The closing date for this position is the 15 th May 2026
Business Assistant (Finance)
Linenhall Street, Belfast
Temporary (Approx 12 weeks)
£17.18 per hour
37 hours per week (Monday to Thursday 08.30am to 5.00pm Friday 08.30am to 4.30pm)
Main Purpose
To be responsible to the appropriate officer in assisting with the provision of a financial and systems service to ensure the business needs of the Department are met in an efficient and cost effective manner.
To carry out duties associated with the management of expenditure, income, information, and systems for the Department.
To be responsible for ensuring that allocated tasks and the tasks of relevant staff are carried out to ensure the required standards of service delivery are maintained.
Main Roles and Responsibilities
The post holder shall assist in the provision of advice and guidance to Departmental staff on a range of finance and systems related matters. Postholders will be expected to work across the full range of duties and responsibilities.
* To take day to day responsibility for monitoring the procurement of goods and services (purchase orders) and processing direct payments in accordance with relevant council and departmental procedures.
* To assist the appropriate Officer in the preparation of all documentation in relation to quotations or tenders, maintaining a procurement database and participating in the evaluation of relevant quotations and tenders as appropriate.
* To monitor and resolve invoice related queries and compliance issues in conjunction with departmental and corporate staff ensuring deadlines are met.
* To be responsible for the maintenance of the Departments petty cash/floats and the timely recoupment of same from the Finance and Resources Department.
* To maintain records associated with the payment and receipt of grants and to liaise with Departmental staff regarding grant payment issues.
* To collate and prepare weekly and monthly income and VAT returns for the Department in line with all relevant procedures.
* To assist the appropriate Officer in ensuring the centralised control of income, and management of the Departments sales ledger and debt in line with Departmental and corporate procedures.
* To assist the appropriate Officer with the management and administration of Departmental systems, and carry out functions associated with this role.
* To assist in the research, development and management of Departmental processes and systems (not exclusively IT systems) in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
* To assist in the provision of management information in relation to both finance and performance, including liaising with Departmental Managers in accordance with Council policies, procedures and timetables.
* To assist the appropriate Officer in the provision and maintenance of effective records management systems.
* To assist the appropriate Officer in providing advice and guidance to Departmental Managers on finance, procurement and performance related matters in line with Departmental and Corporate procedures.
* To assist the appropriate Officer identify the business support needs of the Department and to assist in developing and implementing systems, procedures, staffing and training arrangements to meet these needs.
* To be responsible for daily management and training of any assigned support staff.
* To assist as required in the monitoring and reviewing of budgets and to investigate queries in relation to budget variances including corrective action ensuring that accurate records are maintained.
* To assist, as required, with the preparation of financial returns for Council and Government Departments.
* To assist the appropriate Officer with the preparation of the Annual Revenue Estimates for the Department, including the keying, checking and updating of financial information and systems.
Essential Criteria:
(Please note that Platinum Recruitment NI Ltd require original certificates as proof of all qualifications listed on CV)
Applicants must, as at the closing date for receipt of application forms, be able to demonstrate on the application form, by providing personal and specific examples, at least one years relevant experience in each of the following three areas:
assisting in the collation, review and analysis of budget and financial reports and processing all associated financial transactions;
dealing with the receipt of income including the completion of reconciliations and, or the processing of orders for goods and services in accordance with the relevant processes and procedures;
and supervising staff on a daily basis within an office environment including programming workloads and priorities.
Special skills and attributes
Applicants must be able to demonstrate, by providing personal and specific examples, evidence of the following special skills and attributes which may be tested at interview:
* People management and development skills: the ability to effectively manage and encourage teamwork to deliver successful results, building rapport with others, as well as offering help and support and developing others through training and mentoring.
* Technical knowledge: a knowledge of financial systems in order to provide advice and guidance on departmental financial matters.
* Communication skills: the ability to demonstrate good communication skills and to communicate with a wide range of people, both verbally and in writing.
* Customer care skills: the ability to deal with and respond to the needs of a diverse range of internal and external customers, including members of the public.
* Team working skills: the ability to be an effective team member with the ability to work towards and achieve team goals and outcomes.
* Information Technology skills: the ability to use both specialist software packages and standard Microsoft Office programmes.
* Decision making and problem solving skills: a practical approach to problem solving with the ability to extract, analyse and report upon service information, in order to make decisions on operational issues.
* Work planning and organisational skills: the ability to prioritise and plan work to ensure that all targets and quality standards are consistently met.
Platinum Recruitment NI Ltd is an equal opportunities employer and a Corporate Member of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Platinum Recruitment NI Ltd adheres to all current employment legislation.
We reserve the right to close vacancies earlier than the specified date, should we receive sufficient applications. If interested, please send your CV as early as possible.
Please note only those candidates shortlisted may be contacted.
Applicants must be authorised to work in the UK and Ireland. We are unable to sponsor or take over the sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.
Successful candidates may need to apply for an Access NI Certificate with Platinum Recruitment NI Ltd regardless if you already have a valid certificate. It will be a cost of between £16 - £32 depending on clearance level.