Primary Location : Derry/Londonderry-Maghera-St Patrick's College Maghera
Contract Type : Permanent
Duration of Contract/Contract End Date : n/a
Status : Full-Time
Contract Options : All Year Round (E.g. 52 week contract)
Hours per Week : 36
Working Pattern : Mon - Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm
Grade/Scale : Senior Administrative Officer | NJC pts 33 - 36 | £44,075 - £47,181 per annum
Additional Allowance(s) : Not Applicable
Anticipated Interview Date(s) : 9/9/26
Additional Information: n/a
JOB DESCRIPTION
JOB TITLE: Bursar – Administrative Officer
REPORTS TO: Principal
JOB PURPOSE
To be responsible for all matters of school management relating to Finance, Building, Equipment, Non-Teaching Staff and General Administration.
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Bursar will work closely with the Principal and Vice-Principal/s and will participate in formal planning, decision making, implementation and monitoring.
Finance
In keeping with the EA scheme for LMS the Bursar will develop and monitor financial administrative structures within the school. This will include:
- Preparing estimates of annual expenditure, drawing up the annual budget plan, having it thoroughly analysed and presented to Principal and Governors. The annual budget shall be determined and notified to the EA by the appropriate date.
- Monitoring and controlling all finances within the school
- Preparing financial and other reports, in connection with the administration of the school’s budget, including regular updating for all budget holders
- Calculating and allocating department budgets for resources and reprographics
- Preparing Salary Review Letters for Teaching Staff
- Monitoring and controlling all school based accounts to ensure that proper records are kept, and that proper procedures are followed
- Ensuring all purchasing and requisition procedures are adhered to
- Being responsible for purchasing all capital items, furniture and fittings
- Acting as Secretary to the Finance Committee
- Overseeing and monitoring the collection of school fees
- Overseeing petty cash and banking procedures
- Checking and reconciling the EA monthly budget and expenditure report and advising the Principal of any issues that arise
Administration
The Bursar will be Office Manager and will be responsible for providing an efficient and effective administrative support structure for the school. This will involve responsibility for the work of secretarial, clerical, ancillary, auxiliary, cleaning and security staff. This will include:
- Monitoring the attendance of all members of non-teaching staff and implementing the EA’s managing attendance at work policy
- Approving the appointment of replacements for absent staff in liaison with supervisors, and interviewing and vetting applicants
- Monitoring the work of all ancillary and auxiliary staff and taking action where appropriate
- Approving the salary returns for all ancillary and auxiliary staffs
- Undertaking all arrangements associated with the appointment of non- teaching staff
- Organising and overseeing the arrangements for enrolment of students including dealing with enquiries, admissions, registration and maintenance of student records
- Maintaining personnel records for all teaching and non-teaching staff
Building, Plant and Equipment
The Bursar will be responsible for the maintenance of all buildings, plant and equipment to the required standard, in liaison with Contracts Manager, BESs, and Interserve. This will include:
- Liaising with the EA’s Maintenance Department
- Organising and overseeing maintenance work carried out under the LMS budget
- Keeping records of all work done
- Ensuring that all plant and equipment are properly maintained and proper records maintained
- Ensuring that the general security of the school site is of appropriate standards at all times
- Liaising with all external bodies using the school premises to ensure that proper arrangements and insurance are in place
- Ensuring that effective Health & Safety measures are in operation
- Establishing and operating a booking system for the school minibus, and maintaining log books for same
- Ensuring that school minibuses are properly maintained, that insurance, PSV and tax are kept up to date and that minibuses are securely garaged
- Booking buses for school use when school minibuses are not appropriate or available
- Establishing and maintaining a capital inventory of school equipment
- Organising the Letting of Premises to external bodies ie Club applications, schedule, insurance cover, issue of invoices and receipt payment
External Agencies
The Bursar will be required to maintain effective liaison with external agencies including DENI, CCMS and the EA.
This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time.
In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the post-holder is expected to promote good relations, equality of opportunity and pay due regard for equality legislation at all times.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
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You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how, and to what extent you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria, where relevant.
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You must demonstrate how you meet the criteria by the closing date for applications, unless the criteria state otherwise.
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The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is outlined in the table below.
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Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form.
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Please note that the Selection Panel reserves the right to shortlist only those applicants that it believes most strongly meet the criteria for the role.
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In the event of an excessive number of applications, the Selection Panel also reserves the right to apply any desirable criteria as outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting, in which case these will be applied in the order listed. It is important therefore that you also clearly demonstrate on your application form how you meet any desirable criteria.
SECTION 1 - ESSENTIAL CRITERIA
The following are essential criteria which will initially be measured at the shortlisting stage and which may also be further explored during the interview/selection stage. You should therefore make it clear on your application form how, and to what extent you meet these criteria. Failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted.
Factor
Essential Criteria
Method of Assessment
Qualifications
A bachelor’s degree in Business Studies, Finance or Accountancy (Regulated Qualifications Framework Level 6), or an equivalent or higher qualification.
Qualified Accountant with membership of a professional body such as ACCA/ACA/CIMA or equivalent
Shortlisting by Application Form
A minimum of 3 years’ experience working in a finance and administration role
Demonstrable working experience of preparing financial accounts
A minimum of 3 years’ experience of managing staff and other resources
Shortlisting by Application Form
Knowledge
Demonstrable evidence of a working knowledge of computerised accounting systems, LMS, and financial systems and protocols used in schools
Shortlisting by Application Form
Skills / Abilities
Evidence of proficiency in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Shortlisting by Application Form
Other
N/A
Shortlisting by Application Form
SECTION 2 - ESSENTIAL CRITERIA
The following are additional essential criteria which will be measured during the interview/selection stage.
Factor
Essential Criteria
Method of Assessment
Knowledge
Evidence of a working knowledge of the principles and methods of book-keeping
Skills / Abilities
Demonstrable effective people management skills to successfully motivate and manage a team
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
Effective planning and organisational skills and an ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines
Proven effective problem solving and decision making skills
Evidence of an ability to build effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders
Evidence of how your experience and approach to work reflect the School’s Values/ethos.
The Education Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer
