Finance Assistant

Finance Assistant

Reports to: Finance Manager, Ark Start

Location: White City Office with occasional travel to Ark Start’s nursery sites

Contract: Permanent

Pattern: Full Time (37.5 hours per week)

Closing date: 10/07/2024 at 10am

Interviews: w/c 15/07/2024

Salary: £25,712 to £29,000 (depending on experience)

About the role:

Ark Start is looking to recruit a Finance Assistant to manage the day-to-day finance and administration across the Ark Start nurseries. We currently have two nurseries in South London, expanding by at least a further two nurseries by the end of 2024.

As the Finance Assistant, you will be responsible for ensuring the efficient and effective finance administration of the nurseries including maintaining financial reporting and procurement as well as supporting with nursery operations and parent queries.

We are looking for a passionate, hard-working and extremely organised individual who wants to be part of this exciting new venture.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Raise monthly sales invoices to parents and manage any queries
• Input and reconcile all payments received to the nursery booking system
• Process claims through the various childcare grant schemes
• Place approved orders with suppliers and ensure goods are received, and POs matched to invoices, for payment
• Maintain preferred supplier list and nursery procurement catalogue
• Post income from bookings system to accounts ledger
• Support with monthly bank and balance sheet reconciliations
• Support with schedules and reporting for annual audit
• Support the Admissions and Customer Services Team with 

Key Requirements:

• 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) including English and Maths
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excellent organisation and planning skills
• Good understanding of the requirements of a procurement process
• Experience of working in a customer facing role
• A commitment to the mission, vision and values of Ark Start
• Willing to work flexibly, with a minimum of 3 days in the office and other days in the office/ at nursery sites as required
• Resilient and excited about working in a dynamic start-up 

About Ark

We’re an international charity, transforming lives through education. We exist to give every young person, regardless of their background, a great education and real choices in life. In the UK, we’re a network of 39 schools, educating around 30,000 pupils in areas where we can make the biggest difference and we’re recognised as one of the highest achieving academy groups in the country. We want to change the lives of children everywhere, not just in our own schools. So, we create and incubate Ventures designed not only to help pupils in Ark schools, but also to improve education systems.

You’ll be joining a group of like-minded, ambitious individuals who work collaboratively and are all committed to our core mission, that every child has the potential to succeed. Having just celebrated our 20^th anniversary, we are shaping our goals for the next 20 and there has never been a more exciting time to join us.

About Ark Start:

Our dedicated team work together to ensure that every child has a joyful, engaging, and secure nursery experience and leaves us ready to start school happily and confidently. We are driven by our values in everything we do: Aim High, Be Brave, Be Kind and Keep Learning.

Ark Start is at an exciting time in its evolution. We have four nurseries in London and aim to expand our reach over the coming years. As we expand, we are looking for a Finance Assistant to join our founding team. We are looking for someone with a genuine passion for young children and with the skill, creativity, commitment, and energy to deliver excellent provision at Ark Start.

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years’ service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays. Included in the holiday allowance – three days will be deducted for a full office closure between Christmas and New Year.
• Regular social events, monthly free breakfast, and daily fruit
• A flexible approach to working with understanding and consideration for work life balance and personal commitments
• As an Ark Start employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests 

How to Apply:

Apply with a CV and cover letter on our online recruitment portal. Applications to be submitted by Wednesday 10^th July 2024 at 10am but please note: we will be reviewing applications on an on-going basis and this advert may close earlier than advertised depending on the level of response.

This ATS application form should take no longer 20 minutes to complete. At any time, you can pause, save, and log back in. If you have any difficulty with meeting the deadline for application, please contact recruitment@arkonline.org

Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants. 

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this link.

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this link.