School Business Manager

Contract: Full-time – Permanent
Salary: PO11 (£67,435 – £71,069)

Are you a strategic, driven leader with a passion for operational excellence? Do you want to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of a high-performing, inclusive secondary school?

Whickham School is a highly successful comprehensive school with a strong commitment to inclusion, excellence and community. We are seeking an exceptional individual to join our Leadership Team as School Business Manager. This is a key strategic role, working in close partnership with the Headteacher and Governors to ensure that all business functions enable outstanding outcomes for our pupils and staff.

About the role:

• Provide strategic leadership across all business functions, including finance, estates, IT, administration and health & safety
• Lead on financial strategy, ensuring robust planning, monitoring and value for money across all areas of the school
• Oversee compliance with all statutory, regulatory and trust requirements, including financial reporting and audit processes
• Drive operational excellence across administrative systems, ensuring efficiency, resilience and high performance
• Lead and develop teams across finance, administration, IT and site services
• Ensure the school environment is safe, secure and supports high-quality teaching and learning
• Contribute fully as a member of the Leadership Team, supporting whole-school improvement priorities

What makes Whickham School special?

Whilst we are a high-performing school (Progress 8 of +0.26 in 2024 and 82% achieving grade 4+ in English and Maths in 2025), we are about much more than our academic performance. We are a community that values all of our stakeholders, recognising that our staff make the difference for our pupils. We therefore invest in our staff in a number of ways.

We support work-life balance in the following ways

• Flexible approach to work-life balance considerations
• Access to fitness facilities outside school hours

We invest in your growth 

• Join our established Leadership Team and play a key role in shaping whole-school strategy
• Access to high-quality professional development and leadership training
• Opportunities to lead significant whole-school projects and initiatives
• A culture of coaching, support and continuous improvement

The practical benefits:

• Salary sacrifice schemes including bicycle and electric vehicle leasing
• Higher priority for your children’s admission to our heavily oversubscribed school
• Modern facilities and a well-maintained school environment
• Supportive, collaborative staff community

Who you are

You are an experienced and highly effective leader with:

• Significant experience in financial and operational management, ideally within an educational setting
• Strong understanding of financial planning, budgeting, audit and compliance requirements
• Experience of leading and developing high-performing teams
• The ability to think strategically while maintaining strong attention to detail
• Experience of managing estates, IT systems, contracts or business services (desirable)
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• A commitment to delivering high-quality services that support teaching and learning

Your personal qualities:

• You are proactive, solution-focused and resilient
• You have high expectations and a commitment to excellence
• You are highly organised and able to manage competing priorities
• You can build strong relationships and influence at all levels
• You are committed to the values and ethos of Whickham School

Your impact

As School Business Manager, you will:

• Drive efficiency – ensure all business services operate effectively and deliver value for money
• Enable excellence – create the conditions for high-quality teaching and learning through strong operational leadership
• Lead strategically – support long-term planning and sustainable school improvement
• Strengthen systems – ensure robust, compliant and future-proof processes across the school
• Develop people – build capacity and performance across business support teams
• Safeguard resources – ensure financial and operational integrity across all areas

Are you ready to lead our team?

Want to see it for yourself? We actively encourage visits. Contact Rebecca Erskine at rerskine@whickhamschool.org (PA to the Headteacher) to arrange a time that works for you.
Application deadline: 9am on 11th May 2026
Submit to: recruitment@whickhamschool.org
Application forms: Download from the Whickham School website, where you’ll also find the full job description, person specification and further details about the school and role.

Whickham School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE). We expect all staff to share our commitment to safeguarding.

What happens next?

1. 1. Download the full job description and person specification from our website
   2. Visit us (optional but highly recommended) to see our facilities, meet the team and experience Whickham
   3. Complete your application by 9am on Monday 11th May
   4. Interviews will be held on Wednesday 20th May

Questions – Contact Fraser Turnbull (Headteacher) at rerskine@whickhamschool.org (PA to the Headteacher)

Whickham School is committed to creating a diverse workforce. We’ll consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to sex, race, religion, belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy, maternity, age, disability, marriage or civil partnership.