Finance & Operations Officer
What skills and experience we're looking for
Finance & Operations Officer Vacancy
We are seeking to appoint a highly motivated, hardworking and positive individual to join our school in the role of Finance & Operations Officer. The role includes key financial responsibilities within the Finance department as well as specific operational tasks across the wider school.
The successful candidate will be joining a highly effective and welcoming team, and will be required to possess the right skills and attitude needed to support the smooth running of our financial and operational processes. We are seeking a candidate who ideally has previous experience of using the SIMS system, and, in particular, has a working knowledge of school financial practice and systems, for example FMS6 or PS Financials.You must be able to work confidently to manage key financial processes within the integrated double entry accounting system. Finance responsibilities include processing orders, creating journals and accurately recording income and expenditure.
St John’s Catholic Comprehensive School is a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) school; as such, our school site, including all caretaking, cleaning and catering provisions, is managed by a third party contractor, Kier Facilities Services (FS) Ltd.The school employs an ICT Network & Operations Manager who leads on managing the PFI contract in school. Our new Finance & Operations Officer will support this Manager with various operational elements within school, collaborating with the Kier FS team to arrange any necessary support to ensure the smooth and safe running of the school site.
The ability to work proactively and efficiently in a busy setting, identifying and meeting department and operational needs, whilst managing important routines effectively is essential. The successful applicant should have excellent time management skills, be able to meet strict deadlines, be a team player and have a flexible approach to work within the changing needs of the school, as priorities could alter at short notice.
This role requires good organisation and attention to detail skills. Experience of working in a similar finance or operational role in an educational or comparable setting would be advantageous, however, training will be provided for the right candidate.
As with any school role, tact, diplomacy and confidentiality will be required. In addition, this role requires excellent verbal and written communication skills, together with sound ICT skills (full ICT training on the specific software packages used in school will be provided).The ability to relate well and to show empathy to young people is essential.
The accompanying job description includes a full list of the financial and operational responsibilities for this role. It is anticipated that duties will be split evenly between the two areas of responsibility. If you would like any further information, or to arrange a tour of the school (strongly recommended), please do not hesitate to get in touch with our HR Manager, Mrs Lynn O’Neill, via the email address loneill@stj.kent.sch.uk
If you would like to apply for this exciting opportunity, please follow the link to our website; www.stjohnscs.com , click on the Recruitment tab to locate Job Vacancies. Kindly complete the Support Staff Application Form and Recruitment Forms and email the documents to Mrs Lynn O’Neill at loneill@stj.kent.sch.uk
What the school offers its staff
St John’s is a very successful co-ed Catholic school with over 1300 students including c.300 in our Sixth Form. We have a very strong Catholic ethos and pride ourselves in being a warm and welcoming community, something that was externally recognised in our most recent Section 48 Inspection of January 2020, where we achieved ‘Outstanding Catholic School’ status.The school’s 2024 Progress 8 score of +0.11 was the seventh consecutive examination year that the school achieved a positive score on this key performance measure and a wonderful reflection of the talented and dedicated students and staff we have at the school.
This is an excellent and exciting time to join our thriving Catholic community and be part of a highly enthusiastic, forward thinking and supportive team.
Commitment to safeguarding
St John's is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to satisfactory references, Enhanced DBS check and an online social media profile check.This role includes specific safeguarding responsibilities, as defined in the job description. Our school’s dedicated Child Protection Policy can be viewed on our school website. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020.