Senior finance officer

Vanguard Learning Trust; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 37,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanguard Learning Trust is seeking a Senior Finance Officer to oversee financial operations across its schools. This full-time role involves managing financial resources, facilitating procurement, and ensuring compliance within educational guidelines. The successful candidate will enjoy opportunities for professional development and contribute to a supportive educational environment.

Benefits

29 days annual leave + bank holidays

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience in financial control environments required.
• Understanding of public sector requirements is essential.
• Experience supporting month-end and year-end processes preferred.

Responsibilities

• Administering and processing financial resources.
• Overseeing purchase and sales ledgers.
• Preparing BACS runs and processing invoices.

Skills

Financial control

Public sector knowledge

Procurement procedures

Education

Experience working in a school environment

Job description

Job title: Senior finance officer

Reports to: Financial controller (FC)

Salary: NJC SO1 scale

Starting at NJC SO1 scale point 23 (£37,068 per annum full-time equivalent) and risingwith annual increments to a maximum of NJC SO1 scale point 25 (£38,058 per annumfull-time equivalent).

Working Days: Full-time, Monday - Friday, 36 hours per week, 52 weeks per year.

8.00am - 4.00pm (includes lunch break) at the central team base, Field End Junior School. Hybrid working arrangements during school holidays will be considered

Annual leave entitlement: 29 days + bank holidays

Start date: August 2025

Vanguard Learning Trust is keen to recruit a senior finance officer who will embrace our Trust’s vision and support one of our aims to engender collective responsibility across our Trust.

Our senior finance officer will:

• be responsible for administering and processing all aspects of the Trust’s financial resources in accordance with the Trust’s financial processes and procedures. This includes overseeing purchase and sales ledgers, processing invoices, preparing BACS runs, recording transactions, and supporting the finance month/year-end procedures.
• support finance business partners in liaising with schools;
• support the maintenance of estates contract records; and
• support the development of efficient systems and processes, and ensure procurement procedures comply with current legislation and the Trust’s procurement policy.

Our senior finance officer should have experience of working within robust financial control environments, an understanding of public sector requirements and have experience of supporting the month-end and year-end processes. Experience of working in a school environment is highly desirable; applicants from other sectors should demonstrate knowledge of the regulatory requirements of an educational setting.

The successful candidate will be based at our Trust central base, at Field End Junior School, with travel between our schools as required.

Why work for Vanguard Learning Trust?

Vanguard Learning Trust is a cross-phase Trust in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Our Trust currently has five schools: Field End Junior School, Hermitage Primary School, Ruislip High School, Ryefield Primary School and Vyners School. Oak Farm Primary School has also recently joined as an associate member. The successful candidate will be provided with professional development opportunities and will play a key role in ensuring that our Trust is an employer of choice.

An application form can be downloaded from our Trust’s website www.vlt.org.uk where all information about this post can be obtained.

Applications should be returned to:

Stephen Burns, Director of People, via email to: [e-mail].

CLOSING DATE: 10:00am on Thursday 10th July 2025

INTERVIEW DATE: Tuesday 15th July 2025 (please note this will be a full day selection process).

Vanguard Learning Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its pupils and expects all those working at the Trust to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (2013 and 2020). This means that certain convictions and cautions are considered ‘protected’ and do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Guidance about whether a conviction or caution should be disclosed can be found on the Ministry of Justice website (click here):

Vanguard Learning Trust is an equal opportunities employer.

Under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, the Public Sector fluency duty requires state funded schools to ensure candidates for their customer facing roles have the necessary standard of spoken English.