Oaklands School - Group Bursar

Essex
Oaklands School
Full-time

Summary

Group Bursar required for a group of three private schools in South West Essex/North East London from January 2026. This in-person role is based in Loughton and will include management of the non-academic operations and financial affairs.

Detail

We are looking to recruit a Group Bursar to work in our Head Office in Loughton, Essex to a group of three private schools.

The Group Bursar will be part of the Oak-Tree Group Leadership Team part-responsible for the day-to-day, non-academic operation of the Group and responsible for the conduct of the Group’s financial affairs. The Group Bursar will lead a non-teaching team including accounts, personnel, office administration, IT, cleaning and catering.

This is a full time position with the ‘core’ hours of 8am until 4.45pm daily at the Head Office building in Loughton. The role comes with a holiday entitlement of 25 days + bank holidays and is to start in January 2026.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

Finance and Accountancy:

To advise on general financial policy within the Group.
To prepare financial appraisals for projects as they arise and advise the Group Managing Principal accordingly.
To line manage the Group Accounts department and ensure the smooth running of the purchase and sales ledgers.
To prepare annual estimates of income and expenditure for each school to include the preparation of departmental budgets within the school.
To use benchmarking tools to monitor income and expenditure in relation to departmental and school budgets as agreed, and to present regular management reports Group Managing Principal.
To oversee the monitoring of trips, events and workshops, including checking that costings forwarded by the schools are accurate and that expenditure is covered by fees charged.
To liaise with the Group Finance Manager to ensure the preparation of monthly management account information and analysis.
To liaise with the Group Managing Principal and Group Finance Manager to update and maintain the rolling cash flow forecasts and KPIs.
To liaise with the Group’s auditors in the preparation of the annual audit for the statutory Accounts.
To report immediately any exceptional variances to the Group Managing Principal.
To secure funds and grants to which the Group may be entitled.
To collect and process money from any fund raising activities.
To liaise with the Group’s bankers as required.
To monitor the Barclaycard and Amex transactions to check for changes in charges.
To assist with VAT and other taxation matters to ensure compliance with HMRC and to make timely payments as required.

School Fees Administration:

To oversee the preparation of pupils’ termly and other invoices, in conjunction with the Group Accounts department and school offices.
To check that all fees, fee adjustments and charges both in advance and arrears are correctly entered against each pupil on Engage.
To liaise with the School Offices about chargeable activities such as clubs, peripatetic music or SEN support and ensure this information is provided promptly for inclusion in fee invoices.
To liaise with School Fee Plan as an appointed agent to ensure that parents can spread evenly the payment of termly invoices if required.
To oversee the collection of all school fees, in conjunction with the Group Accounts department, including to manage the collection of any late payment of fees.
To handle parental queries on invoices and oversee the generating of duplicate invoices.
To manage debtors and oversee monthly collection schemes.
To liaise with the Group’s external debt management team to collect outstanding debts post exclusion.
To administer the bursary system for parents needing temporary financial assistance, including undertaking assessments of parents’ income and assets.
To conduct an annual fees review during each Spring Term and publish increases to parents by the start of each Summer Term.
To monitor the collection of fees against cash flow forecasts and act accordingly as required for the Group’s financiers.

Purchase Ledger Administration:

To use benchmarking tools to monitor income and expenditure in relation to departmental and school budgets as agreed, and to present regular management reports Group Managing Principal.
To scrutinise, query if required and pass for payment to the Accounts Department all purchase ledger invoices received in each school.
To ensure the timely processing of purchase ledger payments, in conjunction with the Group Accounts department, and the reconciliation of accounts in Sage.

Payroll Administration:

To prepare the monthly payroll for each school and Group staff, in conjunction with the Group Payroll Administrator and Group Personnel Manager, including the preparation of BACS payment instructions.
To ensure the production and distribution of e-pay slips for all staff through Sage Payroll.
To administer the monthly PAYE and NIC payments.
To administer the Group pension scheme for all relevant staff and process the monthly payments.
To ensure the collation, approval and application of claim forms, in conjunction with the Group Payroll Administrator and Group Personnel Manager.
To calculate and apply any changes in deductions/additions each month.
To oversee the recording of sickness absence and monitor when any member of staff goes over their limit.
To oversee the annual salary review and ensure new annual salary information is communicated to all staff in a timely manner.

Personnel Management:

To ensure compliance with all relevant aspects of employment law including employment protection, equal pay, minimum wage, Working Time Directive or discrimination on the grounds of sex, race or disability.
To act as the Group’s adviser on employment matters including disciplinary procedures and ensuring that the Group has appropriate up-to-date disciplinary and grievance procedures.
To liaise with the Group’s external advisers on personnel matters as required.
To ensure, in conjunction with the Group Personnel Manager, that all new staff are issued with contracts of employment and offer letters setting out terms of employment, and that full employment checks are carried out prior to confirmation of employment, and to maintain the Single Central Record.
To assist with the supervision and management of all staff, including for any welfare needs.
To conduct appraisals as required.
To conduct staff disciplinary or capability meetings and investigations as required.

Systems Management:

To liaise with TES, in conjunction with the Group ICT Team, regarding accounting systems required for the Engage Management of Information System.
To liaise with Sage regarding accounting systems required for Sage Accounts and Sage Payroll.
To liaise with Cleverbox, in conjunction with the Group Marketing Manager, regarding the credit card facility embedded into the Group’s website.
To liaise with Phoenix regarding the administration of staff pensions.

General Management and Administration:

To play a role in the marketing and development of the Group.
To represent each school and the Group at Bursar’s local and national forums as required.
To deal with each school’s rating assessment for business rates and liaise with external companies to process appeals as required.
To liaise with the school’s insurance brokers for the annual review to ensure that adequate cover is in place for all areas, and as required to process claims and make additions to the various policies.
To supervise the catering budget and catering operation in conjunction with the catering management.
To manage any letting of school premises, including the contracting and collection of rental monies.
To liaise with statutory authorities, including the Financial Conduct Authority, as required.

General Duties:

To undertake a variety of general administrative tasks.
To answer the telephones in a personable and welcoming manner and handle queries.
To deal with incoming correspondence and e-mails in a timely and appropriate manner.
To deal with general enquiries by telephone, email and in person.
To record and file information when necessary, always in strict confidence.
To maintain the highest level of confidentiality and discretion at all times.
To promote equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice.
To comply with local authority Safeguarding Procedures.
To follow Health and Safety procedures.
To follow the Schools’ Data Protection Policies.

The Group Bursar should also be prepared to undertake other such specific duties that may be assigned by the Group Managing Principal from time to time.

Person Specification

Essential:

ACA/ACCA or equivalent accountancy qualification fully qualified or near-fully qualified.
Extensive knowledge of local laws, taxes, licenses, finance and accounting practices, and procedures.
Several years’ experience in a finance environment working with management accounts and accounting practices.
Experience working within a fast paced and innovative environment.
Knowledge of accounting systems such as Sage Accounts and Sage Payroll.
Advanced MS Excel skills.
Experience managing teams of people.
Experience working with payroll systems.
Ability to analyse data and prepare comprehensive and accessible reports.
Strong oral and written communication skills.
Exceptional financial and analytical skills
Excellent level of attention to detail.
Understanding of data privacy requirements.
Clear demonstration of honesty, integrity, reliability and confidentiality.
The ability to set clear goals and align job objectives to the requirements of the business.
The ability to prioritise own workload and multitask.
The ability to support colleagues by responding effectively and efficiently to requests for help & information.
The flexibility to work additional hours at peak times and not to ‘clock watch’.