Finance Officer - Income Collection

Finance Officer - Income Collection

Fixed Term, Full Time

£25,959 to £28,621 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 9th September 2026

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

This vacancy is available as a fixed term contract or secondment opportunity for up to 12 Months.

The Income Collection Team aims to provide a comprehensive financial transactional and support service, engaging with those being invoiced for care services to secure payments and reconciliation of income received.

We are looking for Finance Officers who are experienced in working as a team member across a flexible and multi skilled workforce, delivering excellent customer service to a variety of functions by maintaining financial transactions and data within local systems. Able to recognise and support changes in technology to streamline the customer experience, with a working knowledge of financial processes and systems across FAS, Income and Banking, ensuring data or income is input accurately, timely and within policy and legislation standards.

Accountabilities

• Provides financial support in relation to the assessment, payment and collection of income, to both internal and external customers, contributing towards delivery of the business plan for financial transactions, in support of the wider organisational vision.
• Provides technical support to team members and customers answering more complex queries in a professional manner in accordance with financial procedures. Acts as the subject matter expert for Assessment, Income and/or Banking processes.
• Contribute to the identification and clarification of customer needs, to deliver process and technology changes, which drive efficiency and value for money.
• Contribute to improving financial awareness and capability across the organisation, to promote the culture of empowering budget holders in line with financial regulations.
• Carries out data analysis to produce reports for Financial Assessments, Income, Banking and external customers, to support the management of organisational performance, maximise income and ensure compliance to Financial Regulations and audit requirements.
• Contributes to service improvement projects/programmes to achieve best practice and organisational efficiency by recommending process improvements and redesign.
• Contributes to maintaining currency on legislation changes and translating these into local policy and procedure, to identify and review potential changes in technology.
• Working collaboratively and flexibly across teams within Financial Assessments, Income and Banking to deliver a high level of service to all functions.
• Contribute to identifying risks and supporting the resolution, to minimise financial impact and loss to the organisation.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to RQF level 3 (A level) including English and Mathematics, or equivalent by experience.
• Commitment to continued personal development within a working environment.
• Knowledge of financial assessments, income systems and banking.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, both verbal and written
• Aptitude and willingness to work flexibly in multi skilled Operational Teams.
• Level of good competency using Microsoft office packages including, Outlook, Word and Excel
• Ability to interpret varied information for supporting continuous improvements in service delivery.
• Ability to build effective working relationships with internal and external customers, suppliers and partners.

To read more about our business area, please visit: Corporate Services

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we're committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We're committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We're also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you've secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email ami.fosker@essex.gov.uk

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