Senior Finance Business Partner
Orchard Hill College Academy Trust, Sutton, SM1 1DA11 days remaining to apply
Start date details
As soon as possible
Closing date
10 December 2025 at 11:59pm
Date listed
28 November 2025
Job details
Job role
- Administration, HR, data and finance
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time: Full Time, Permanent
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- Grade PO5/6/7 (£52,187 - £60,571)
What skills and experience we're looking for
We are looking for a Senior Finance Business Partner to provide strategic financial leadership across several Academy Hubs within Orchard Hill College Academy Trust. You will oversee financial management, support trust-wide planning, and act as the lead finance partner for your schools, adding value to development plans and key financial decisions. You will also contribute to major projects, offering professional challenge to ensure strong and sustainable outcomes. If you are an experienced finance professional looking to make a meaningful impact, we’d love to hear from you.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide Strategic Financial Leadership - Act as the lead finance partner for Principals and School Leadership Teams, overseeing financial planning, forecasting, and monthly management accounts to support strong educational and financial outcomes.
- Lead Key Partnerships and Governance Support - Maintain effective relationships with Local Authorities, Local Governing Bodies, and school forums, ensuring accurate funding, strong representation, and proactive issue resolution.
- Manage School Development and Major Projects - Support and challenge strategic decision-making, lead on five-year development plans, estates financial planning, special projects, and grant management.
- Oversee Financial Operations and Compliance - Ensure effective use of financial systems (including Arbor), oversee key financial processes, ensure compliance with Finance Regulations, and support audits, statutory accounts, and cashflow.
- Lead and Develop Finance Teams - Line-manage Finance Business Partners and Finance Officers, support collaboration with HR and school operations teams, manage onboarding of new schools, and maintain high standards of confidentiality and policy compliance.
Key Requirements:
- Professional finance qualification or equivalent relevant experience.
- Proven experience in financial leadership or business partnering, ideally within education or a complex multi-site organisation.
- Strong analytical and strategic planning skills, with the ability to interpret financial data, influence decisions, and support long-term planning.
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, able to work effectively with senior leaders, Principals, Local Authorities, and governing bodies.
- Experience managing and developing finance teams, with the ability to lead, motivate, and ensure high-quality financial operations and compliance.
- Willingness to travel to multiple academy sites as required
What the school offers its staff
OHC&AT is an exciting, forward-thinking organisation, and we offer many benefits to attract and keep our staff, contributing towards maintaining and improving wellbeing, and encouraging our required behaviours, achievements, values, and skills. Below is just a selection of the benefits available to our employees:
Rewards & Benefits:
- Pathways for progression within the trust, ensuring you can grow and thrive in a supportive and inclusive environment.
- Pension Scheme - you will be enrolled in either the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) or the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS), both offering life cover and financial protection for your family.
- Salary Sacrifice Schemes (Cycle Scheme and Home Electronics Scheme)
- Employee Wellbeing - We support employee wellbeing with access to counselling, mental health support, generous leave, flexible working, and enhanced parental leave including Employee Assistance Programme, MyGym Discounts, Corporate Eyecare Scheme
- Employee Discounts (Blue Light Card, Costco Membership, Discounts for Teachers, and more)
- Other (Season Ticket Loan and Employee Referral Scheme)
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
Apply for the job by following the link below.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
View advert on school website (opens in new tab)Upload additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About Orchard Hill College Academy Trust
- Type
- Multi-academy trust
- Email address
- MollyKing@orchardhill.ac.uk
Orchard Hill College (the College) and Orchard Hill College Academy Trust (the Trust) together form Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust (OHC&AT), a family of specialist education providers for pupils and students from nursery to further education across London, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire. As an Outstanding provider (Ofsted 2019) and Academy sponsor, Orchard Hill College has a strong track record for making a positive impact within the local communities it serves.
Pupils and students within the OHC&AT family have a wide range of learning abilities and additional needs including autistic spectrum disorder; speech, language and communication difficulties; social, emotional and mental health; profound and multiple disabilities; and physical disabilities including multi-sensory impairment and complex health needs.
Our ambition is to contribute further to improving the education offer for all pupils and students in our communities, including those with SEND. The College offers specialist educational programmes for students aged 16 and over in College centres and satellite provision in London and the South. The Academy Trust enables us to build on and extend scope of our work in these geographical areas, so that Academy pupils can also benefit from our expertise and access a greater range of opportunities arising from our strong community and stakeholder networks.
Supporting our College and Academies, OHC&AT also operates a range of services and support including Quality and Standards, Learning Support and Business Support.
Head office location
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