School Business Manager
St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Aylesford, Kent, ME20 7BE13 days remaining to apply
Earliest start date
27 October 2025
Latest start date
10 November 2025
Closing date
7 October 2025 at 3pm
Date listed
24 September 2025
Job details
Job role
- Administration, HR, data and finance
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time: Our current SBM works 5 days a week, term time only, with a 7.45-3.15pm day. However, we have the flexibility to reduce the job description and hours of work, if you need that and can accommodate some working from home if needed. You would be required to work certain days over holiday periods to meet fiscal deadlines. However, holiday working will only be required when there is a deadline to be met.
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- £30,404 - £33,752
Pay scale
- KSF
What skills and experience we're looking for
Finance
- Advise the Headteacher on all financial matters, to ensure the school maintains financial probity at all times, with systems which are compliant with all regulations.
- Work with the Headteacher to set the annual budget. Use your knowledge of forward financial forecasts to advise on possible future financial developments for the school.
- Following discussions relating to the School Improvement Plan, and the longer term aims of the Headteacher, annually develop a three-year budget plan.
- Monitor the outturn of the current budget and work with the Headteacher to adjust spending as necessary.
- Produce reports and notes for Head & Governors, and explain all aspects of the financial management of the school.
- Complete all returns for LA & DfE in accordance with deadlines.
- Authorise payments (both within school and the actual payment through the bank).
- Process BACS payment runs (during term time), ensuring all invoices have been verified prior to payment.
- Act as the primary contact for all external customers, suppliers and agencies regarding school finance.
- Oversee the set up and use of school bank accounts and corporate cards. Act as primary contact for these accounts.
- Act as the primary contact for external agencies e.g. LA, DfE on all financial matters.
- Lead external audits e.g. compliance, fraud, corporate card audit, HMRC.
- Prepare Financial Risk Register for governors.
Payroll
- Manage the payroll process within the school. This includes informing the payroll provider of all starters / leavers / contract changes / extra payments due / sickness absences etc
- Administrating & agreeing the monthly payroll, ensuring it is correct, making all necessary payments (HMRC, pensions etc), ensuring staff pay and extra payments are made correctly.
- Have a comprehensive understanding of tax, pensions, statutory payments (sick pay, maternity pay).
- Administer the process for pay increases. Ensure that performance management outcomes are available to inform staff pay rises. Calculate new FTE pay and pro-rata salaries, plus any lump sums due. Advise payroll of new salaries / grades/ holiday allowances. Prepare & issue appropriate letters to support staff. Prepare & issue statutory advice to teaching staff. Advise HR provider of new salaries. Update internal school records with new salaries.
HR
- You will attain references and complete the DBS process for new starters.
- You will prepare contracts and write job descriptions as required.
- You will manage the resignation process for all staff.
- You will liaise with payroll and HR as required to set up new starters.
- To complete the Performance Management process for both office staff and for the school caretaker.
Wraparound Provision/Voluntary Fund
- Act as company secretary for the school’s Wraparound provision.
- Manage the financial operation of the provision, overseeing payments, credits and identifying any debt.
- Prepare monthly payroll, bank reconciliations and accounts.
- Oversee the operation of the Voluntary Fund, including the monthly reconciliation completed by another member of the office staff.
What the school offers its staff
Our long standing Business Manager is leaving us at the end of term 1, to take up a different, part time position as she alters her work life balance. Hence we are now advertising for someone to join us in her stead. We have set a start date four weeks from the date of interview, to allow the successful candidate to work any notice period, but if you could start sooner, that would be ideal.
Please have a look at our school website in order to get to know us more. St Peter's is a small, friendly school. The staff here are highly committed to our children, and work hard to provide the best education possible for them. You would be joining a small, professional team. Your role as Business Manager is highly rewarding. You are fundamental to ensuring both the smooth running of St Peter's and its longer term development.
A detailed job description and skill set can be found in the accompanying documents. We have developed a role which suits a 5 day a week, term time only position, with a 7.45-3.15pm day. However, we have the flexibility to reduce the job description and hours of work, if you need that. We must recruit someone who can manage the finances of the school. If you can only work shorter hours, we can trim the job role and re-assign other responsibilities to accommodate you.
There will be occasions when you would be required to work certain days over holiday periods to meet fiscal deadlines. However, holiday working will only be required when there is a deadline to be met.
Ideally you will have prior experience of school financial management. Having knowledge of the systems used in school would be a distinct advantage. As we are not part of an academy chain, you will have sole responsibility for the administration of financial and HR matters across the school, as is set out in the job description. Hence, ideally you will need to be suitably experienced in such matters and certainly with regard to financial procedures, payroll and accountancy. However, we do have links to other local schools and there would be support available from experienced school Business Managers to help you should you be new to this type of role. So please don't be put off if you have never worked in a school before!
Flexible working opportunities
If you wished to work from home on occasion, to maximise your work time, then we could accommodate that. And should you need to work different hours than those we have outlined, possibly due to your own child care needs, we are happy to accommodate that as well.
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.
Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.
Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children
You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
Applying for the job
Please complete the online application.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
Apply for this jobUpload additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About St Peter's Church of England Primary School
- School type
- Local authority maintained school, Church of England, ages 4 to 11
- Education phase
- Primary
- School size
- 200 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 4 to 11
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- St Peter's Church of England Primary School website
- Email address
- jim.holditch@stpetersaylesford.kent.sch.uk
- Phone number
- 01622 717335
Arranging a visit to St Peter's Church of England Primary School
To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email jim.holditch@stpetersaylesford.kent.sch.uk.
School location
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