Finance Team Leader
Supported Housing | Squared Homes
Contract: Permanent
Salary: £33,000 – 35,000 per annum (depending on
experience)
Hours: 37 hours per week (Monday to Friday)
Location: Luton, Squared is committed to agile,
therefore you will work from any of the Squared sites or remotely as
appropriate to business need.
About Squared
Squared is a not-for-profit housing association supporting
communities across Luton and South Bedfordshire since 1962. We are a welcoming,
inclusive organisation where people feel valued, supported and empowered to
make a real difference.
Our Benefits
- 33
days annual leave (including bank holidays), increasing with service (up
to 38 days)
- Option
to buy or sell up to 5 days leave
- Free
Health Cashplan (after probation)
- Canada
Life WeCare Employee Assistance Programme
- Pension
scheme (Squared contributes 1.33% of employee contribution up to 8%)
- Life
Assurance
- Personal
Accident Cover
- Staff
benefits portal with shopping discounts
- Essential
Car User Allowance (in addition to mileage payments)
- Flexible,
supportive working approach
About the team
Our Finance and Digital Services department is a vital division of Squared. The finance
and digital services’ role is to protect the wealth of Squared’s assets,
capital, staff and money, and develop and implement our digital transformation
agenda.
The other functions
finance is involved in includes
- Payroll-wages, pension and staff benefits
- Petty cash
- Rent and sales Ledgers
- Purchase ledger
- Annual budget and business plans
- Monthly, quarterly and annual accounts for stakeholders
- Regulatory information
About the Role
You will play an important role at Squared in the Finance
Department working closely with the Financial Controller (who is your line
manager) and the Management Accountant (responsible for reporting). Your role will ensure the smooth running of
all processing including sales ledger, purchase ledger, banking and nominal
ledger. You will also set expectations
of when regular work is to be completed each day, week and month and ensure the
department achieves those targets. It
should be noted, this is not merely a supervisory role though, you will also
have your own workload and daily tasks to manage.
These are the things you’ll need to do in your role. You may
be asked to achieve additional objectives and tasks in order to respond to the
needs of the developing service, as part of your own personal development or as
the role evolves:
- To
be responsible for maintaining monthly cashbooks and undertaking bank
reconciliations for all the association’s bank accounts, ensuring that
rents received per the computerised rent accounting reconcile with the
cashbook and rent statements.
- To be responsible for posting all necessary journals to
maintain the nominal ledger.
- To be responsible for day to day supervision and target
setting of all sales ledger related invoicing and posting, supporting any
queries and working with other departments or management, as needed, to
solve issues.
- To be responsible for day to day supervision and target
setting of all purchase ledger related invoices and posting, supporting
any queries and working with other departments or management, as needed,
to solve issues. This includes
ensuring proposed payment runs are prepared on a timely basis.
- To be responsible for day-to-day supervision and target
setting of all rent collection activities, ensuring reconciliations take
place on a timely basis.
- To assist in maintaining the fixed asset register for the
association.
- To assist staff members with finance related problems, or
when necessary, liaise with relevant suppliers.
- To comply with the requirements of the Financial
Regulations
- To assist in collating and distributing papers for Board
and other company meetings.
- Understand and follow Squared’s policies and procedures at
all times, including Health and Safety, Fairness, and Business Continuity
Planning.
You may be asked to achieve additional objectives and tasks
in order to respond to the needs of the developing service, as part of your own
personal development or as the role evolves.
About You
We’re looking for someone who is:
You’ll play an important role at Squared both now and as we
develop and grow. We need a driven person who is amicable and influential to
work with and supervise finance staff in a collegiate way that develops a sense
of trust and team.
You’ll be a rare individual who is capable of negotiating
and decision-making. You’ll be a proactive and motivated, hard-working
self-starter, and you will be organised, efficient, able to both delegate and
work quickly and accurately under pressure whilst maintaining professionalism
at all times.
Needless to say
you’ll be willing to go the extra mile to get the job done.
You will provide an excellent service to the Financial
Controller (and Finance Team) ensuring that the reputation and work of the
department is of a high standard. You will be proactive in identifying and
recommending areas for improvement and be self-motivated, taking responsibility
for initiating and checking your own output.
The table below detail the essential and desirable
qualifications, knowledge, experience and skills you will need to perform in
the role successfully. Our selection process will be based on assessing you
against this criteria and how you fit with the required behaviours and values
Essential Criteria
Education / Qualifications
- Educated
to GCSE/’O’ Level standard in English and Mathematics.
- Qualified
by experience in Finance.
Knowledge / Experience
- At
least 2 years’ experience working within a busy accounting office
environment.
- Experience
of using accounting software and payroll programmes.
Skills
- Excellent
verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate
effectively at all levels of the organisation.
- Proficiency
in the use of spreadsheets and word-processing applications.
- Ability
to learn relevant software quickly and confidently.
- Excellent
organisational skills.
- Ability
to work as part of a team and use own initiative.
- Ability
to manage time effectively, prioritise workload, and plan ahead to handle
multiple tasks simultaneously without losing sight of priorities.
- Ability
to adopt a methodical approach and work within established systems and
procedures.
- Ability
to handle sensitive data and maintain clear and accurate records.
- Strong
attention to detail.
- Ability
to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines.
- Strong
reconciliation skills.
Desirable Criteria
Education / Qualifications
- Part-qualified
accountant studying towards a recognised accounting qualification.
Knowledge / Experience
- Experience
of working within a Social Housing environment.
What Will Make You Stand Out
We’re looking for someone who combines strong finance
knowledge with the ability to lead by example. You’ll be proactive, highly
organised and confident managing your own workload while supporting and
motivating a small team to meet deadlines. If you enjoy improving processes,
building positive working relationships across the business, and take pride in
accuracy and attention to detail, you’ll thrive in this role. Experience in a
busy finance environment, excellent reconciliation skills and a passion for delivering
outstanding service will set you apart.
Why Work With Us?
At Squared, you’ll be part of a values-driven organisation
where your work has genuine impact.
If you’re looking for a role where you can make a
difference, develop your skills and work within a supportive and
forward-thinking team, we’d love to hear from you.
