Our aim is for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

The Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership was set up in 2017 with the mission to ‘develop inspirational leaders who are called, connected, committed to deliver the Church of England vision for education’. Since then, it has operated a wide range of leadership development programmes, networks, research, conference and events, and published a range of key leadership resources to equip school leaders at every level to put their vision into practice.

Part of this provision has been as a very successful national provider of NPQ programmes. Beginning in 2017 with the delivery of NPQs for Headteachers, our suite of programmes has now expanded to include programmes for Specialist Teachers, Senior Leaders and also Executive Leaders. More recently, a partnership between the Church of England and the Catholic Education Service is also enabling programmes to be delivered more widely as together our school provision represents around 34% of the sector. The Department for Education currently funds 9 Lead Providers to provide this training across England, and the Church of England is one of those 9. This is a valuable and complex project contract, crossing multiple years.

Please note this role is being offered on a 18 month fixed-term contract.

As Project Finance Manager, you will be responsible for ensuring compliant delivery of the various contracts the Church of England holds with the Department for Education (£multi-million) from an accounting perspective.

Managing the Finance Administrator, you will ensure accurate processing and accounting of several contracts held with the Department for Education, ensuring clear analysis of cash flow is available to stakeholders.

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minority Ethnic Backgrounds.

To arrange an informal discussion about the role, please contact rachel.rigby@churchofengland.org

Closing date for applications will be on the Tuesday 30th May 2023.

Interviews will be held on Friday 2nd June 2023.

In return we offer a unique environment with opportunities for continuous learning, generous annual leave for work life balance, season ticket loans and a range of benefits including discounted entry to attractions and what we feel is a market leading package when it comes to our pension scheme.

The Role

Financial Management and Accountability:

• Accurately track transactions across contracts to ensure clarity over cash flow and possible Delivery Partner payment issues.
• Prepare accurate invoices to the DfE for project funds.
• Oversee preparation of accurate purchase orders for payments to Delivery Partners and other service providers.
• Support month end process with provision of timely data on transactions.
• Approval of transactions at appropriate authorisation levels.

Financial Planning, Reporting and Monitoring:

• Lead in planning project budgets, modelling and re-forecasting on an ongoing basis.
• Provide accurate monthly and quarterly reporting against project budgets.
• Investigate discrepancies and unexpected variances, taking corrective action where needed.
• Contribute to production of formal written governance body papers and funding application as relevant to the project.
• Support wider the wider team in modelling alternative project scenarios and in completion of funding bids.

Line Management:

• Manage the Finance Administrator in day to day tasks and responsibilities across the wider Education Office.
• Support the professional development of the Finance Administrator as required.

The Requirements

Skills/Aptitudes:

• Very strong analytical skills and attention to detail.
• Strong sense of ownership and ability to solve problems.
• Flexible and able to respond to evolving project requirements.
• Advanced Excel and data manipulation skills.
• High proficiency with wider Microsoft Office suite, including Word and PowerPoint.
• Able to communicate effectively with both finance and non-finance stakeholders.

Knowledge/Experience:

• Strong experience of financial management within complex projects.
• Experience of working closely with external contract managers/donors.
• Experience of using finance systems as well as analysis and interpretation of financial data in Excel.

Personal Attributes:

• Collaborative leadership approach.
• Personal Responsibility.
• Organised methodical approach.
• Pride in, and commitment to high standards.

Education:

• Part-qualified (actively working towards) or fully qualified CCAB or equivalent professional accounting body qualification, or equivalent by experience (3+ years in a finance management role).

Desirable

• Experience of managing staff.
• Experience of SAP.
• Experience working with CRMs and LMSs.
• Experience of working in charity or education sector.

In the National Church Institutions (NCIs), we support the mission and ministries of the Church of England. We work with parishes, dioceses, schools, chaplaincies and other ministries, and with national and international partners including mission agencies, and other denominations and faith groups.-.

Find out more about working for the National Church Institutions by visiting Careers | The Church of England

NCI values

• We strive for excellence
• We collaborate
• We act with integrity
• We show compassion
• We respect others

We welcome everyone and we accept and value people for who they are and what they contribute, treating others in the way we would wish to be treated ourselves. We actively listen to and include others, encouraging and enabling everyone’s voice to be heard in discussions and decisions. When we disagree, we aim to disagree well with respect and kindness.

We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you. If there is anything we can do to support you in your application please get in touch via email to hr.recruitment@churchofengland.org.

• As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.
• We are a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.