Finance Assistant - Req24643

Fleet Services are responsible for the essential maintenance and repair of the corporate vehicle fleet, which is currently made up of over 1,200 vehicles. Based at Torre Road Depot (Leeds 9), this role will join our small but busy service to support the whole authority. 

The post holder will provide the service with comprehensive financial administration to support business needs.

The post holder will provide routine financial support such as responding to queries from non finance staff; colleagues within the service and across other partner services, will assist with financial reconciliation, raise orders on FMS and be the purchasing card owner for transactions. In addition the post holder will assist with the preparation of financial information and support the processing of virements, internal recharges, journals and other financial transactions. The role also assists with banking, reconciliation of payments and monitoring of specific budgets. Strong digital skills are needed, especially in the use of excel. 

Our successful candidate will be a good communicator both verbally and in writing with a methodical approach to work tasks ensuring robust processes are in place for all administration tasks. Being professional, friendly, helpful with an eye for detail are essential to be successful in this role. 

We promote diversity and want a workforce that reflects the population of Leeds. Leeds City Council is a Stonewall Top 100 employer, a Mindful employer and a Disability Confident Leader.
All new Leeds City Council appointments are made subject to the satisfactory completion of a six month probationary period.
This role is based in the UK. Employment is conditional on confirmation of the right to work in the UK  - either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa. If you do not have the right to work in the UK and the role does not meet eligibility for sponsorship, please consider carefully whether you meet the eligibility to apply.

Job Description 

Job Purpose: Working as part of a team providing a comprehensive contract and financial administration support service to the Fleet and Catering Service, the post-holder will model the Council’s values and behaviours in order to help us achieve its ambition of being the best council in the country.

Responsibilities for Grade:

• Respond to routine financial queries from non-finance staff in relation to their use of the Financial Management System (FMS) for example, implementing changes to FMS User access, maintenance of FMS hierarchies, delivering training and providing ad-hoc advice re process, coding, etc. 
• Assist with the reconciliation of financial information held within FMS to other financial systems 
• Raising Ad-hoc orders for the Financial Management Service and being the registered Purchasing Card owner for transactions 
• Assist the manager in the preparation of financial information  
• Support the processing of virements and internal recharges, journals and other financial transactions
• Explaining financial matters or to provide basic training to financial and other staff, using well developed communication skills to undertake this clearly and understandably.
• Assist the manager in monitoring specific budgets and the provision and collation of information contributing to revenue and capital budget reporting. 
• Assist the manager with annual financial processes including the preparation of budgets and year end accounts.
• Assist in the banking and reconciliation of manual payments
• To be a Quality, Environmental and Health & Safety auditor and undertake audits as requested and in line with the services schedule to support continuous compliance and service development. 

Qualifications

• Educated to a minimum of GCSE level including English and Mathematics at grade C or above

PERSONAL SPECIFICATION: Method of Assessment will be through one or more of the following Application Form, Test, Interview, and Certificate

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: It is essential that the Candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role duties and responsibilities: Candidates will only be shortlisted for interview if they can demonstrate on the application form that they meet all the essential requirements

Skills Required

• Good communication skills, both verbal and written
• Good IT skills including the use of Microsoft office applications, particularly Excel
• Sound numeracy skills and the ability to work with large data sets
• Good interpersonal skills
• The ability to work within tight deadlines 
• Knowledge of Financial Regulations and Contract Standing Orders
• Flexible approach to work demands and team-working
• Ability to respond independently to unexpected problems and situation, and organise your own workload, deciding when and how to carry out the work for which you are responsible.

Knowledge Required

• Working knowledge of accountancy in a financial service background including budget planning, monitoring and closure of accounts
• Have a sound working knowledge of standard IT applications used in an office environment and the use a computerised financial ledger
• Understanding of employees’ responsibility for health and safety.

Experience Required

• Experience of the annual financial cycle
• Experience of maintaining good working relationships in the delivery of financial services
• Experience of working successfully to strict deadlines

Behavioural & other Characteristics required

• To demonstrate the council’s values, behaviours and manager habits in all aspects of your day to day work.
• Positively promote the equalities agenda 
• To carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under the Council’s Health & Safety Policies and Code of Conduct.
• To take ownership of your personal development planning and be willing to actively participate in learning and development activities to ensure up to date knowledge and skills

DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS: It is desirable that the candidate should be able to demonstrate the following criteria for the post within the context of the specific role.  Candidates are not required to meet all the Desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between acceptable candidates. 

Experience Required

• Working in a transport environment