Contracts and Finance Officer

Contracts and Finance Officer (Accommodation)

Fixed Term for 12 months

Service: Housing Solutions - Contract Management
Location: Brighton & Hove

Are you experienced in financial administration and working with detailed financial information?

Do you enjoy analysing financial data, resolving discrepancies, and improving processes?

Would you like to play a key role in supporting accommodation services for households across Brighton & Hove?

We are looking for a Contracts and Finance Officer to join the Housing Solutions Contract Management team. This is an excellent opportunity to support the financial administration and oversight of accommodation services, helping to ensure accurate payments, effective financial controls, and value for money.

About the role

As a Contracts and Finance Officer, you will provide financial administration, oversight, and assurance across a range of accommodation contracts, including dynamically procured accommodation, leased temporary accommodation, and spot-purchased provision.

You will be responsible for ensuring financial transactions are processed accurately, contractual requirements are met, and robust financial records are maintained.

Working closely with accommodation providers and colleagues across Housing, Finance, Procurement, and Legal Services, you will support effective contract administration, budget monitoring, and service improvement. You will also contribute to the production of financial and performance information that supports informed decision-making and demonstrates value for money.

Key responsibilities

• Administer and monitor financial transactions across a range of accommodation contracts.
• Scrutinise, verify, and challenge provider invoices, damage claims, and void cost submissions to ensure accuracy and compliance with contractual requirements.
• Maintain accurate financial and contract records to support audit and assurance requirements.
• Support budget monitoring and forecasting by reviewing expenditure, identifying trends, and highlighting risks and opportunities.
• Produce accurate financial and contract performance reports for managers and stakeholders.
• Work collaboratively with accommodation providers and internal teams to resolve financial and contractual issues.
• Support the consistent application of contract terms, procedures, and financial controls.
• Act as a key point of contact for financial queries from accommodation providers and resolve discrepancies in a timely and professional manner.
• Contribute to the development and improvement of financial processes, reporting arrangements, and contract administration practices.
• Support the delivery of value for money across accommodation services.

What we're looking for

You do not need to meet every requirement, but we are looking for someone who can demonstrate:

• Experience of processing and monitoring financial transactions, including working with high volumes of financial information.
• Experience of invoice reconciliation and investigating financial discrepancies.
• Experience of working with internal and external stakeholders to resolve financial or contractual issues.
• Knowledge of financial administration and contract management practices.
• Understanding of financial controls, compliance requirements, and audit standards.
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.
• The ability to analyse financial and performance data, identify trends, and communicate findings clearly.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills, including experience of analysing large datasets, reconciling financial information, and producing management reports.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to explain financial and contractual matters to a range of audiences.
• The ability to interpret contractual documentation and apply contract terms to financial processes and decision-making.
• A commitment to inclusion, fairness, and excellent customer service.

Why join us?

• Play an important role in supporting accommodation services for households in housing need.
• Join a collaborative and supportive team environment.
• Help ensure public funds are managed effectively and deliver value for money.
• Develop your skills in financial administration, reporting, and contract management.
• Access a range of learning, development, and career progression opportunities.
• Work for an organisation committed to diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing.

Recruitment process

This recruitment will be managed in accordance with Brighton & Hove City Council's Recruitment and Selection Policy and will use an application form with shortlisting questions to support fair and inclusive recruitment.

This post is subject to pre-employment checks in line with Council policy.

Encouraging a diverse workforce
Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).

Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:
• be connected
• be confident
• be innovative and creative
• be diverse and inclusive
• be healthy and psychologically safe
For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.

How to apply
Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.

As part of your application, you will need to provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

AI advice for candidates
We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.

We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.

All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.

Additional information
Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) Check.

We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.

Recruitment scam alert

Some third-party websites may be using details from our vacancies to advertise roles that are not authorised by us. To protect your personal information, please ensure you verify the job details and application route through the Brighton & Hove City Council jobs board.

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