Financial Controller - Croydon, United Kingdom - Harris Federation

Harris Federation

Verified Company

Croydon, United Kingdom

3 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

We are looking for an experienced Financial Controller to lead our central Finance Team and be part of a leading and forward-thinking educational charity where your work will have a real impact.

As a Financial Controller at the Harris Federation, you will manage the financial reporting and compliance across our 52 academies.

Our annual funding is over £300m and it will be your role to monitor our performance against budget as well as to developthe financial systems and controls in place as our organisation continues to grow rapidly.

You will be joining us at an exciting time as we prepare to transition to Oracle Cloud, our brand-new ERP system - with the first phase due to go live in September 2023.

This system includes modules that impact all areas of our organisation, and you willbe responsible for supporting this transformational work from a financial standpoint.

We offer lifestyle friendly working arrangements including flexible start and end times, and hybrid working with 2 days from home and 3 days with the team at our head office in East Croydon.

We are interested in hearing from qualified accountants with a strong track record of leading a finance and operations function and experience in statutory accounts management.

This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a hardworking and committed teamand join an organisation that is leading the way in making a difference for disadvantaged young people and communities.

Main Areas of Responsibility

Your responsibilities will include:

Leading and motivating a small Central Finance team, providing direction and development, performance appraisals and reviewing all their work, including the Federation management accounts and balance sheet reconciliations
Responsibility for assisting DF to develop to a brand new ERP system (Oracle Cloud) alongside the Head of Finance Systems
Assisting the Director of Finance to continually develop the existing systems and controls in this fast pace and rapidly growing business
Monitoring Federation performance against budget, ensuring no overspends
Providing business and financial support to the Director of Finance as required, to include assistance in setting budgets and reviewing reports on actuals and variances
Setting the annual timetable for all areas of financial reporting
Working with the Head of Finance Business Partners to ensure adherence to Federation finance policies and practices, and developing and improving the reporting and efficient running of the Academies' finance function
Liaising with the Internal Audit team to ensure all finance procedures are adhered to and any other issues as appropriate
Reviewing all Academies' management accounts and balance sheet reconciliations, including ensuring appropriate financial accounting procedures and policies are applied
Ensuring that the Trust has appropriate insurance cover as well as being the overall group administrator including processing claims as required
Recording and evaluating all proposals for expenditure on capital and other projects
Reviewing and monitoring financially all major group contracts such as photocopying, catering and utilities
Preparing consolidation of the Academies' accounts and annual budgets
Managing the Teachers' Pension audit processes
Planning and managing cash flow, funding and capital expenditure
Identifying and evaluating opportunities for improving value for money
Ensuring DfE / ESFA reporting deadlines are adhered to throughout the year
Preparing and coordinating the yearend statutory accounts for all Academies and the consolidated Federation accounts
Planning and managing the Trust's VAT liabilities
Compiling the annual P11D and PSA returns
Investigating, implementing and managing taxrelated issues
Responsibility for all Company Secretarial compliance
Providing key financial and operational indicators and other data for benchmarking and monitoring with other Academies
Developing the existing finance manual and procedures and documenting all department procedures
Maintenance of the Federation treasury, including opening bank accounts, updating mandates, credit card management and investigating low risk investment opportunities

Qualifications & Experience

CCAB Qualification, ideally with substantial postqualified experience
Recent and relevant continued professional development
Proven experience of leading a finance and operations function within a mediumlarge sized enterprise, with turnover/income £80£300 million.
Strong commercial acumen that has been demonstrated in providing operational effectiveness in a resourceconstrained environment.
Wideranging core Finance experience and commercial skills encompassing the following: budgeting and planning, strong cashflow management, managing capital expenditure, creating a strong control environment around management and statutory reporting, strongfinancial and management information analysis skills and able to disseminate timely, accurate and relevant reports to key stakeholders.
Previous experience in building effective teams, developing staff and managing external business liaisons.
Strong statutory accounts experience; you will be expected to consolidate 50 academies to statutory level.

Previous experience of working within a Multi Academy Trust would be advantageous, and experience of working in the Education or Charities sector is highly desirable.

For a full job description and person specification, please download the job pack.