Finance Officer

Description:

We’re supporting a well-established education organisation (a Multi Academy Trust) to appoint a Finance Officer on a contract basis. Working closely with a senior finance lead, you’ll help ensure robust financial controls, accurate month-end reporting, and strong compliance across a group of schools.

This is a hands-on role suited to someone who is confident with reconciliations, journals, and management accounts, and who can support stakeholders with finance queries and policy guidance.

Key responsibilities

Management reporting

Produce management accounts for allocated sites/schools.
Contribute to reporting of income and expenditure across the organisation.
Support financial reporting activities to maintain service levels across the finance function.
Budgeting, forecasting & grants

Monitor budgets for allocated schools/sites and support reforecasting.
Provide guidance to budget holders with queries.
Maintain grant spend trackers to ensure reporting aligns with funding terms and conditions.
Payroll / VAT

Complete payroll reconciliations and ensure budgets are updated accordingly.
Support VAT reconciliations/submissions and associated reporting.
Team support / process improvement

Allocate and oversee day-to-day tasks for a finance support colleague (where applicable), assisting with more complex queries.
Support onboarding of new sites (systems implementation, training, and policy understanding).
Contribute to ongoing improvement of finance systems and processes.

What we’re looking for

Essential

Proven experience in a finance role with strong reconciliations / month-end capability
Confident producing or supporting management accounts
Strong Excel skills and comfort working in finance/accounting systems
High attention to detail and ability to work to deadlines
Clear communication style (able to advise non-finance stakeholders on policy/process)