Finance Officer

Job summary

We’re responsible for Land Transaction Tax, Landfill Disposals Tax and the introduction of the Visitor Levy in Wales. Our work raises revenue to support public services, like the NHS and schools, in communities across Wales. But that’s not all, we're also involved with and support future tax design for Wales.

Join a place with purpose
You’ll join a team of 100+ talented people from across 14 different professions. Our culture is best described as innovative, collaborative and kind. By working together, we’ll deliver a fair tax system for Wales.

Our people
You’ll be working with people from a wide range of backgrounds and experience. From Operations, Policy, Digital and Data, HR, Communications to Finance – there’s a place for you in our friendly team.

You’ll be our greatest asset

You’ll be joining an inclusive organisation and be part of a team where you can thrive, be rewarded and heard.

We’re recognised as one of the top organisations for people engagement in the Civil Service People Survey. Inclusion and fairness are one of our strongest areas, as well as pay and benefits – our People Survey results say it all!

We’re also recognised for being innovative and a digital, ‘cloud-based’ organisation that supports hybrid and flexible working enabling a great work-life balance.

More about working for us, our roles and our Corporate Plan 2025 - 2028 .

Job description

Working directly to the Finance Manager, the Finance Officer will play a significant role in delivery of all the daily tasks required to make the Finance department function, supporting the Corporate and Tax Finance areas. It is a broad role, covering a wide variety of tasks that ensure the Finance department can meet the needs of all their internal and external customers. The successful candidate will enjoy the detail-oriented nature of the entry of Accounts Payable (AP) and Accounts Receivable (AR) documents onto the finance system alongside the preparation of daily bank reconciliations.

The Finance Officer will need to be organised and resilient to ensure that they can work efficiently across a variety of tasks, covering the team’s needs by having the ability to learn in an ever-changing environment. They will be visible internally within our close-knit Finance team, while building cross-functional relationships with members of other teams within the WRA to ensure purchases, expenses and operations continue to run smoothly. To be successful in the role, they will be confident in explaining how decisions have been reached within our processes while providing excellent, timely customer service to both internal and external customers.

The finance function is still growing. We are looking for individuals who are flexible and adaptable, who appreciate that the WRA is still forming and there is much to do, and that the role could evolve as we become more established as an organisation.

“Working at the WRA has been a breath of fresh air from day one. It is exciting to be part of a new tax authority in Wales responsible for collecting and manging the first devolved taxes, helping to support Welsh public services. The WRA has provided me with the opportunities to develop and utilise my finance and leaderships skills in an organisation committed to supporting the process of delivering a fair tax system for Wales. We are a small, close-knit team of specialist individuals who support each other and the wider organisation to provide the best possible service for our taxpayers. Since joining in 2019, I have never looked back and would recommend anyone looking for a new and exciting opportunity look no further than the WRA.”

- Stephen Cooper, Senior Finance Manager

Person specification

• Processing and recording of tax payments and repayments accurately and promptly.
• Processing the organisation's financial transactions, including accounts payable and receivables.
• Matching of AP invoices against Purchase Orders on the finance system in line with WRA policy
• Reconciling financial statements and maintaining financial records.
• Providing financial reports and analysis to support decision-making.
• Assist managers in the processing of unallocated payments & dealing with audit requests.
• Timely processing of all unallocated invoices ensuring that the query is raised with the supplier and / or authorising division on the day that it is received.
• Process Dunning Letters to customers who have fallen into debt.
• Issue remittance advice slips to suppliers following payment.
• Ensure that all financial documents are saved to the system in accordance with WRA requirements.
• Liaising with the wider organisation as well as external stakeholders such the WRA Operations Team, suppliers and auditors.
• Supporting the finance team in various administrative tasks and projects.
• Assist in the preparation of month end tasks, quarterly VAT returns & cash flow forecasting requirements of the business.
• Contributing to process improvements and efficiency initiatives within the finance team.
• Provide administrative support to the Finance Management Team as and when required.

Candidate Information Session

If this seems like a role you’d be interested in, join us for our virtual Candidate Information Sessions. You’ll meet the Line Manager, get an overview of the role as well a feeling for what it’s like to work at the WRA. We’ll also talk through our benefits and provide helpful tips for your application with us. Please register for one of the sessions below:

Register here for 22nd October at 12.30pm – 13.00pm: https://SwyddogCyllidFinanceOfficer.eventbrite.co.uk

Register here for 22nd October at 16.00pm – 16.30pm: https://SwyddogCyllidFinanceOfficer4pm.eventbrite.co.uk

We recommend you review the job description (or candidate pack) under the 'attachments' section before completing your application.

