Vacancy - Oasis Community Learning

Vacancy - Oasis Community Learning:

Payroll and Pensions Helpdesk Officer

£20,655 - £23,149 (SCP 18-22 Inner London Scale)+ Final Salary Pension

Lambeth

Interesting opportunity to develop your career in a growing national educational charity, Oasis Community Learning. As well as payroll you’ll learn about public sector pensions in a help desk role.

The role has career progression, plenty of people contact, the opportunity to develop expertise in many areas, lots of variety, a fast pace and friendly, supportive colleagues. We offer an excellent final salary pension scheme, generous holiday allowance (25 days per year, rising to 30 days after two years, plus 8 Bank Holidays) and membership of a global charity.

You must be very accurate, have experience of working on an integrated payroll/HR system (ideally within education), be organised, reliable and committed to good customer service, and communicate well on the telephone and in writing.

Oasis is committed to making a difference to the lives of the communities it works in, and as such you must show a willingness to demonstrate commitment to the values and behaviours which flow from the Oasis ethos. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff to share this commitment and to undergo appropriate checks, including enhanced DBS checks.

For further details about the role and Oasis Community Learning please go to our website www.oasiscommunitylearning.org . If you are interested in this role, please send your CV and a supporting statement explaining how you meet the criteria set out in the Job Description to . All enquiries should be directed to Yaaba Erzuah on 0207 921 4261. We request no contact from Agencies please.

Closing date is 9am Friday 4th October 2013

Interviews will take place in London on Friday 11th October 2013

Oasis Community Learning supports Equal Opportunities Employment.

Job Description

POST: Payroll and Pensions Helpdesk Officer

RESPONSIBLE TO: Lead HR & Payroll System Specialist

GRADE: Salary range £20,655 - £23,149 (SCP 18 – 22 Inner London)

KEY RELATIONSHIPS: Oasis Community Learning central staff; Academy-based staff; Staff at Pensions bodies; staff at payroll bureau; Third party agencies

LOCATION: Central office

WORKING PATTERN: Full-time, 37 hours per week

JOB PURPOSE:

Build enough knowledge in order to be able to lead on pension administration. To increase the profile of the HR department by being the first line helpdesk and offering first class customer service on payroll/pension issues. To assist with the provision of an efficient, accurate and legally compliant payroll and pension service for all Oasis Community Learning staff.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Payroll service for centrally employed staff

·  Process an accurate and timely payment of salaries to all Central Oasis Community Learning employees.

·  Be responsible for the collection and input of all payroll data for central staff including new starters/leavers, overtime and expenses in order to complete the monthly Central staff payroll submission ready to be checked off by an authorised HR colleague.

·  Ensure that payslips and any other payroll documents are sent out via various media in a timely fashion.

·  Assist with year-end procedures, including preparation and distribution of P35s, P60s & P11Ds.

·  Ensure that all Leavers are removed from the system as notified on termination forms.

Payroll helpdesk & administration – All Staff across all sites

·  Keep abreast of all developments and legislation surrounding payroll, pensions and benefits. Ensure all legislation is adhered to throughout Oasis Community Learning.

·  Be the main point of contact for all payroll queries via email and telephone.

·  Escalating issues to the Payroll, Implementations & Pensions Officer, ensuring errors are remedied and preventative action is taken so they do not recur.

·  Retain copies of all relevant payroll documentation in line with HMRC requirements.

·  Provide ad-hoc assistance to HR colleagues, Academy staff & Directors on payroll & pension-related issues and queries.

·  Create and update central files for all payroll data sources and third parties and ensure that they are kept up to date.

·  Ensure data security at all time in accordance with Data Protection legislation and make sure these measures are adhered to at all times

·  Provide an advisory service to all staff on all payroll issues via telephone, email and face to face.

Relationship management

·  Build and maintain relationships with all new Academies and maintain a strong relationship with existing Academies.

·  Build a relationship with all external third party bodies and ensure there is an effective working relationship with Oasis.

·  Always keep a high level of customer focus whilst looking into any errors and ensure all parties are kept up to date.

·  Visit Academies and third party providers as and when necessary.

Pension Administration

·  Assist with delivering pension guidance training to new and existing Academies and assist the Lead Pensions Specialist with creation of said training packages as and when necessary

·  Assist Lead Pensions Specialist with the set-up of new Academies into the LGPS and TPS

·  Keep abreast of developments in pension regulations and processes by reviewing monthly newsletters/emails from pension funds and report anything of interest onto the Lead Pensions Specialist.

·  Escalating issues, ensuring errors are remedied and preventative action is taken so they do not recur.

·  Support Lead Pensions Specialist with the monthly opt out audit process

·  Support Lead Pensions Specialist with the process of setting up new Academies with the TPS and LGPS.

