About the role
Reporting to the Principal and leading the Payroll Officer and Office and Facilities Coordinator, you will lead Waitaha School's administration and finance function, ensuring the school is supported by reliable, responsive systems and services. This is a senior role requiring empathy, sound judgement, strong finance capability, confidentiality, and the ability to coordinate people, processes, and competing priorities in a busy specialist education environment.
Key responsibilities
- Leading and coordinating the administration team, and acting as the main administration interface with the Principal and senior leaders
- Overseeing the school's financial processes, invoicing, coding, approvals, reconciliations, reporting support and audit preparation
- Maintaining and improving administration systems, workflows and records so they are clear, secure and not overly reliant on one person
- Providing oversight of payroll and personnel administration, including recruitment, onboarding and employment documentation
- Overseeing front-office, property, facilities, health and safety, and transport-related administration
- Ensuring Ministry of Education and school reporting obligations, including ORS funding administration, are completed accurately and on time
- Managing relationships with external providers, including auditors, payroll providers, IT, transport and property contractors
About you
- Significant experience in administration, office management, business support or finance administration
- A strong background in finance administration, including accounts payable/receivable, payroll support and budget tracking
- Experience leading or coordinating a small team, function or workstream
- Confidence using financial, payroll or records systems such as Xero, Hero, or equivalent school management/finance platforms
- Experience working with confidential staff, student, family or organisational information, with sound judgement and discretion
- Strong planning, prioritisation and organisational skills, and a practical, solutions-focused approach
- The ability to build trust with the Principal, senior leaders, staff, whānau and external providers
- Experience in a school, kura, or public-sector, not-for-profit or complex service environment is an advantage, as is familiarity with Ministry of Education funding processes, ORS administration, or a relevant business, finance or HR qualification
- An understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and culturally responsive practice is highly valued
About us
Waitaha School is a specialist day school delivering programmes across six sites in the Selwyn District, along with outreach teaching services to schools throughout the wider district. Our mission is for our young people to grow, thrive, and succeed in learning and in life. Our values of aroha (love, compassion), mana (integrity, respect), and mahi tahi (collaboration, working together) guide everything we do, and we are committed to upholding the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and providing a culturally safe, responsive environment for all learners.