About us
Here at West Sussex County Council (WSCC) we have an opportunity for a Finance Officer to join our Financial Services Team providing finance and admin support to Special Educational Needs Resource Team. This is an excellent role to provide you with an opportunity to develop a range of skills.
Financial Services supports the County Council and all services to help make the best use of available resources and deliver County Strategy objectives and effective services.
To find out more information on WSCC and our services please visit our WSCC website
About the job
Salary: £32,597 to £35,412 per annum
Location: County Hall, Chichester
Working hours: Full-Time 37 hours per week
Contract: 2 years Fixed Term end to be confirmed with successful applicant.
Interview date: 11th August 2026
Internal candidates wishing to apply for this role will be considered for a secondment position. Please can you therefore discuss and agree this with your manager before applying for this position.
Due to an increased level of demand within the Special Educational Needs Assessment Team (SENAT), we are expanding the support we provide from within our SEN Resource Team.
SENAT manages the decisions and processes concerned with the statutory education, health and care needs assessment process for learners with an education, health and care plan (EHCP), the placement of children in learning settings and the allocation of resources to settings.
The role will have a variety of responsibilities to ensure the Council is safeguarding public money. Based in Strategic Finance you will provide support to the SEND Resource Team and the work of the SEN Assessment Team in the monitoring and maintaining of accurate financial records and data relating to the provision of funding for special educational needs.
This role will be a key finance link between various service teams involved in arrangement of SEND activities and placement of pupils.
Experience and skills
As the successful candidate you will need to possess excellent communication skills, the ability to work independently and proactively using your own initiative. You will need to be confident in the use of systems and processes as the role will include working with large volumes of sensitive data. Accuracy and attention to detail are paramount.
We are seeking enthusiastic candidates who may have some experience of working in a financial environment however ongoing training and support will be provided.
Key Skills:
- Clear and effective written skills to present complex financial information for managers and contribute to budgetary and other management reports appropriately.
- Excellent technical, analytical and numeracy skills in order to monitor and work with large or complex data sets or budgets.
- Developed communication and interpersonal skills in order to interact effectively with a range of clients and create and maintain effective working relationships. Including the ability to advise and guide clients to understand complicated technical information , data and budgets.
- Ability to embrace change and adapt to changing situations and new ways of working positively and effectively. Including the ability to learn new systems and processes and contribute towards improving working methods.
- Ability to work independently to plan and prioritise work over the medium term, setting timescales and organising activities in co-ordination with others to deliver objectives to deadlines, whilst still delivering to a high standard of quality.
Qualifications and/or experience:
- 4 GCSEs with A-C passes including Maths and English or equivalent qualification or experience demonstrating that level of numeracy and literacy
- Relevant theoretical, practical and procedural knowledge related to delivering a supporting accountancy and performance service.
- Experience of working in a customer orientated environment.
- Good working knowledge of MS Excel, and good specialist use of SAP, Oracle or similar large IT system used for accountancy. Including the ability to perform accurate complex financial calculations and manipulate data and statistics.
- Experience providing specialist advice to managers or customers. Including explaining financial information or other technical information.
- Knowledge and awareness of accounting principles and/or the processes and systems associated with working within a financial environment. Desirable
- Experience of working in a financial environment.
- Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) part qualified at Foundation level NVQ 2, or studying towards an equivalent qualification or an interest in progressing with this qualification. Desirable
For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.
Further information
The reference number for this role is CRS01110
For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Clair Hyde (SEN Resources Officer) at [email protected].
To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 3 years referencing and a health check.
Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.
We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.
Note for Recruitment Agencies: We prefer to hire people directly, but we do have a supplier list for when we need a helping hand. We'll be in touch directly if we need you!
Job Reference: CRS01110
