Temporary, Up to 12 Months (Maternity Cover)
Full Time, 36.25 hours per week
£35 per hour, Negotiable Dependent on Experience
Location: Basildon
The Opportunity
This role is responsible for financial processing and income control functions, providing a range of services to support the organisations business areas in their day-to-day financial transactions. This includes managing a centralised service for the processing and payment of invoices, the prompt allocation of all income, and ensuring the integrity of information fed into the General Ledger.
Accountabilities
* Prompt and accurate payment of all invoices to suppliers.
* Prompt and accurate allocation of all income, including reconciliation to underlying records.
* Administration of the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS).
* Reconciliation of information feeds into the General Ledger from other systems.
* Maintenance of corporate financial management systems (FMS), including general ledger, purchase ledger, purchase ordering, and cash management.
* Liaison with suppliers and service users.
* Transmission of all BACS files.
Duties
* Ensure the efficient running of corporate financial management systems, especially purchase ledger and purchase ordering systems. This includes performing regular system reconciliations of all information feeds into the General Ledger from various systems and working with other departments to resolve issues or anomalies.
* Process and ensure the prompt payment of all supplier invoices and other payment requests (over 30,000 transactions per year with a value exceeding £75 million).
* Allocate and reconcile all income (approx. £260 million), including housing rent income, to underlying records and interface files from other systems.
* Administer banking functions, including the successful transmission of BACS files and management of corporate credit card arrangements.
* Manage the statutory Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), including submitting returns, resolving anomalies, and delivering training on identifying CIS-related expenditure.
* Collect, review, and submit data for the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) and HMRC Section 16 Notices, and follow up on any resulting investigations.
* Maintain accurate records of utility payments for housing schemes, liaising with utility companies to ensure billing accuracy and data integrity for service charges.
* Lead on team management responsibilities, including staff recruitment, development, performance monitoring, and training needs identification. Coordinate all team workloads and deliver internal training where relevant.
The Experience You Will Bring
* In-depth knowledge of local government finance and related procedures.
* Strong numeracy skills with the ability to analyse and interpret large volumes of financial data.
* Proven experience in staff management, performance oversight, and change implementation.
* Detailed knowledge of the Construction Industry Scheme.
* Experience working with financial management systems, including general ledger, cash management, and associated feeder systems.
* Practical experience in accounts payable, particularly with purchase ledger and purchase ordering systems.
* Excellent IT skills, including advanced use of financial systems and desktop analytical tools.
* Strong problem-solving abilities, with the capacity to assess issues logically and escalate appropriately when needed.
* Well-developed prioritisation skills for both personal and team workloads.