Job Purpose

• Identification of procurement opportunities to achieve value for money (VfM), economies of scale (EoS) and return on investment (RoI) via leading on cross-Trust procurement exercises contracts, ensuring compliance with public sector procurement rules and Academies Financial Handbook.
• Review where applicable government procurement frameworks available to academies
• To keep under review top suppliers and contracts of the trust and trust schools (including maximum value gained from existing)
• Identifying and appreciation of opportunities that represent Social Value and contribute to our communities
• Assist the schools and central finance team with budget and forecasting to identify potential VFM opportunities
• To review the Procurement processes (where value referred within Policies and Procedures) and propose updates ensuring sustainability into the future.
• Supporting due diligence work on potential new academies, conducting analysis and reporting to the CFO.
• The post holder will be expected to work within established procedures and guidelines and to prioritise day-to-day work. May from time to time be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility defined in this job description.

Supporting Trust Schools

• Supporting school leaders to identify cost-savings, efficiencies and other value driven improvements
• Providing advice to all levels on procurement-related issues.
• Collate, assess and report on financial benchmarking data across the Trust and, where appropriate, to compare with other academies to inform and support opportunities
• Building a relationship with academy schools’ finance leads and working with the CFO and members of the Operational team (led a COO) for cohesive working
• Deliver training as necessary

Main Duties

Other

• Support in the preparation of information of the annual statutory accounts for the trust relating to value for money and supporting information for audit.
• Contribute to the production of any report to the Audit, Risk and Standards Committee or Trust Board as required.
• To take personal leadership of your own work and your own development. You will take pride in your work and positively influence and engage with our stakeholders both internally and externally.
• Work to the mandatory guidelines within the Academies Financial Handbook and the Trust Financial Procedures
• Develop constructive relationships with the Central Finance Staff and communicate with other agencies/professionals
• Attend and participate in regular meetings sharing experience and skills with others

Skills and Attributes

• Clear strategic thinking and the ability to see initiatives through to the end
• Good project management and administration skills
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels
• Proficiency in data manipulation and presentation
• Collaborative and responsible
• Self-starter
• Self-organised
• Can act with integrity, openness, and authority
• Flexible hands-on approach

Experience, Qualification and Training

• Formal training or qualifications, example CIPS – essential [will also accept applications from students]
• Previous experience in education - desirable
• Experience of Microsoft products and large dataset manipulation - essential
• Experience of reporting – essential

Additional Factors

• This role supports flexible working, and requires mobility between academies
• You will be supplied with a work laptop
• A pro-active and self-motivated approach
• Customer focused, can-do attitude
• A professional and friendly disposition
• Ability to maintain confidentiality
• Ability to remain impartial
• An openness to learning and change
• Ability to travel to meetings.

Location, Line Management, Structure and Responsibilities

Your direct line manager will be the CFO and you will form part of the Central Finance Team consisting of Trust Management Accountant, Trust Financial Accountant, Payroll Manager and Trust Finance Technician. Your working base will be the Central Trust Office, but you will be expected to manage your day-to-day location and to move around academies as required.  There may be periods where working from home is expected.