Associate Chief Financial Officer

The Great Schools Trust, Warrington, WA1 4PF

18 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  January 2026 or Earlier

• Closing date

  10 November 2025 at 11am

• Date listed

  20 October 2025

Job details

• Job role:
  • Administration, HR, data and finance
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Part time, full time
• Contract type: Fixed term
• Full-time equivalent salary: Highly competitive (band/day-rate to be agreed)
• Additional allowances:

  Highly competitive (band/day-rate to be agreed)

Associate Chief Financial Officer job summary

Associate Chief Finance Officer (Fixed Term)

Hybrid Role - Warrington HQ | Full-time or Part-time considered 3-6 months
Highly competitive day rate/banding

Shape the next chapter of a growing trust.

As Great Schools Trust continues to strengthen its financial resilience and prepare for the next phase of strategic development, we are seeking additional CFO capacity to help accelerate key priorities and modernisation initiatives.

Join Great Schools Trust at a pivotal moment in our journey. From a single academy in 2012 to educating over 4,500 pupils across eight (soon nine) schools, we’re nationally recognised for excellence in character, leadership and social mobility. With strong finances, innovative initiatives like our CredimusAI platform, and top-tier outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, we’re seeking an Associate Chief Finance Officer to help accelerate our impact and prepare for the next phase of strategic growth. This interim role, with potential to extend, is a unique opportunity to combine financial leadership with a mission-driven approach to financial excellence. Additionally, you will benefit from 1-1 mentorship from an experienced CFO.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a values-driven finance leader to work alongside our Executive Team, Chief Operations Officer and Finance Team, helping to shape a sustainable financial strategy that underpins our mission to transform children’s futures.

Meet the CFO - Friday 31st October, 12pm-1pm at King’s Leadership Academy Warrington. Join us for a group meet and greet with an introduction and tour. Please contact Hayley Fenlon at h.fenlon@greatschoolstrust.co to confirm your place.

The Role

• Support and lead in areas of the Trust’s 3-5 year financial strategy and advise CEO and Board.

• Oversee budgeting, forecasting, reporting, treasury, and risk.

• Ensure compliance with regulatory frameworks and financial governance.

• Support our COO in the partnership with school leaders to align finance with educational priorities.

• Drive procurement efficiencies and support growth through due diligence and integration.

What We Offer

• Strategic influence at Board level, shaping Trust-wide priorities.

• Freedom to modernise and standardise finance systems.

• Hybrid working with flexible arrangements.

• 30 days annual leave + bank holidays, wellbeing support, and other benefits.

About You

You’ll be a qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA/CIPFA) with senior finance leadership experience in complex, multi-entity settings. You bring strategic vision, operational rigour, and a commitment to ethical stewardship. Experience in education, charity, or public sector is desirable but not essential.

How to Apply

Please see attached our detailed recruitment pack attached.

To apply, please submit your application via MyNewTerm

Great Schools Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All appointments are subject to enhanced pre-employment checks.

Further information about the job

The candidate will be required to undergo a full enhanced DBS check and must be eligible to work in the UK.

Visas cannot be sponsored.

If you're interested in teaching or training to teach in England as an international citizen, we can help you understand your next steps.

Commitment to safeguarding

All offers of employment are subject to a robust set of pre-employment checks, which may include (as applicable):

Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
Prohibition from teaching check
Childcare disqualification declaration
Verification of right to work in the UK
Medical fitness to work
Online and social media screening
Receipt of two satisfactory references
Suitability to work with children assessment

Applicants are required to declare any unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings as outlined under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

Applying for the job

This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

About The Great Schools Trust

• Type: Multi-academy trust
• Website: The Great Schools Trust website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/the-great-schools-trust

At Great Schools Trust, we don’t just build schools, we forge futures. We are a high-performing, values-driven multi-academy trust committed to delivering transformational education for over 4,000 students across our academies in the North West of England. Our vision is simple yet bold: to develop a family of Great Schools where every student, regardless of background or starting point, flourishes, is happy, and achieves their full potential.

GST academies combine the rigour and ambition of independent education with the inclusivity and moral purpose of the state sector. Each school in our trust instils our core ASPIRE values; Aspiration, Self-awareness, Professionalism, Integrity, Respect, and Endeavour into everything we do. These are not just words; they’re the foundations of a culture where excellence becomes a habit.

As a National Behaviour Hub and leader in educational technology, we are proud pioneers in innovation and character education. Our King’s Adventure Programme develops young leaders of tomorrow through robust character-building, leadership experiences and a "King’s CV" that evidences every student’s growth journey. From AI-powered learning platforms to industry-leading CPD, we ensure our staff and students thrive in environments that champion curiosity, resilience and progress.

Our track record speaks volumes. From transforming schools in special measures into oversubscribed centres of excellence to closing the Progress 8 gap for disadvantaged students, GST is a beacon of social mobility and community transformation.

We are not just a trust, we are a movement. A movement powered by belief. *Credo-Credimus.* I believe, we believe.

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