Schools Finance Officer

Coventry City Council; Rishton; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Flexi-time scheme

Local Government Pension Scheme

Career development opportunities

Job summary

Coventry City Council is seeking a proactive Schools Finance Officer to advise a portfolio of Coventry schools on managing finances effectively and sustainably. You will engage with Headteachers, School Business Managers and Governors, building strong relationships and providing practical financial guidance.

You’ll support schools through the annual financial cycle, crafting realistic budgets, monitoring spend, identifying risks, and planning for future challenges while turning complex data into

Qualifications

• Understanding of accounting principles and financial management.
• Experience of working within a complex financial environment.
• Experience of budgeting, financial planning, forecasting and financial control.
• Strong numerical, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to interpret and apply financial procedures and regulations.
• Confidence using financial systems, spreadsheets and Microsoft Office.
• Knowledge of school finance would be an advantage.
• Ability to travel to schools across Coventry.

Responsibilities

• Provide trusted financial advice to a portfolio of Coventry schools.
• Support schools throughout the annual financial cycle with budgets and spending oversight.
• Analyse financial information and translate into clear, practical guidance for school leaders.
• Attend meetings with Headteachers, School Business Managers and Governors to present financial information.
• Deliver training and respond to emerging financial pressures with potential savings.

Skills

Budgeting

Forecasting

Financial analysis

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Right to work

Education

AAT qualification

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Financial systems

Job description

What is the job role?

As a Schools Finance Officer, you'll be a trusted financial adviser to a portfolio of Coventry schools, helping school leaders manage their finances effectively and sustainably.

This isn’t your typical desk based finance role. While strong financial skills are important, this role is also about people. You'll get out into schools, work directly with Headteachers, School Business Managers and Governors, build strong relationships and provide advice that can make a real difference.

You'll support schools throughout the annual financial cycle, helping them develop realistic budgets, monitor spending, identify financial risks and plan for future challenges. You'll analyse financial information and turn the numbers into clear, practical advice that helps school leaders make informed decisions.

No two days are the same. You might be meeting with a Headteacher, presenting financial information, supporting a governing body meeting, delivering training or helping a school respond to emerging financial pressures and identify potential savings.

It's a varied and rewarding opportunity for someone who enjoys finance but also enjoys working with people, building relationships and seeing the difference their advice can make.

Who are we looking for?

What the Job Role Is

As a Schools Finance Officer, you'll be a trusted financial adviser to a portfolio of Coventry schools, helping school leaders manage their finances effectively and sustainably.

This isn’t your typical desk based finance role. While strong financial skills are important, this role is also about people. You'll get out into schools, work directly with Headteachers, School Business Managers and Governors, build strong relationships and provide advice that can make a real difference.

You'll support schools throughout the annual financial cycle, helping them develop realistic budgets, monitor spending, identify financial risks and plan for future challenges. You'll analyse financial information and turn the numbers into clear, practical advice that helps school leaders make informed decisions.

No two days are the same. You might be meeting with a Headteacher, presenting financial information, supporting a governing body meeting, delivering training or helping a school respond to emerging financial pressures and identify potential savings.

It's a varied and rewarding opportunity for someone who enjoys finance but also enjoys working with people, building relationships and seeing the difference their advice can make.

Who We Are Looking For

We're looking for an enthusiastic, proactive and customer-focused finance professional who enjoys working with people, solving problems and providing practical financial advice.

You'll be confident analysing financial information, identifying risks and opportunities and explaining complex information clearly to both financial and non-financial audiences.

Just as importantly, you'll be comfortable meeting and working with people. You'll need to build positive relationships with Headteachers, School Business Managers, Governors and colleagues, while managing your own workload and competing priorities.

You will have:

• An understanding of accounting principles and financial management.
• Experience of working within a complex financial environment.
• Experience of budgeting, financial planning, forecasting and financial control.
• Strong numerical, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• The ability to interpret and apply financial procedures and regulations.
• Confidence using financial systems, spreadsheets and Microsoft Office.
• An AAT qualification, be working towards AAT, or hold an equivalent finance qualification.
• Knowledge of school finance would be an advantage.
• The ability to work independently and provide a high standard of customer service.
• The ability to travel to schools across Coventry.

Most importantly, you'll share Coventry City Council's One Coventry values and be committed to providing high-quality financial support to schools across the city.

What We Offer

You'll be joining a fantastic, supportive team and have the opportunity to develop your career while doing work that makes a real difference to schools across Coventry.

• Hybrid working and a flexi-time scheme to support work-life balance.
• Salary matching within the advertised grade, annual pay awards and incremental progression.
• Competitive Local Government Pension Scheme.
• 28 days' annual leave, rising to 32 days after five years' service.
• Support to complete professional qualifications and develop your career.

Why Join Us?

At Coventry City Council, we are committed to being open and fair, nurturing and developing our people, embracing innovation and valuing diversity and inclusion. We offer a supportive working environment where your contribution is recognised, your development is encouraged, and your work makes a genuine difference.

Join us and help schools across Coventry maintain strong financial management, navigate financial challenges and make informed decisions that support their long‑term financial sustainability

Most importantly, you'll share Coventry City Council's One Coventry values and be committed to delivering excellent services, embracing innovation and providing high‑quality financial support to schools across the city.

You'll need to be able to travel to schools across Coventry as required.

All candidates must have the Right to Work in the UK. We are currently not offering sponsorship for this role.

If you have just become an accountant, this post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Standard DBS check.

For an Informal Discussion

If you would like to find out more about this exciting opportunity, please contact:

Shyla Begum

Accountant
Schools Finance Team

We welcome informal conversations from prospective candidates who would like to learn more about the role, the team and the support we provide to schools across Coventry.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme - As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'. If there is any evidence of a candidate using AI to complete your application, then the application will be rejected unless the candidate can provide a justification which the Council considers to be reasonable.

Closing Date

1 November

Interview Date

Week commencing 9 November

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.
At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.