Overview
Post: Assistant Director, Accounting and Financial Services
Reports to: Chief Finance Officer
Assistant Directors are responsible for working flexibly and collaboratively with the Chief Executive and Chief Officers to provide corporate leadership to the Education Authority (EA), particularly in relation to progressing EA’s improvement journey and ensuring corporate alignment across the organisation.
These are challenging roles requiring proven skills in leading and working collaboratively with others to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people.
Corporate Leadership
Assistant Directors are responsible for working flexibly and collaboratively with the Chief Executive and Chief Officers to provide corporate leadership to EA, particularly in regard to progressing EA’s improvement journey and ensuring corporate alignment across the organisation. In this context, the roles have responsibility for the following:
* Collectively as part of the Senior Leadership Team, optimising business structures, harnessing strengths and making EA a great place to work.
* Leading a portfolio of services to enable the delivery of high-quality services to schools and other stakeholders and/or deliver projects and programmes in line with EAs priorities and business plan.
* Working collectively with other Assistant Directors to align, agree and progress corporate priorities.
* Supporting the Chief Officers in considering the resourcing profile and organisational changes required to deliver the optimum structure for EA.
* Focusing on corporate leadership duties, offering leadership that empowers individuals managing services to focus more on operational excellence.
* Supporting the Chief Officers in leading detailed reviews of EA’s core functions and current challenges to inform a more balanced structure.
* Working towards EA’s long-term, improvement ambitions, ensuring that the future structure is aligned with its vision, purpose and strategic goals.
* Providing support to Chief Executive and Chief Officers in prioritisation of EA’s activities to determine which are essential and which may need to be discontinued, paused or reconfigured.
* Ensuring that EA lives within its annual budget allocation from the Department of Education.
* Working in partnership with staff and stakeholders including partners across the education sector, governing bodies, school leaders, trade unions, elected representatives, other related agencies, the media and the public.
* Maximising opportunities for improvements while promoting innovation and ambition.
* Providing corporate leadership for all programmes and projects relating to improvements to service delivery models while ensuring that EA adheres to relevant legislation and standards.
* Ensuring that service delivery is shaped by service user input.
* Advising the Department of Education on policy issues and contribute to policy reviews
The above responsibilities apply to all Assistant Directors (ADs). Whilst ADs are initially appointed to a specific post there may be opportunities to move to another AD position in any directorate, providing personal development opportunities for a wide-ranging and varied career and supporting the organisation in the most effective use of strategic leadership experience at this tier.
Key Areas of Focus
The Assistant Director for Accounting and Financial Services is responsible for leading the division and has responsibility for the day-to-day management of financial operations and is required to maintain overall financial and organisational health.
Budget:£16 million
Staff: 280
The portfolio of services allocated to the Assistant Director for Accounting and Financial Services includes:
* Payroll and Pensions processes
* Accounts Payable, including travel and subsistence claims
* Accounts Receivable, including cash and treasury management and VAT
* Annual statutory accounts and compliance with extant technical accounting requirements
* Management and reporting of the EA capital budget, and associated accounting requirements
* EA One Financial Systems
* This Assistant Director for Accounting and Financial Services holds the following high-level responsibilities, along with overall leadership for the division.
* Corporate Leadership and Planning: Providing leadership to the directorate, fostering a culture of improvement, collaboration and engagement.
* Corporate & Capital Accounting: including (but not limited to) the preparation of the annual statutory accounts, financial governance and assurance, financial support for the management of the capital budget, accounting for and reporting of capital spend.
* Accounts Payable: responsible for timely and accurate processing and payment of around 400,000 customer/supplier payments each year. Also responsible for ongoing supplier master-file maintenance and management, compliance with current prompt payment guidelines and accurate completion of statutory returns submitted on a timely basis, also responsible for payment of travel and subsistence claims.
* Accounts Receivable (incl. Banking & Cash Management and Taxation Administration): responsible for invoice generation amounting to around £65 million per annum, credit control and debt management, timely and accurate completion and submission of VAT and other statutory returns, administration and compliance with any legal, statutory and regulatory issues relating to receivables, responsible for EA cash management and relationship with banking providers.
* Payroll and Pensions: responsible for timely and accurate processing of monthly and mid-monthly payrolls across regional Payroll offices, amounting to around £900 million per annum across approximately 41,000 non-teaching employees, effective administration of pensions for non-teaching staff, timely and accurate completion of statutory returns relating to payroll, effective administration of payroll related taxation issues as they affect non-teaching staff.
* EA One Financial Systems: responsible for the effective delivery of the integrated HR, payroll and finance system known as EA One, ensuring the system meets all accounting, statutory and regulatory requirements. Also responsible for working collaboratively across the operational sub-teams to ensure that the overall system is managed and maintained and system upgrades are coordinated in an integrated way, ensuring it effectively meets end user needs.
Other
* Any other duties related to the role which may be required from time-to-time by the Chief Executive and the Board.
* In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), be expected to promote Good Relations, Equality of Opportunity and pay due regard for Equality Legislation at all times.
This job description will be subject to review considering changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works.
Person Specification
Candidates must demonstrate on their application form that they meet the following essential criteria.
FactorEssential CriteriaMethod of AssessmentExperience
A fully qualified accountant with current membership of one of the five CCAB bodies (ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS or Chartered Accountants Ireland) (ICAI) or CIMA or equivalent and able to demonstrate an active commitment to continuous personal and professional development.
A minimum of three years’ experience in a senior management role* successfully leading services across several areas and having an impact on multiple people.
Experience of working collectively across a senior team to align goals, resources, policies and processes to optimise use of the organisation’s resources to deliver maximum value for the public/customers.
Experience of leading, empowering, championing excellence and establishing momentum for continuous improvement that has delivered improved outcomes for the public/customers.
Strong communicator with proven skills to engage across a range of stakeholders, demonstrating successful impact.
Demonstrates an understanding of the potential and the challenges of leading finance functions on a significant and challenging scale
*Senior management role includes providing advice or being party to decisions affecting strategic issues concerning the organisation in which the individual is working.
Significant and challenging is defined as cross-cutting across a number of business area, stakeholders or organisations and having an impact on multiple people.
Application Form
Presentation
Interview
Other
The successful candidate will be required:
to have access to a suitable vehicle (appropriately maintained and insured for Education Authority business) that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion;
OR
be able to provide sufficient information on the application form that will satisfy the employer that he/she has access to an appropriate alternative form of transport that will enable them to carry out the mobility requirements of the post in an efficient and effective manner and thus meet this essential criterion.
Our Values
Through the selection process we will also seek evidence that the personal values of candidates align with those of the EA. This will include evidence of commitment to equality and excellence in service delivery. These reflect our aim which is to meet the needs of all our children and young people equally, removing barriers to learning and ensuring equality of access to excellent education services so that every child can develop to his or her full potential.
DISCLOSURE OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND
The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 defines working directly with children or young people or in specified places as ‘regulated activity’.
In the event that you are recommended for appointed to a post that involves ‘regulated activity’, the Education Authority will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background. Please note that you WILL be expected to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate. Details of how to make payment will be sent to you at the pre-employment stage.
Further information can be accessed at NI Direct or the Department of Justice.
APPLICANT GUIDANCE NOTES
To view the applicant guidance notes, please click here.
For more information, the candidate information pack can be viewed here
To learn about the many great benefits of joining the Education Authority, click here
The Education Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer.
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