Finance Assistant - Accounts Payable

Package Description

When you join the team at Heriot’s, you become part of our community, where the contribution of every individual is important and valued.  The Heriot’s motto, to “distribute chearfullie”, is at the heart of school - distributing of kindness, of support and of generosity remains as live today as it was in 1628 when George Heriot founded the school.

Our most recent staff survey reported that 97% of employees at Heriot’s feel motivated and happy to work here and we aim to provide a friendly, welcoming, and supportive environment for all of our people.  This aim is reflected in the package we offer which, for Support Staff, in addition to basic salary, includes:

• Enhanced holiday allowance (38 days minimum)
• Generous pension scheme (up to 11% employer contribution with 5% employee contribution)
• Enhanced sick pay, maternity and paternity pay
• Family friendly policies (Including Personal Emergency Leave Days)
• Annual review and opportunities for training and continued professional development
• Travel to work schemes
• School Fee Remission (non-contractual benefit)
• Employee Assistance programme, including 24/7 counselling helpline and high street, supermarket, and general retail discounts
• Opportunities for involvement in the wider school community

We aim to attract and retain a diverse group of talented people, who are committed to upholding the school’s ethos. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we welcome applications from all sections of the community.

The Role

We are seeking to recruit an experienced and committed Finance Assistant to provide direct ancillary support to our Finance team with a particular responsibility for accounts payable. The role is based within the Finance Office at George Heriot’s, which manages all finance functions for George Heriot School, Charitable Trust and two subsidiary entities.

The Finance Assistant plays a key role in ensuring the accurate processing, monitoring, and reporting of expenditure. Although the role is primarily accounts payable there may be further opportunity part of a larger finance team to work across the function. 

Main Responsibilities

Please see attached job description for full details. 

The Ideal Candidate

You will hold the following skills and attributes 

• Proven experience in a similar role within a professional environment
• Experience providing customer service, with the ability to manage difficult or sensitive conversations, both in person and by telephone 
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills, both written and verbal
• Ability to work independently and as part of a small team within a busy environment
• Professional, friendly, and flexible approach to work 
• Proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel
• Proven ability to meet targets and deadlines
• Proactive approach with a commitment to continuous improvement
• Experience participating in small to medium, finance-based projects is desirable

Additional Information
Heriot’s is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.
This post is considered Regulated Work with Vulnerable Children and/or Protected Adults, under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 and the successful candidates will be required to obtain membership of the PVG scheme.

Please note that parking is not available on our campus

George Heriot’s Trust is an Equal Opportunities employer and we welcome applications from all sections of the community.

George Heriot’s School is governed by George Heriot’s Trust, Scottish Charity number SC011463

About the school/organisation

George Heriot’s School

George Heriot’s School is Edinburgh’s leading independent school. Academically proven and recognised as sector-leading by Education Scotland in June 2024, the school’s best practice expertise in wellbeing, equality and inclusion, and in raising attainment and achievement, is acknowledged. The school has 1,670 pupils aged from 4-18, with a distinct family feel shaped by its 400-year motto: I distribute chearfullie. Working hard, being kind, and being yourself are the values which bind staff and pupils into a cohesive whole. Put simply, Heriot’s cares about its staff and pupils.

As Edinburgh’s oldest school, Heriot’s was founded through the generosity of George Heriot, jeweller and goldsmith to the court of King James VI/I and his wife Queen Anne. Goldsmiths at that time were the principal money lenders and Heriot was able to amass a small fortune which he left to found a school for the ‘poor bairns of Edinburgh’.  Since it opened, the Foundation at Heriot’s has developed an unrivalled understanding of providing bereavement support and over the years has educated in excess of 5,700 Foundation pupils, each of whom received a fully funded education in keeping with the Founder’s wishes.

Separately, the school has continued to apply the transformative powers of education, opening 21 Out Schools in the 1800s which educated over 100,000 boys and girls in Edinburgh before the advent of the Children’s Act, and more recently supporting Serbian, Syrian and Ukrainian refugees to build a better life in Scotland. Each year the school spends approximately £1.3 million to support the education of bursary and Foundation pupils.

Today the school is an award-winning beacon: the only school in Scotland to receive the Gold Award from SAPERE for its teaching of philosophy in Junior School; awarded a third consecutive gold award for being a UNICEF Rights Respecting School and being voted the Sunday Times School of the Decade by readers in their Parent Power survey.