This role provides the opportunity to lead the Finance Service in the Family and Children's Business Group of a 4 star Borough, where financial systems and procedures are a strength.
The Family and Children's service was itself recognised for its outstanding services in the recent APA when it was awarded 4 stars.
The Head of Finance will provide professional leadership and guidance to the Finance Team. The team is part of the Resources department in the Business Group.
It is important that the post holder understands the work of Children's Services and, in particular, has experience of education finance including reporting on the Dedicated Schools Grant and the S52 return.
The immediate focus will be on building the finance team. The team comprises 4 group accountant posts, each representing directorates of the Business Group. Each group accountant has a finance assistant and senior finance assistant reporting to him/her. There are 11 posts in total in the service.
Central to the role will be the coordination and preparation of financial forecasts, including the allocation of schools and central budgets within the DSG and the closure of accounts for the Business Group. A good track record of experience in closing accounts is essential in this role.
As Head of Finance the post holder will be a member of a Group of Heads of Finance from across each of the Business Groups in the Council. Through this forum Finance Heads contribute to service development and improvements.
Challenges:
This is a challenging role, reflecting the Royal Borough's high aspirations. Challenges include:
- Leading, building and developing a strong customer facing finance team, filling all vacant posts within the service
- Improving the quality and detail of monthly budget monitoring and outturn reporting, to support Directors Of Service in managing the business and to align with the revised S52 report.
- Working with the heads of service across the business group responding to their needs and ensuring that information is provided in a timely manner
- Building relationships with other heads of finance from across the Council, through the Finance Forum, contributing to service improvement
- Reviewing and improving financial guidance to schools, building relationships with them through the schools forum, implementing the new Schools Financial Management Procedures Manual and undertaking regular training for Governors and Bursars
- Supporting Primary and secondary Schools in passing the FMSiS , by identifying problem areas from previous audits and providing assistance for bursars and Governors in overcoming those issues
- Helping to provide solutions for a unified funding formula for Early Years settings and lead a review of the local Schools Fair Funding formula.
- Advising the leadership team on the implications of changes to funding for 14-19 year olds.
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