Overview
Wiltshire Council is seeking a highly organised and detail-oriented individual to join our team as an Early Years Entitlement Officer. This pivotal role supports the administration and allocation of over £76 million in Early Years Entitlement funding across schools, private, voluntary, and independent settings, including childminders.
Responsibilities
* Administer monthly Early Years Entitlement payments.
* Ensure compliance with statutory funding requirements and challenge non-compliance.
* Conduct provider audits and offer specialist guidance and training.
* Maintain accurate provider data and support system upgrades and testing.
* Contribute to strategic reporting and service development.
* Communicate effectively with providers and parents, offering support and resolving complex issues.
You will be confident working with numbers, have excellent attention to detail, and be able to communicate technical information clearly and sensitively. Experience in early years funding, education administration, or local government finance is desirable.
About us
Wiltshire Council is a friendly, welcoming place to work, with a 'One Council' ethos. That’s why we focus on getting the things that matter to our people right. Explore more benefits here!
Please download and read the role description and person specification carefully before you apply as well as Our Identity.
The council is committed to creating an environment of positive working relationships where everyone feels engaged, supported and able to thrive. Our Identity is a framework which sets out how we are all expected to lead, work and act to deliver our services. We will not tolerate discrimination, bullying or harassment of any kind. Everyone is expected to promote a culture of inclusion, dignity, trust and respect which is underpinned by our vision and Our Identity framework.
Job responsibilities
To support the administration & allocation of the Early Years Entitlement to all School, Private, Voluntary and Independent settings as well as childminders distributing an annual budget of over £76 million across Wiltshire. The entitlement spans differing levels of eligibility criteria across 15 hours universal up to 30 hours for working parents with children of 9 months to four years. There are also regular additional payments for disadvantaged children and those with special needs.
Specific duties and responsibilities include:
* Maintain efficient administrative and financial systems and procedures for the Early Years Entitlement
* Produce payment uploads to the value of approximately £6 million each month, ensuring high levels of accuracy and working within time constraints to ensure providers receive funding on or before our published payment dates. There are also invoices being processed throughout the financial year for recovery of overpayments.
* Assisting providers with their manual payment reconciliations.
* Support the administration/finance of Wiltshire's Early Years Entitlement, so that it is administered within the statutory requirements set out by the Department for Education. This requires technical understanding of the DfE regulations.
* Ensure that the practice is compliant and the allocation of funding is appropriate. Challenge providers where non-compliance is identified and escalate to EYE Co-ordinator and Commissioning Manager if further action is required.
* Undertake approximately six provider visits per year to audit providers more rigorously for compliance. Again, challenge providers where non-compliance is identified and escalate if necessary.
* Provide specialist guidance/ongoing training to early years providers on the Early Years Entitlement through the writing and issuing of an annual agreement and dealing with complex telephone and email enquiries regarding the Early Years Entitlement.
* Early years providers and childminders can be operating on a financial knife edge and cashflow will be a concern and therefore conversations can be challenging. The post holder will need to recognise the impact that even small changes of process will have for them, and to communicate sensitively whilst being robust and unambiguous to explain the issues and deliver resolutions.
* Year Census and headcount information which drive budget allocations.
* Develop and maintain effective systems to record, monitor, and validate data from early years providers.
* Ensuring the information the council holds on childcare providers is accurate and up to date through monitoring and reviewing changes to childcare/pre-school providers that come through from Ofsted.
Person Specification
Qualifications
* Educated to HNC or NVQ level 4 in or have equivalent relevant practical experience of early years.
* The ability to recognise full implications of change for both the local authority and providers.
* Strong numeracy and literacy skills and ability to prepare accurate statistical statements.
* Able to collate, analyse and interpret information.
* Excellent IT skills - Microsoft Office and databases.
* Creative and innovative with ability to change and adapt working practices with a view to delivering services in the most efficient and cost-effective way whilst meeting statutory guidance.
* Ability to plan and organise workload and prioritise tasks.
* Ability to work on own initiative without direct supervision against deadlines.
* Organisational skills with a systematic/analytical approach to data collection and problem-solving.
* Ability to collaborate with partners developing trusted relationships to enable joint decision making.
* Accuracy and attention to detail in all aspects of work.
* Excellent communication skills at all levels.
* Specialist knowledge of the Early Years Entitlement procedures and processes
* Experience of using System C (Liquid Logic)
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