Principal Officer

Vacancy Information

Hourly rate of pay: £ - £

Temporary until 10th August 2025
Days and Hours of Work:
Monday - Friday
Flexi time is applicable, starting and finishing times.
To start asap.

An opportunity has arisen for a secondment to the post of Principal Officer - Education Finance to join the Education Strategy & Operations Team, offering a varied and interesting role supporting our school communities, Head Teachers, and Education managers in the delivery of our Education Service priorities through excellent financial management and an innovative approach to cost reduction.

The post holder in conjunction with the Service Manager - Education (Strategy & Operations) will maximise the efficiency of service delivery within legislation and approved budgets and in accordance with required standards and Council’s policies and plans, with a commitment to achieve best value and improved service planning for future improvement and development. The successful candidate will be a skilled and experienced financial/budget manager and should be able to demonstrate significant skill in applying accounting experience to a complex and changing educational landscape. A key responsibility of the role is devising the Scheme of Devolved School Management and responding to the service redesign aspirations of the Education Leadership Team.

The Principal Officer - Education Finance will support the Education Service Managers and senior budget holders to develop and monitor budgets for the totality of the Education Service, providing reliable and accurate budget forecasts. The ability to be creative and model budgets and sustainability are key to the role.

Applicants for the post should have sought the agreement of their line manage for secondment release prior to making their application.

It is anticipated that interviews for this post will take place on Thursday, 30 May 2024.

Home Working Consideration
Applications for homeworking or hybrid working will be considered for this post, subject to a trial period and in accordance with East Lothian Council’s Home Working and Worksmart Policies which can be found . Home or Hybrid working options can be discussed with candidates invited for interview. All applicants must live in the UK and will be expected to attend Council offices from time to time as required.

INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY / SECONDMENT OPPORTUNITY
Applications for this post will only be accepted from current employees of East Lothian Council (this includes casual and agency staff who are currently undertaking work for us). Any current employee wishing to apply for this temporary post as a secondment should discuss it with their current line manager in the first instance.

Job Details

To lead the management and monitoring of financial benchmarking, devising and implementing robust financial budget monitoring systems, overspend recovery planning and financial training for the central Education Service and all schools by close collaboration with Head Teachers and school administrators.

In conjunction with the Service Manager - Education (Strategy & Operations) maximise the efficiency of service delivery within legislation and approved budgets and in accordance with required standards and Council’s policies and plans, with a commitment to achieve best value and improved service planning for future improvement and development.

To manage, develop and deliver a responsive cost reduction strategy across Education Services in response to budget efficiencies and service priorities.

To develop and implement a comprehensive solution focussed support service to all school leaders to assist them to achieve Directorate priorities.