About the role
We are looking for an experienced and motivated Education Funding Team Leader to join our Integrated Commissioning service. This is a key leadership role with responsibility for the day to day operation of the Education Funding Team, ensuring payments, queries and processes are delivered accurately, efficiently and to a high standard.
Reporting into the Payments Team Manager, you will lead a dedicated team. The role plays a vital part in supporting the effective end to end delivery of education funding across services, spanning early years through to higher education.
Situated at the centre of a complex and fast paced service, this role requires strong oversight of workflow and competing priorities. You will ensure that service deadlines and service level agreements are consistently met, while maintaining a strong focus on accuracy, compliance and customer service.
The role is highly data driven and requires strong Microsoft Excel capability. You will be confident working with complex financial information, tracking funding activity and ensuring accuracy across multiple systems and processes, while supporting performance monitoring and reporting.
What will you be doing?
This role is responsible for the operational management of the Education Funding Team, ensuring funding processes are delivered efficiently.
Day to day responsibilities include
• Leading, motivating and developing the team through effective line management and performance oversight
• Managing and prioritising workflow to ensure payments, queries and variations are delivered within agreed service standards
• Overseeing the end to end funding process, from identification of need through panel approval to provider invoicing and payment
• Taking ownership of service level agreement performance, ensuring delivery remains timely, compliant and customer focused
Alongside operational delivery, the role works closely with internal and external stakeholders to resolve complex queries, maintain strong working relationships and support the smooth running of the service.
A strong analytical element is also central to the role, with responsibility for working with financial data, maintaining accurate records and supporting reporting requirements. This includes using Excel to track, monitor and interpret data to inform decision making and service performance.
Continuous improvement forms an important part of the position, with opportunities to review processes, identify efficiencies and contribute to wider commissioning and finance initiatives.
About you
This role would suit an experienced and confident people manager who is comfortable leading a team within a busy, process driven environment. You will bring a strong sense of organisation and control, with the ability to manage competing priorities while maintaining quality and accuracy.
You will have well developed Excel skills and experience working with complex financial or service data. Confidence in analysing information, identifying issues and supporting informed decision making is essential.
Alongside your technical skills, you will be a strong communicator, able to build effective working relationships with colleagues, stakeholders and external providers. You will also be comfortable handling complex queries and resolving issues in a professional and customer focused way.
Key strengths will include
• The ability to prioritise and manage workload across both yourself and others
• A proactive and solution focused approach to challenges
• Confidence in working within service level agreement driven environments
• A commitment to continuous improvement and high standards of service delivery
Ideally, you will also bring knowledge or experience of the education sector, particularly education or government funding structures. An understanding of how funding flows through services, from assessment and approval through to payment, would be highly beneficial but not essential.
Our benefits
You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council
About us
At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.
Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.
We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner
The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.
If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.
Interviews will be held week commencing 20th July.
Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we recommend applying as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
West Northants Council, where careers thrive.