·  Assist with any historic pension queries dated pre- September 2010

·  Be the first point of contact for staff with any queries about their pension by explaining pension terms into laymen terms and referring any more high level questions to the appropriate person.

·  Be the first line of contact for any queries from pension funds

·  Assist Lead Pensions Specialist with reviewing, simplifying and updating OCL pension guidance document for Academies

·  Assist in keeping the Oasis Zone updated with the most up to date pension form/guide templates available

Auditing Midland HR’s Pension Administration

·  Support Lead Pensions Specialist with checking Midland HR’s work on LGPS/TPS annual returns and audited End of Year Certificates.

·  Help monitor MHR’s progress with pension administration by compiling a monthly progress report to assist Lead Pensions Specialist with rolling monthly operational calls and quarterly review meetings

·  Ensure that Midland HR are using the most up to date pension forms and remittance templates.

·  Pass on current pension queries from the LGPS and TPS to Midland HR and keep these under review using the monthly query spreadsheet.

·  Save copies of Midland HR completed pension forms each month from WinScp.

Retirement Forms

·  To become the specialist on the completion of retirement forms for staff wishing to withdraw pension benefits.

·  Learn how to calculate early retirement costs as a result of redundancy and pass this onto Academy staff in a simple format

On-going Development

·  Obtain enough knowledge to be able to be a point of reference and knowledge for all Academies on payroll-related issues. This will include reading the Green Book, Burgundy Book and the Teachers’ Pay and Conditions document.

·  Become the lead on all pension administration issues.

·  Develop skills and knowledge in order to be able to train and assist all site contacts with pay calculations and queries where necessary.

·  Learn and develop skills to a level where it is possible to assist with complex payroll calculations where the site contacts lack relevant knowledge. Also to assist all Academies and the Payroll Bureau to best understand current and up to date payroll legislation and pay terms.

·  Build up knowledge of pensions-related issues as they affect payroll.

Professional development

·  Arrange and attend any relevant training to reach required level of performance and practice, e.g. TP/LGPS seminars or refresher sessions, HMRC refresher courses if applicable.

·  Subscribe to circular subscription service and read professional press to maintain knowledge.

General

·  Be responsible for departmental filing and maintenance of orderly records

·  Support and contribute to the vision, mission and ethos of Oasis Community Learning.

·  Carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by the post holder’s line manager.

·  Input into due diligence process as required for staff who are TUPE transferring out of Oasis.

The duties of this post may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the post or level of responsibility entailed.

Signed:

Employee: / Line Manager:
Print Name / Print Name
Date / Date

Payroll & Pension Helpdesk Officer

Person Specification

Our Purpose

Oasis Academies exists to provide a rich and balanced educational environment which caters for the whole person - academically, vocationally, socially, morally, spiritually, physically, emotionally and environmentally. Our task is to serve our students as well as to provide a learning hub for the entire community. In this way we will raise aspirations, unlock potential and work to achieve excellence through encouraging a ‘can do’ culture which nurtures confident and competent people.

Oasis Community Learning Ethos

Our ethos is an expression of our character - it is a statement of who we are and therefore the lens through which we assess all we do. Our work is motivated and inspired by the life, message and example of Christ, which shapes and guides every aspect of each of our schools. This is foundational to our belief that all people are created and loved by God as equal and unique beings, and to our commitment to model inclusion and compassion throughout all the aspects of the life and culture of each Academy community.

For further information, please refer to the OCL Purpose, Ethos and Values document which accompanies this job description.

Essential / Desirable
Qualifications / ·  GSCE in Maths & English / ·  Basic Payroll Course
Experience, Skills and Knowledge / ·  Proven administrative experience – preferably in Payroll
·  IT literate
·  Good Excel skills
·  Competent user of Microsoft Office suite
·  Be methodical and accurate with good attention to detail.
·  Have good investigative and analysis skills.
·  Excellent written & oral communication skills
·  Excellent inter-personal skills with confidence to liaise with staff at a senior level
·  Excellent organisational skills, with proven ability to take initiative and prioritise workload / ·  Payroll knowledge within the Education sector
·  Detailed knowledge of the Teachers and Support staff pay terms and conditions
Some knowledge of the workings of the LGPS and Teachers Pensions schemes and employer responsibilities.
Personal Qualities / ·  Self-motivated, pro-active and flexible approach to work
·  Able to work unsupervised
·  Team player
·  Able to observe confidentiality of sensitive personnel information
·  Commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people
·  Willingness to undergo appropriate checks, including enhanced DBS checks
·  Motivation to work with children and young people
·  Ability to form and maintain appropriate relationships and personal boundaries with children and young people
·  Emotional resilience in working with challenging behaviours and attitudes to use of authority and maintaining discipline
·  Have a willingness to demonstrate commitment to the values and behaviours which flow from the Oasis ethos.