young people and their communities by raising standards, providing environmental and cultural conditions for pupils, students, teachers and educational leaders to set their aspirations high and realise their goals. Victorious Academies Trust Approach Victorious Academies Trust is a DfE approved multi academy trust focused on inspiring, motivating and supporting individuals to achieve success. Our focus is on:  excellence: supporting all academies to become outstanding;  progression: supporting the academic progress, personal progress and progression to employment of young people;  building capacity: investing in the professional development of all of our staff to empowering them to succeed;  leading edge practice: encouraging our academies to engage in action research to drive best practice; and  communities: rooting our academies in their community and promoting collaboration within the Trust and with local schools. Victorious Academies Trust Function The Trust provides a full range of services to support academies including:  school improvement and performance;  finance and governance;  professional development and HR;  estates improvement;  ICT and learning technologies; and  community. Our strategic plan is to: support a network of outstanding academies; develop a leading edge partnership; raise the academy profiles; and place them at the forefront of education nationally. Purpose of the Job The Finance Officer is a member of the Trust central team with responsibility for supporting the Chief Finance

Officer and individual academies in their financial management.  Provide professional accountancy support to the Trust and help ensure compliance with statutory requirements.  Support the training and development of support staff across the Trust and individual academies in the use of financial systems.  Support the production of budget plans and associated financial monitoring information for the Trust and individual academies.  Support the monthly payroll process through liaison between the external payroll provider and individual academies. Key Objectives of the Job Key objectives of the role will include: Finance / Business:  to work with the support staff in individual academies to implement the financial decisions of the Principal / Headteacher, Local Governing Board, Trust Board and Trust Core Team.  to advise the Principal / Headteacher on investment and financial policy, preparing appraisals for future projects and for the development of a long term financial strategy for the future development of the academy.  to support additional income generation and maximize grant values for all academies through supporting them during the termly pupil census process.  to support the creation and maintenance of detailed budget plans across a minimum of 3 years for each academy in conjunction with the Principal / Headteacher, academy support staff and the Trust Chief Financial Officer (CFO).  to support Academy level budget monitoring, including reporting such information to local governing boards and the Trust Board.  to retain an awareness of current and proposed local and national policies which affect the finances of academies and academy trusts.  to attend meetings with individual academy leadership teams and Governors or Governing Boards as required.  to use financial management information, including relevant benchmarking analysis, to identify areas of relative spend, assess trends, and directly advise each academy’s senior leadership team and the Trust CFO.  monitor and help to control income and expenditure in relation to each academy’s budget.  to assist in the preparation of all financial returns for the ESFA EFA, DfE and other central and local government agencies within statutory deadlines and within the Trust financial software.  to assist in the closure of the annual accounts, including the preparation of the Annual Report and Financial Statements.  to support the maintenance and system administration of any finance related software in use across the Trust.  to undertake continuous professional development both formally and informally.  to occasionally deputise for the CFO. People Management  provide advice, assistance and guidance for each academy’s senior leadership team and support staff in relation to all financial matters.  support and advise each academy through procurement procedures and in maintaining their

equipment inventory and the associated Trust capital asset register. To undertake any other duties as appropriate to the grade of the post as requested by the CFO. Job Level Overview The job holder will possess specialised knowledge/skills gained through 'on the job' experience in both public sector accountancy and schools financial matters. Operational Accountabilities The Finance Officer is accountable to the Chief Financial Officer and will also support the Principal / Headteacher to:  Manage the activities of individual academies to meet deadlines and quality standards taking account of impact outside area of responsibility.  Focus of work is predominantly against defined targets but performs a range of tasks from complex to straightforward.  Individual academies within the Trust will have different levels of financial skills and numbers of staff supporting the financial function, so the level of support required from this post by each Academy will vary. Financial Accountabilities The Finance Officer will have the following financial responsibilities:  ensures academies and Trust compliance with the DfE Academies financial handbook and the Trust Financial procedures.  Support the CFO in setting financial policy and future development of the academies and Trust.  responsible for producing and maintaining individual academy 3 year budget plan to propose to the Local Governing Board.  to monitor academy accounting and focus on best value.  typically manage cost centre budgeting (first line budgetary accountability).  identify ways to reduce cost and improve service.  manage variable costs (e.g. overtime and agency costs). People Accountabilities The Finance Officer will have the following accountabilities for staff: • optimises the performance of staff across the Trust in relation to financial management. Knowledge and Applied Skills  Advanced skills in the use of accounts software, ideally with some involvement in systems administration and/or software development work.  Experience in the use of the PS Financials system.  Previous work experience in an accountancy environment and ideally in schools accountancy.  Technical accounting and financial skills.  Advanced skills in the manipulation of data to create financial information and reports, including the use of Microsoft Excel.  Experience of planning and formally monitoring budgets, ideally through use of the HCSS School budget planning software.  Thorough understanding of school and academy trust funding regimes. Behavioural Competencies

People Success Factors:  Planning & Organising .  Achieving and Doing.  Building Relationships.  Delivery through People.  Business Awareness.  Customer and Stakeholder Focus.  Contributing to Continuous Improvement.  Dealing with Change. Additional Role Information  Requires excellent communication and people management skills.  Confidentiality and Data protection awareness.  Experience of working in an education establishment.  Experience of working under pressure. Victorious Academies Trust has a commitment to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and/or young people. We have robust processes and procedures to reduce risk and continuously promote a positive culture of safeguarding amongst our workforce. The post you are applying for involves working with children and/or young people and you will be subject to Victorious Academies Trust’s safer recruitment process.

Person Specification Attributes Educational Attainment  AAT qualification or equivalent.  Membership of AAT.  5 Grade A-C GCSE’s including English and Mathematics or their equivalent. Work Experience  involvement in accountancy software systems administration and/or associated development work  use of the PS Financials system.  previous work experience in a schools accountancy environment.  detailed manipulation of data to create financial information and reports.  planning and formally monitoring budgets..  explaining financial issues and reports to different levels of staff.  supporting and implementing finance related process improvements. Knowledge / Skills / Aptitudes  Advanced skills in the use of accounts software, ideally with some involvement in systems administration and/or software development work.  Technical accounting and financial skills.  Financial modelling skills.  Ability to work to deadlines and organise workload even where conflicting demands exist.  Advanced skills in the use of Microsoft Excel.  Adept at using HCSS School budget planning software.  Thorough understanding of school and academy trust funding regimes.  Ability to prioritise support to multiple Schools and/or services. Disposition • Commitment and vision towards providing high quality services and support. • Able to form good relationships with staff and the wider communities across the Trust. • A desire to work with academies and to promote the Trust across the wider community. • Commitment to training and self-development. • Flexible approach to work.

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• Committed to the principles of equality and diversity. Circumstances • Enhanced clearance from the Criminal Records Bureau. • Letter of application to be no more than 2 sides A4 text point 10. AF = Application Form I = Interview and other activities

CRB check Application form