Job Description

The Opportunity

Salary:

31,586 to 34,314 per annum

Location:

Based at County Hall, Chichester

Working hours:

Full-Time 37 hours per week - (potential Term Time only)

Interview date:

w/c 04 August 2025



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.



As the Finance Officer, you 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.

What are we looking for?

As the successful candidate you will need to possess the following:


Excellent communication skills, with 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. Have experience working in a customer focussed role, with relevant finance experience and the ability to explain detailed financial information.

We are seeking enthusiastic candidates who may have some experience of working in a financial environment however ongoing training and support will be provided.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the attached.

Working for us

As well as adding real value to our service users and our communities, as an employer we recognise our employees are central in being able to achieve this. To recognise this we want to help support your development and provide an great place to work ensuring you can fulfil your full potential, have access to a range of benefits including:


an excellent

local government pension scheme

generous holiday entitlement of

27

days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave) a range of flexible working options, depending on your job role maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave volunteering opportunities training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over 1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see our

Staff discounts page

if you are a business looking to offer a discount) health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans

For a full list this can be found at our

Rewards and Benefits page.

Further information

The reference number for this role is

CRS00956

.



For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Clair Hyde (Research Officer - SEN Data) at

clair.hyde@westsussex.gov.uk

. For issues or queries regarding your application please contact

hrrecruitment@westsussex.gov.uk

.

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.





CC



Job Reference: CRS00956