Contract Support Officer | Property Service | Preston

| Salary £27,269 - £31,067 Per annum | Full time | Permanent | 37 hours per week | Preston

International Sponsorship - this role is open to international sponsorship 

Property Service

Job Title: Contract Support Officer (PFI Schools)  Area Lancashire

We are currently recruiting: 

Lancashire County Council 

Here at Lancashire County Council, we are helping to make Lancashire the best place to live, work, visit and prosper. Lancashire is the fourth largest local authority in England and strategic commissioner of education provision to over 170,000 children and young people in 628 schools across the county. Lancashire County Council exists to serve everyone who lives or works in Lancashire. We are committed to developing and celebrating our diverse communities, heritage and landscape to create a strong sense of place we can all be proud of.  At the heart of our strategy for delivery are our four priorities: delivering better services, protecting our environment, supporting economic growth, and caring for the vulnerable. 

Role & Responsibilities: 

The Property Service provides strategic management of Lancashire County Council's property portfolio to ensure that the organisations property holdings enable the delivery of corporate priorities and service objectives. The successful candidate will provide financial support within the team and play a pivotal role in the management of PFI payments and contractual deliverables.

Building Schools for the Future was a capital programme which aimed to rebuild, renew and refurbish the school estate across the country and provide education buildings and ICT facilities fit for future learning. The programme was developed by central government during the 2000's and funded through the private finance initiative (PFI) with each phase subject to 25-year contracts. 

In Lancashire there are 16 schools and services currently under these contracts.

• You will play a pivotal role in the financial management of the PFI contracts for the County Council and contribute to the overall contract management function.
• Monitor and process invoices and recharges, raise purchase orders and ensure these are accurately entered into the finance system.
• Processing regular and infrequent payments pro-actively, to ensure prompt and accurate payment to third parties is made in accordance with the relevant terms and conditions of the PFI Contracts.
• Prepare, track and reconcile ledgers and budgets, identifying and addressing account discrepancies.
• Provide support in relation to the PFI contracts and support colleagues in all aspects of the service outcomes.
• Undertake performance analysis of the contracts against the contractual obligations.
• Supporting with risk management by reporting/escalating any identified risks or issues, as appropriate. Contribute to the performance measurement aspects of the contracts based on statutory requirements such as annual reviews and various projects.

What We Are Looking For:

• Experience of working within a financial role and/or within local authorities, schools or academies.
• Experience of working with multi stakeholders (internal and external to the organisation).
• Experience of and a practical understanding of IT systems including finance systems and processes.
• Experience in organising meetings and accurately minuting these.
• Ability to organise and manage time and prioritise work effectively.
• Excellent communication skills at an appropriate level in order to achieve results and meet contractual timeframes.
• Contributing to continuous improvement in your own area of responsibility. 

Application Supporting Statement: 

Please ensure you have uploaded and attached your supporting statement to evidence how you meet the criteria for the role. The panel may be unable to shortlist you for interview without this evidence.

Please note that when completing your supporting statement, it's important that you have specifically demonstrated and evidenced that you meet each essential criteria from the person specification in line with the role responsibilities as detailed above. If you do not meet the criteria, but feel you possess relevant qualities, please demonstrate within your supporting statement.

Essential Car User: 

This is an essential car user post; you will be required to provide a car for use in connection with the duties of this post and must be insured for business use and have a current and clean driving licence. In certain circumstances consideration may be given to applicants who, as a consequence of a disability, are unable to drive. 

Why join us:

Benefits:

In return Lancashire County Council offers a range of benefits, which can be found on LCC Vacancies website.

• There's fabulous flexibility and the opportunity to create the work life balance you will love with our hybrid working model.
• We offer up to 32 days annual leave plus bank holidays, two additional days at Christmas and then an additional 20 days that can be purchased. 
• We have benefit packages which has everything from discounted white goods to a hybrid car lease scheme, long service awards, Medicash, support groups, cycle to work schemes, free eye tests plus much more.
• Best of all we have a generous public sector pension (16.3% employer contributions) with shared AVC's that provides Income Tax relief and National Insurance (NICs) savings using a salary sacrifice arrangement and providing a flexible pension saving opportunities. 
• We also have a range of personal/professional qualifications which will be available to you and career progression available for the right person.

Development: You will receive support and development along the journey – there will be time for supportive reflection and supervision for yourself, opportunities for personal/professional qualifications, multidisciplinary initiatives, mentoring, but most of all the opportunity to make a difference, feel valued and achieve the job satisfaction you've always wanted.

Inclusivity: LCC is committed to building a workforce which reflects the diversity of the county's residents, encouraging applications from people of all ages, abilities, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic backgrounds and faiths, and aspires to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can be themselves at work.

Please feel free to contact us for an initial informal and confidential chat: 

Chelsea Shepherd - Chelsea.Shepherd@lancashire.gov.uk

Interviews: To be scheduled

If you're already a Lancashire County Council employee you must apply via the internal vacancies option on Oracle Fusion. You can do this by logging into Oracle Fusion and then going to Me - Current Jobs.

Please ensure you have uploaded and attached your supporting statement to evidence how you meet the criteria for the role. The panel may be unable to shortlist you for interview without this evidence.

You will be required to provide a car for use in connection with the duties of this post and must be insured for business use. However, we may consider you if you cannot drive because of a disability. 

In return Lancashire County Council offers a range of benefits, which can be found on LCC Vacancies website.

We reserve the right to close down a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications.

Job Description and Person Specification