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Finance Support Officer
Job summary
The Business Support team provide a support service to the district’s operations. As a key member of the team, you will play an essential role in delivering high-quality financial and administrative services to managers and function leads, supporting the achievement of our strategic business objectives. You will be responsible for ensuring financial transactions are processed efficiently, accurately and within agreed timelines, ensuring full compliance with established policies and procedures. In addition, you will liaise effectively with both internal and external stakeholders, gathering, collating and sharing relevant information to support operational needs.Job description
Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities
• Oversee the finance mailbox, ensuring that customer and supplier correspondence is dealt with professionally and in a timely manner.
• Ensure purchase/sales invoices and credit notes are processed promptly and accurately.
• Ensure compliance is adhered to including VAT treatment and other guidance provided by the national FE team.
• Verify and process new supplier requests and any amendment requests, providing guidance as required.
• Reconcile supplier statements, obtaining copies of any missing invoices.
• Provide support and guidance to the various district teams on Forestry England procurement, financial processes and other relevant policies.
• Preparation of monthly accruals
• Assist with finance reporting and month end procures, including budget and forecast review meetings.
• Undertake process reviews with the business support team to streamline tasks and boost team efficiency
• Carry out audits and check data to ensure information held is current and correct.
• Provide accurate and timely responses and communication with the team, responding to queries and requests as appropriate.
• Monitor reports and requests from other departments ensuring that queries are dealt with promptly.
• Assist with training delivery as required
• Undertake ad hoc projects and any other tasks reasonably requested by your line manager.
• Promote health & safety compliance within the team
• Provide office cover as required in the team.
• Support for communication outputs as and when required.
Other
• The role will involve occasional travel within the district, potentially with overnight stays to attend meetings/training.
Person specification
Skills, Knowledge & Experience
Essential Professional and Technical experience
• Excellent numeracy, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Experience in using accounting software and other bespoke IT applications, including databases.
• Proficient user of Microsoft applications particularly Excel, with the ability to export, sort and filter data and utilise formulae.
• Strong task prioritisation and time management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• The ability to deliver excellent customer service
• Ability to work within and add value to a team
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Confidence in dealing and working effectively with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Good administrative skills with excellent attention to detail
• Experience of working within a busy office environment, particularly within a transactional processing team or related finance function.
• Working knowledge of purchase and sales ledgers
Desirable Professional and Technical experience
• Experience in process review and driving continuous improvement
• Budget management and forecasting.
• Experience of supporting the creation or reports/presentations
Qualifications
Essential
• GCSE grade C/4 in Maths & English/Functional Skills equivalent
• Finance qualification such as AAT/CIMA or willingness to work towards alternatively qualified by experience.
Desirable
• A level or level 3 equivalent qualification
• Other relevant academic or professional qualifications
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £30,105, Forestry Commission contributes £8,721 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).- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
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
How to apply…
You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.
You will be assessed on experience and strength based questions during your interview.
The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
- Changing & Improving
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
“If candidates pass the interview but are not the leading candidate they can be placed on a reserve list. We may offer candidates on the reserve list for this role the opportunity to be considered for other roles at the same or lower pay bands.”
Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.
If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.
If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.
Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a 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
Working for the Civil Service
Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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 :
Recruitment team
Further information
Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact FCE by email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.Attachments
FE Job Description - Finance Support Officer (PB6A) Opens in new window (pdf, 223kB)Share this page
Salary range
- £30,105 per year