SEND Payments Team Leader

We are working closely alongside a Local Authority in North Northamptonshire to assist with the appointment of a SEND Payments Team Leader on a 2-month contract likely to be extended at clients discretion. Please apply with your CV for immediate consideration.

Rate of Pay: 20.14 - 25.61 per hour

Summary:

The SEND Payments Team Leader is responsible for ensuring all High Needs Block (HNB) funding is accurately accounted for recorded processed and paid to the correct recipients including schools settings parents and other educational providers. The role ensures robust financial management across all SEND-related payments by maintaining detailed master spreadsheets overseeing invoice processing producing forecasts and monitoring reports and leading the day-to-day work of two Finance Assistants.

The postholder will ensure that all High Needs funding allocations transactions and financial commitments are recorded and reported accurately feeding into forecasting planning and budget management across the Childrens Services directorate. Strong knowledge of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) High Needs Block and experience with Synergy ERP Gold and advanced Excel is essential.

Responsibilities:

• Update all master spreadsheets with new funding decisions to ensure accurate financial commitments for the financial year.
• Investigate and resolve funding queries from schools providers and internal colleagues.
• Review and approve invoice worksheets and ERP payment interfaces prepared by Finance Assistants.
• Consolidate all master spreadsheets into a monthly financial monitoring report to provide accurate High Needs Block forecasts for Finance and Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
• Reconcile ERP Gold transactions with all master records ensuring accuracy and correcting discrepancies.
• Prepare NNC school master spreadsheets for termly top-up payments and create associated funding statements.

Requirements:

• Strong working knowledge of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) High Needs Block its allocation rules and funding mechanisms.
• Experience working in a finance environment ideally within SEND education finance or childrens services.
• Experience overseeing financial processes reconciliations high-volume payments and complex spreadsheets.
• Experience line managing or supervising staff in a finance or data-processing environment.

Essential Systems Knowledge:

• Synergy (SEND module)
• ERP Gold
  
• Advanced MS Excel (VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP pivot tables multi-sheet management).

Please note:

• You should be available to work immediately or at a short notice.
• You should have right to work in U.K
• This role requires an Enhanced DBS

Disclaimer: Brackenberry Ltd is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy. We are committed to equality in the workplace and is an equal opportunity employer. Unless otherwise stated all of our roles are temporary though assignments can be and often are extended by clients on a longer term basis and can sometimes become permanent.

Important: We will interpret your application as being permission to submit your CV to this role (with the right to represent you) unless you advise us to the contrary. Your DBS must be either through us or be accompanied by a subscription to the DBS updating service.

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