Chief Financial Officer

Tes is supporting the appointment of a Chief Financial Officer to join a School based in Oldham.

Permanent, full-time

Start: Negotiable, as soon as possible.

Salary: Up to £85,000*

(*Salary between £80,000 and £85,000, depending upon the applicant’s skills and experience.)

Relocation: A generous relocation allowance may be available where the employee’s new home is reasonably close to the workplace and the former home is not.

The school is excited to announce an opportunity for an exceptional finance professional with the right blend of skills, talents, experience, and values to become the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

This is a strong and growing multi-academy trust based in Oldham and Rochdale, with partnerships that extend into Tameside, Manchester, Stockport and beyond in the East Greater Manchester/Pennine/Lancashire region. They are completely committed to their local and regional area and the diverse communities served by their schools.

They are at an exciting point in their development. From 1st April 2025 the Trust will include five large secondary schools, one with a Sixth-Form of 440 recruiting from across the borough, five primaries (two of which are two-form entry), the Manchester Nexus SCITT (which trains 50-60 new teachers every year - both secondary and primary), the East Manchester Teaching School Hub (which runs the Early Career Framework and National Professional Qualifications provision for (predominantly) Oldham and Tameside) and the Kinder Modern Languages Hub, one of only 14 Languages Hubs in England. This means that they will be educating more than 8,000 young people, employing more than 900 staff, and they will have a revenue exceeding £80M, plus the capital investment in their schools. By 2029, they plan to increase their family to 11,000 pupils.

They are proudly and fiercely independent and the size, cohesiveness and strength of their organisation will ensure that they remain so. What unites then is their shared commitment to ambition, excellence and community which is reinforced by clear systems, policies and procedures.

The CFO will lead their financial strategy and management, with the responsibility to report directly to the Board of Trustees in line with the Academies Handbook. They will lead a small central team of qualified and experienced accountants/finance managers. They will work closely with the Director of Estates. Their estate is very mixed; including brand new schools, a PFI, 2 C19 foundations and everything in between. The financial oversight of estates strategy and capital spending is a key part of this role and is important in terms of risk-management.

Education finance always presents both revenue and capital challenges. Their trust has a healthy resource of (currently) £2M+ and their budgets are balanced. However, there are financial pressures across the public sector. Their Chief Financial Officer will need to anticipate, strategize, plan and communicate in a way that is agile and resourceful. Communication at executive team level, with the strategic committee of Headteachers, and with the Trustees on the Audit, Risk and Finance Committees is essential. Ultimately, all the work of the CFO will be rooted in supporting their schools and ensuring the best outcomes for each and every pupil. 

They are looking for someone who shares their purpose and values; they exist to create exceptional schools that will give all their young people a future and in doing so, will build strong communities which have hope. Secondly, they need someone who has accountancy qualifications and experience at the right level (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA) and can lead the technical aspects of the role to ensure accountability for public money. Crucially, they need someone who will lead, communicate and take people with them, from the central team, through the schools, when engaging with the DfE, when reporting to the Trust Board. They need someone who understands the MAT sector and ideally has experience of financial leadership in schools/trusts. They are looking for someone with ambition for their trust, their young people, their staff and themself. There is, of course, no requirement that you be a teacher.

The deadline for applications is 10am on Monday 18th November 2024.

Shortlisting and contacting candidates will be during the following week.

Interviews will be during week beginning 25th November 2024.

Start date: They would like the successful candidate to start as soon as possible, but they realise that notice periods can be variable, and they are prepared to discuss the best start date for the right candidate.

They offer:

• A competitive salary.
• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme.
• 28 – 35 days leave per year.
• An element of flexible working, including WFH, subject to business need.
• A professional working environment based on the site of The School, which is very accessible in the centre of Oldham. The trust offices are in the former vicarage, which has been renovated to house the central executive staff, their school improvement leadership and the Teaching School Hub and SCITT operational centre.
• Free parking on site.

All applicants need to have the Right to Work in the UK to be considered for the role.

By applying to this job advertisement, you are providing consent for the Tes Recruitment team to propose and discuss your application with the employer.

Tes Recruitment Services (UK) represent Schools and Academies across the globe, supporting them to secure a great teacher/leader for every role. 

To learn more about this role please email managedrecruit@tes.com for an information pack that includes school name, role specifics and context. 

Please include REF: ME2127361 in the email subject line. Please note that we are unable to accept CVs sent to us via email so please use the stated application route.