<div><h3>About the role</h3><p>Dorset Council is committed to improving outcomes for children and young people in education across Dorset. We are looking for a motivated and detail-oriented Finance Assistant to join our dynamic team. This is an opportunity to make a difference to the lives of Dorset children through helping early years providers and schools make the best use of funding and data.</p><h3>Responsibilities</h3><ul><li>Checking early education funding payments for children aged 9 months to 4 years old.</li><li>Handling queries from both early years providers and schools via telephone and email.</li><li>Supporting termly and annual tasks such as the early years census, web pages, financial statements for providers, audits for disability access funding and compliance checks on early years provider websites.</li><li>Co‑ordinating actions from meetings and training.</li><li>Assisting with school budget‑related tasks, traded services, and invoicing.</li><li>Supporting the trading platform Nexus.</li><li>Providing support for the Dorset Schools’ Forum meetings and communications.</li></ul><h3>Key Requirements</h3><ul><li>A responsive, positive and agile approach to problem solving and time management.</li><li>Commitment to exceptional customer service and meeting business needs.</li><li>Effective and well developed communication skills.</li><li>The ability to work accurately with numbers when dealing with a large volume of transactions.</li><li>Commitment to continuous learning and improvement to respond to changing demands nationally and locally.</li></ul><h3>Further Information</h3><p>This is a part time role at 30 hours per week. Flexible hybrid working is available, but there is a requirement to work in the office in Dorchester 2-3 days per week. Term‐time working can be considered.</p><p>This post requires you to have access to sensitive information. It will be subject to a Basic Criminal Records Check. See our policy on the employment of ex‑offenders. See our policy on safeguarding children and young people.</p><p>For an informal discussion about the role, please contact either Vanessa Eddey (01305 225918) or Kerrie Courtaux (01305 224162).</p><p>We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. If you declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role, we will offer you an interview. We also want our recruitment process to be accessible, if you need any reasonable adjustments, just let us know on your application.</p></div>