Senior Finance Support Officer in Belfast

The Schools Senior Finance Support Officer will support the Schools Operations & Finance teams in providing a high quality and comprehensive service, including assisting with schools financial planning, monitoring expenditure, grant payments and implementation of the Common Funding Scheme. They will support operational functional activities including oversight of schools’ budget and financial management, including uploading templates and journals as required.

The overall purpose of the role is to support the Schools Operations & Finance SAO in providing a high quality and comprehensive Schools Operations & Finance service. As a key member of this team, the post holder will contribute to service delivery that is focused on fostering and driving continuous improvement through supporting operational processes.

In acting as the support officer for the Schools Operations & Finance service, the post-holder is required to contribute to all schools operations and finance issues to ensure that the Directorate operational plans support the overall strategic direction of the Authority and the achievement of its objectives in line with its vision, mission and values.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Support the development of school reporting to improve monitoring and accountability for Principals and Governors.
• Support the development and implementation of a programme of training for schools.
• Transactional support across all schools and services including processing and supporting the system recording for NISTR, sickness, maternity leave, income, expenditure as appropriate.
• Support for budget allocation and payments processing where appropriate.
• Compliance with and provision of guidance on the implementation of the Common Funding Scheme and awareness of public sector reporting requirements and compliance.
• Ensure compliance of processes to applicable standards and best practice, including compliance with the Chart of Accounts, and providing guidance on coding structures for schools expenditure.
• Liaise with support staff in other services as required.
• Support the development, review and maintenance of suitable financial policies and processes in line with the post, and contribute to development and maintenance of processes for EA and schools.
• Responding to queries and providing assistance and advice within the team and to other internal/external stakeholders on schools finance issues.
• Support financial planning and approval processes across schools, including monthly monitoring of teaching costs and expenditure, liaising across teams as required, to ensure compliance with schools financial guidance.
• Support the validation of school census data, and investigate anomalies as required.
• Analyse, investigate, and resolve any queries or discrepancies raised by the Functional Lead and advise on options for any necessary remedial action and their associated impact.
• Support the evaluation and review of existing procedures and recommend changes to achieve continuous improvement.
• Support responses to internal and external audit queries, and the review and implementation of audit recommendations regarding policies and processes as required.

Management and Staff Development

• Supervision of 1 – 5 dispersed staff.
• Work closely with the Schools operations & Finance teams to provide the function with appropriate support.
• Ensure efficient and effective internal communication with staff in the function.
• Support the continuous improvement of the function to ensure delivery against performance targets, and to ensure that best value for money is achieved.
• Represent the Function/Service/Directorate on working groups or meetings as appropriate.

Developing Partnerships

• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the Directorate, and in other Directorates as required, ensuring effective liaison with relevant stakeholders and other EA officers across the directorates in relation to service user requirements.
• Support the Schools Operations & Finance teams and other senior finance staff in benchmarking services and lead/manage and monitor change.
• Support the responses to external queries and correspondence on relevant issues and provide relevant reports or other information as required.

Other Duties

• Comply with the Authority’s policy on Data Protection (in particular processing sensitive personal information).
• Undertake any other duties commensurate with the grade and scope of the position as directed by the line manager.
• This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works.
• In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the post-holder is expected to promote good relations, equality of opportunity and pay due regard for equality legislation at all times.

Person Specification

• Hold a HNC/HND or above examination qualification AND two years’ demonstrable experience of working in a finance/administrative role; OR have five years’ demonstrable experience of working in a finance/administrative role.
• Demonstrable experience of inputting and updating databases.
• Demonstrable experience updating, manipulating and analysing spreadsheets to produce financial management information and reports.
• Demonstrable experience of prioritising workload to meet regular strict deadlines.
• Experience in the use of Information Technology systems for example Microsoft Office Suite, MS SharePoint and Oracle Financial Systems.

Skills/Abilities

• Good organisational skills and ability to plan, prioritise and manage a busy workload to deliver effective results on time.
• Flexibility to meet changing demands as required.
• Ability to communicate and work effectively with others as part of a team.
• Ability to use own initiative to solve problems and respond to others.
• Ability to take a responsive and customer focused approach to work.
• Ability to work to a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• A high level of IT literacy using a range of Microsoft Office applications including Outlook, Excel, Word, and Powerpoint.

The successful candidate will be required to have access to a suitable vehicle (appropriately maintained and insured for Education Authority business) that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner.