Trust Finance Officer

Discovery Inc; Hutton; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 23,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension & Life Assurance

Referral bonus

October half term

Employee discounts

Wellbeing support

MHFA England trained

Bike2Work

Training & development

Gifted Service Leave

Health plan

Job summary

Discovery Educational Trust is seeking a Finance Officer to join the central Finance team, supporting our academies with accurate financial administration, BACS payments, reconciliations and income processing. You will help maintain controls, contribute to month-end and year-end processes, and assist with audit documentation to ensure compliance.

Based at St Martin's School, Brentwood, Essex, the role is 25 hours per week, with a salary on the Essex Scale and additional benefits.

Qualifications

• Experience in financial administration within a school or trust environment is desirable.
• Ability to process BACS payments and manage cash handling.

Responsibilities

• Process BACS payments and bank reconciliations.
• Manage sales ledger transactions and income receipts.
• Support month-end and year-end processes and audit documentation.
• Ensure internal controls and audit trails are maintained.

Skills

Financial administration

Bank reconciliations

Sales ledger

Audit documentation

Attention to detail

Communication

Tools

IRIS Financials

Job description

We are looking for an enthusiastic and reliable Finance Officer to become an integral part of our Trust team, supporting our schools and colleagues with high-quality financial administration and advice. Working as part of our central Finance team, you will play an important role in ensuring the Trust's financial processes are accurate, timely, well controlled and compliant with our financial procedures. You will be responsible for a varied range of financial duties, including processing BACS payments, completing bank reconciliations, managing sales ledger transactions and processing income receipts. You will also maintain accurate financial records within IRIS Financials, support month-end and year-end processes, and contribute to the preparation of audit documentation and statutory returns. A key part of the role will be helping to maintain effective internal financial controls and a clear audit trail, ensuring that financial transactions are appropriately authorised, accurately recorded and securely documented. We are looking for someone who is organised, detail-focused and able to manage competing priorities, with a commitment to providing a responsive and professional service. You will need to communicate confidently with colleagues across our central team and academies, respond effectively to routine financial queries and use your initiative when resolving issues or identifying matters that need to be escalated. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys working as part of a collaborative team and who takes pride in delivering accurate, efficient and high-quality financial support. Most importantly, you will have the opportunity to contribute to the effective financial management of the Trust and support our academies in delivering the best possible outcomes for our pupils.

Discovery Educational Trust, formed in 2014, is a successful and established multi-academy trust based in South Essex, comprising just under 4000 pupils and 500 staff, across 5 schools.

• Chase High School (Westcliff-on-Sea)
• St. Martin's School (Brentwood)
• Hogarth Primary School (Brentwood)
• Kelvedon Hatch Community Primary School (Brentwood)
• Larchwood Primary School (Brentwood)

We aim for each of our schools to become the school of choice within the community, offering a broad and exciting range of extracurricular activities to enhance the opportunities within their formal curriculum. Our vision is that strong and effective leadership places our children and young people at the heart of everything we do. We value relationships, which are open and honest, underpinned by kindness, trustworthiness and compassion. We offer ongoing training and professional development for all staff in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Based at St Martin's School, Brentwood, Essex (DET Central Team office) 25 hours per week, all year round (working days to be discussed at interview - minimum 4 days) Essex Scale 6 (pt 14-18): £31,268 - 33,331

• FTE inc. Fringe Allowance
• Actual salary: £21,127 - £22,521
• inc. Fringe Allowance
• Based on Essex Schools Pay Scales 2026/27, We offer the following benefits for employees:
• Pension scheme - also automatically includes Life Assurance
• Generous Referral Bonus for employees who refer quality candidates to join Discovery Educational Trust
• Two-week October half term (term time staff)
• Employee savings and discounts
• Employee Assistance Programme - free confidential wellbeing support for employees and dependants
• Mental Health First Aiders - we have qualified MHFA England trainers within the Trust and continue to add to our pool of trained MHFAs
• Bike2Work scheme
• Ongoing training and professional development in a supportive and collaborative environment
• Gifted Service Leave for long service
• Health Cash plan to support with every day healthcare costs - e.g. dental, optical, physiotherapy. Includes Virtual GP service