Education Funding Team Leader

Job introduction

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 the role

Are you highly organised, detail-oriented, and passionate about supporting education funding processes? We have an exciting opportunity for an Education Funding Team Leader to join our Education Payments Team. This pivotal role supports the monthly Education payments cycle, ensuring smooth panel operations, accurate documentation, and timely payments. You’ll be central to maintaining financial compliance and supporting education providers with funding queries and processes.

Additional information

• Proven capability to engage, influence, and build strong communication channels with managers, suppliers, and customers to secure understanding and commitment to operational changes and strategic priorities.
• Proven ability to build and maintain productive relationships with internal and external stakeholders to drive the effective delivery of Education Funding objectives aligned with the annual service plan.
• Demonstrated capability to analyse and implement national legislation, policies, and guidance, ensuring all processes remain fully compliant and aligned with statutory obligations.
• Skilled in analysing and interpreting financial and operational data to inform management reporting, support decision-making, and drive the achievement of Education Funding service objectives.
• Able to effectively utilise Office 365 tools (e.g., Teams, OneDrive) to support collaborative working and service delivery, with a commitment to undertake training as required during probation.
• Possesses knowledge of statutory payment processes and ensures compliance in operational practices.
• Proven ability to lead the handling of complaints and complex enquiries, ensuring timely, professional, and customer-focused resolution.
• Proven ability to lead, coach, and mentor team members, fostering professional growth and ensuring the delivery of individual and team objectives.
• Proven ability to develop clear and comprehensive training documentation and user guides to ensure consistent understanding and application of payments processes.
• Proven ability to independently plan, prioritise, and organise workloads for self and team members to ensure timely delivery of service requirements.
• Demonstrated experience in delivering exceptional customer service while effectively resolving conflicts and employing negotiation and diplomatic skills to achieve positive outcomes.
• Proven track record in evaluating current processes, implementing improvements, and leading change initiatives to enhance service delivery.

Company information

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.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.