Qualifications

AAT fully qualified or CCAB/CIMA part qualified

Languages

We’ve undertaken an objective assessment of the Welsh language skills needed to undertake the duties of this role. For this role:
Welsh language skills - Welsh skills are not essential. This means that you do not need Welsh language skills to undertake this role and these skills won’t be assessed during the recruitment process. However, we actively encourage all staff to learn, or improve their Welsh language skills and offer a range of opportunities to suit everyone.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,754, Welsh Revenue Authority contributes £8,909 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

What we offer

• 31 days annual leave + Bank holidays, and 2 Privilege days
• Flexible and hybrid working
• Generous employer pension schemes with a contribution of up to 28.97%
• Tusker car scheme
• Vivup Cycle2Work and salary advances for season Travel Tickets
• Lifestyle Benefits offering discounts on shopping, restaurants and entertainment
• Wellbeing hour each week
• Access to subsidised sports groups
• Generous family-friendly leave policies
• Free Welsh language courses and time off to learn
• Access to a range of staff diversity networks
• Free counselling and support service via our Vivup Employee Assistance Programme and Your Care Health platform
• A thriving culture that’s described as innovative, collaborative and kind.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

We’ll always be clear about how we assess your application at each stage of the process. This will usually include:

• Assessment of your Application Form and CV against the relevant Success Criteria
• A panel interview (if you’re successful at the initial sift stage) Interviews will take place in person.
• If any additional assessments are needed for this role, such as a test or presentation at interview, we’ll let you know in advance.
• Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift will be conducted using the lead behaviour, Making effective decisions.

We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Leader so we’ll ask you if you need any adjustments at each stage of the recruitment process. So that we can support you in a way that works for you, we’ll offer a pre-interview accessibility chat to anyone that declares a disability, or needs any adjustments. This will take place with someone who is independent of the recruitment process and you won’t be placed at any disadvantage as a result of needing adjustments.

A reserve list may be held for this role for applicants that have scored above the appointable threshold at interview. This means that if a similar vacancy becomes available in the next 12 months we may contact you to offer you the role.

Success criteria

Behaviours

Criteria

Assessed in personal statement and CV

Assessed during interview or assessment

Making effective decisions

Talk to relevant people to get advice and information when unsure how to proceed. Explain how decisions have been reached in a clear and concise way, both verbally and in writing.

Yes

Yes

Managing a quality service

Keep colleagues and stakeholders fully informed of plans, possibilities and progress. Identify common problems that affect service, report them and find possible solutions.

Yes

No

Delivering at pace

Regularly review the success of activities in the team to identify barriers to progress or challenging objectives. Identify who and what is required to ensure success, set clear goals and areas of responsibility and continually assess workloads considering individual needs.

No

Yes

Working together

Develop a range of contacts outside own team and identify opportunities to share knowledge, information and learning. Contribute to an inclusive working environment where all opinions and challenges are listened to, and all individual needs are taken into account.

Yes

Yes

Strengths

Criteria

Assessed in personal statement and CV

Assessed during interview or assessment

Team player

You work well as part of a team and strive to ensure the team pulls together and is effective.

No

Yes

Organiser

You make plans and are well prepared. You seek to maximise time and productivity.

No

Yes

Technical knowledge

Criteria

Assessed in personal statement and CV

Assessed during interview or assessment

Technical knowledge of month-end financial procedures.

No

Yes

Qualifications

Criteria

Assessed in personal statement and CV

Assessed during interview or assessment

AAT fully qualified or CCAB/CIMA part qualified

Yes

No

We recommend you review the job description (or candidate pack) under the 'attachments' section before completing your application.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : WRA Recruitment Team
• Email : Recruitment@wra.gov.wales
• Telephone : 03000254000

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment@wra.gov.wales

Further information

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. See the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles where this is set out.
If you feel your application has not been treated in line with the recruitment principles, and you wish to complain, you should contact the Head of HR.
Email: hr@wra.gov.wales
If you’re not satisfied with our response, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Job description - Finance Officer - FINAL Opens in new window (pdf, 305kB)Disgrifiad swydd - Swyddog Cyllid - FINAL Opens in new window (pdf, 310kB)