PEP and Finance Officer

inploi; Oldham; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

A local government organization in Oldham is seeking a PEP (Personal Education Plan) and Finance Officer to ensure compliance with statutory guidance regarding education plans for Looked After Children. The role involves scheduling meetings, quality assurance of plans, and liaising with social workers and schools. Excellent communication, organizational, and IT skills are essential. Competitive salary offered.

Benefits

25 days annual leave

Discounted gym membership

Wellbeing support and assistance

Pension scheme with additional contributions

Qualifications

• Experience with children in care and understanding their educational needs.
• Excellent communication skills to advise and support others.
• Strong IT skills for data and report generation.

Responsibilities

• Schedule and ensure PEP meetings within statutory timescales.
• Quality assure completed PEPs and provide feedback.
• Liaise effectively with social workers, schools, and other professionals.

Skills

Educational needs understanding

Communication and interpersonal skills

Organizational and IT skills

Education

Relevant educational qualification

Job description

Overview

Education, Early Years and Skills
Virtual School
PEP (Personal Education Plan) and Finance Officer

Ref: 001016
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £28,598 to £31,022 per annum (Grade 4)
Hours: 36.66 per week hybrid plus any flexible working options available)
Location: Council Offices, Spindles Shopping Centre, George St, Oldham OL1 1HD

Closing Date: Wednesday 23 September 2025
Interview Date: TBC
Hiring Manager Contact Details: Sarah Reddy - [e-mail]
CV Upload: No

Role Overview:
To support the maintenance of an effective and efficient system to ensure that the Council are fully compliant with Statutory Guidance and best practice relating to Personal Education Plans for Looked After Children. To support the Quality Assurance process relating to Personal Education Plans. To support the operational transactional needs of the Virtual School in terms of payment of pupil premium money, processing of orders and invoices and reconciling petty cash.

Key Responsibilities

• To ensure that PEP meetings and reviews are scheduled and completed within statutory timescales, maintaining an accurate database of such information.
• To ensure that each PEP is Quality Assured on completion and provide a clear and timely feedback to schools and colleges through the ePEP system.
• To liaise appropriately and effectively with Social Workers, Schools and officers from other service areas and ensure that effective working relationships are maintained.
• To support the operational transactional needs of the Virtual School in terms of payment of pupil premium money, processing of orders and invoices and reconciling petty cash.

Key Requirements

• Experience of and an understanding of the educational needs of children who are in care and the skills to work with a range of professionals to ensure these needs are identified and met through effective quality assurance of plans
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills are required to advise and support partners, with confidence to challenge where appropriate
• Excellent organisational and IT skills will be needed to monitor and maintain core information and finance systems with the ability to produce concise data and reports

The post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure from the DBS.

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme, please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.

About Us:

We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:

A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.

We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.

Our Values and Behaviours

By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.

We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:

• Work with a resident focus
• Support local leaders
• Committed to the borough
• Delivery high performance
• Take ownership and drive change

You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page

Our Benefits Package

At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:

• 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
• The option to purchase additional annual leave.
• An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
• Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
• Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
• Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
• Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
• Staff recognition and celebration events.
• Peer support groups

Inclusive Recruitment

We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.

If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer or someone who has served in the Armed Forces and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under ourGuaranteed Assessment Scheme.

Data and Privacy:

For details of how we use your data please see our privacy notice.

Important Information

Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.

While we embrace the use of AI as an innovative tool to maximise our services at Oldham Council, we are looking for authenticity in applications we receive. We therefore ask you to think carefully if choosing to use AI when completing your application and ask that you ensure you read all instructions carefully and that your application is written by you and reflects your skills, knowledge and enthusiasm.