Senior Payments Officer EYN/HNB

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO2 - £42,771 -£45,750

Contract Type: Full-Time/Permanent

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 17th September 2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): W/C 28th September 2026

Reference: 2277

About Us

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work. We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

About the role

We are seeking a highly organised and experienced Senior Payments Officer to lead the delivery of specialist financial support, payment processes and compliance activities across the Early Years Block (EYB) and High Needs Block (HNB) of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). The role plays a critical part in ensuring accurate and timely payments to early years providers, schools, commissioned services and individuals, while maintaining compliance with Department for Education (DfE), Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and Council requirements.

Working closely with internal teams and external partners, you will provide expert advice, develop and improve financial processes, analyse complex financial data, support commissioning activity and help deliver service improvements that enhance efficiency and accountability. You will also contribute to strategic planning, lead projects, and support providers to understand and meet their funding and financial obligations. This is an excellent opportunity for a skilled finance professional with strong analytical, stakeholder management and problem-solving abilities who is passionate about delivering high-quality services that support children, young people and education providers across the borough.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the accurate and timely payment of Early Years Block (EYB) and High Needs Block (HNB) funding to providers, schools and individuals.
• Provide expert financial advice, guidance and training to early years settings, schools, commissioned providers and stakeholders.
• Develop, implement and review financial policies, procedures and guidance to ensure compliance with DfE, ESFA, audit and Council requirements.
• Monitor funding arrangements and provider compliance, identifying risks and taking appropriate action where issues arise.
• Analyse complex financial and performance data and produce reports for senior leaders, Schools Forum and other stakeholders.
• Lead projects and service improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, digital processes and customer experience.
• Develop quality assurance and audit processes to ensure robust financial controls and accurate funding allocations.
• Support commissioning activity, due diligence processes and the monitoring of funded providers and contracts.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with internal teams, education providers, external partners and funding bodies.
• Support the DSG Payments Manager and supervise staff, ensuring a high-quality, customer-focused service.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Good knowledge and understanding of EYB and HNB DSG financial requirements, systems, policy, practices, procedures, and legislation.
• Experience of effectively managing high volume/complex payments and ensuring the delivery of services within agreed resources.
• A good understanding of the issues that can affect Ofsted/DfE registered settings, commissioned providers and individuals in relation to EYB and HNB DSG payments and how best to address them.
• Significant experience of working with and forming positive, trusting relationships with Ofsted/DfE registered settings, commissioned providers and individuals.
• Experience of producing and presenting high level financial information with proven ability to explain technical / specialist information in a way which a non-specialist can understand.
• Experience of interpreting and analysing accounting regulations and codes of practice.
• Experience of using initiative, knowledge and expertise which result in service improvements.
• Experience of leading and sustaining partnerships both internally and externally.
• Excellent customer service skills, with experience of resolving escalated / complex customer queries.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills, with proven ability to communicate effectively and persuasively to a wide range of audiences.
• Self-motivated, and able to demonstrate initiative and commitment.
• Experience of developing team members by effectively delegating tasks and projects.
• Experience of translating strategic vision into practical achievable plans.
• Experience of defining service delivery expectations and setting clear expectations for the team.
• Experience of harnessing the strengths of the team to positive advantage.
• Experience of effectively managing projects/programmes of work including change projects and grant funded initiatives.
• Experience of using data and information to benchmark good/best performance and practice to assess performance of team/service.
• Experience of developing policies and procedures to improve service outcomes/impact.
• Experience of producing a range of advice, information, data and statistical analysis, reports and presentations to internal and external Managers.
• IT skills, including Microsoft Office suite, and skilled in the use of a computerised general ledger system, including experience of developing systems to achieve desired business outcomes.
• Experience in use of large complex management and client information systems and particularly Oracle.

Terms and conditions

The below terms and conditions apply to this role:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
• Satisfactory declaration of interest;
• This role is subject to safer recruitment practices as it involves work with children and/or vulnerable adults;
• Satisfactory DBS check;
• Continued professional body registration;
• As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives:

• Promoting equality of opportunity
• Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage
• Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels.
• Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all.

Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit here.