Finance Officer in London

Salary: £25,000 - £27,000

We are the highest Ofsted-rated provider in the country for special education and care. Our teams are fulfilled by the idea of making even the smallest positive changes in our young people, so we celebrate the little things. For children with complex needs, the level of care and education we provide must go above and beyond. That's what drives us here at Witherslack Group. With our high staff-to-child ratio and in-house clinical teams, we're proud to have a reputation for excellence and market-leading OFSTED ratings.

This is a varied role that sits at the heart of our Group Finance function, providing transactional support to the wider Finance team and our schools and care homes across the Group. As a Finance Officer, you'll play an important role in ensuring our financial processes run smoothly and accurately. You'll process supplier invoices through our Workday purchase order system, liaising with suppliers and colleagues across our schools, homes and wider business to resolve queries and ensure invoices are processed correctly.

You’ll also support the month-end process by reviewing open purchase orders and working with our sites to ensure accruals accurately reflect goods and services received but not yet invoiced. This will include preparing journals and schedules relating to month-end accruals and prepayments. You’ll also prepare monthly management accounts for designated sites, identifying areas that require further investigation or challenge. As a key point of contact for our sites, you’ll help colleagues understand and follow our procurement policies and procedures, providing support and guidance where needed.

There'll be plenty of opportunity to develop your knowledge and expertise too. You’ll support colleagues with the Workday PO system, including helping to add new suppliers and providing training to new and existing users. The role will be based primarily at our Lupton Group Office, with flexible working available for up to two days per week following your initial induction. Working arrangements may vary depending on departmental deadlines and the needs of the wider Finance team.

We know you're going to do great things. For your hard work and commitment, we reward you with the best salary and benefits package in the care sector. With us, you'll get to make a genuine difference to the lives of our young people plus you'll get:

• Base salary of between £25,000 - £27,000
• Ongoing professional development.
• 7 weeks holiday.
• Flexible benefits package: Meaning you can increase/decrease your holiday allowance, pension and life insurance.
• A host of wellbeing tools and advice including employee assistance.
• Medical cover: So you can claim back the cost of things like an optician's or dentist appointment and a host of high-street discounts.
• Beautiful working environments: With the very best facilities.

Here at Witherslack Group, we celebrate everyone's differences as that's what makes us the best at what we do. Our young people come from all walks of life, diverse backgrounds and with different needs - and our workforce reflects that diversity, so that our teams can engage, encourage and inspire our young people to be themselves.

We'll give you the chance to build an exciting career in a fast-growing organisation, where you're free to achieve your potential. Here's what we need from you:

• Knowledge and experience of working within a Finance team
• Experience of processing financial data and supporting transactional finance activities
• Experience of preparing management accounts
• Experience of working with Workday
• Knowledge of Microsoft Excel
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to liaise confidently with colleagues across all functions of the business
• The ability to manage your own time and plan your workload effectively to meet deadlines
• The ability to work well as part of a team and to tight deadlines when required
• The ability to challenge and address issues where financial policies and procedures are not being followed

It is also desirable, but not essential that you have:

• Experience of working with purchase ledgers and purchase order systems
• Experience of month-end processes, including accruals, prepayments and journals
• Experience of providing support or training to colleagues using financial systems
• An AAT or equivalent qualification

The Witherslack Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its young people. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check (we will cover the cost). We are an equal opportunities employer welcoming applications from all sections of the community.