Financial Accountant

Salary: Please note salary displayed is full time equivalent of 37 hours per week
Hours: Part-time (27.5 to 30 hours per week, flexible across Monday - Friday)
Location: Flexible (Homeworking/Office) with visits to Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.

The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) is the leading not-for-profit membership body for councils and social housing providers across the North of England, with nearly 50 years of expertise and influence. Through our Consortium Procurement brand, we provide procurement solutions for around 450 member organisations across the UK.

What we are looking for

An opportunity has arisen for a dedicated and hardworking individual to join our small finance team in a new role as Financial Accountant as we expand our operations. You’ll be reporting to our Finance and Payroll Manager, Yvonne, providing day to day finance support for both NHC and for our new finance services customer. There is opportunity for the right candidate to thrive and shape the scope of their role working in a small, friendly and supportive organisation that promotes agile working, and focusses on wellbeing, equality, diversity and inclusion and sustainability.

This role would suit someone with previous experience working in a finance team for a small organisation, with experience in accounts payable and ideally a varied range of finance activities as well as a confident user of systems (in general) and Microsoft Excel. We use Sage 50, so experience of this would also be desirable. Our staff team work largely remotely so if you are not comfortable working from home and working fairly independently then this role might not be for you. But we are a very friendly bunch and keep in constant touch through Microsoft Teams, team meetings, and regular face to face meetups in our Sunderland office.

You will be working across a range of finance activities including accounts payable and payments, supporting with sales invoicing, VAT, expense claims, month end and year end close activities and the annual audit. You will act as the main trusted point of contact for our finance services customer and will be comfortable presenting financial information to them as well as approaching them with any queries. We strive to continuously improve our systems so if you are someone who likes spotting ways to improve or automate things then this may be for you! You will need excellent organisational skills as you will be managing our finance mailboxes, as well as accuracy and attention to detail making sure our numbers are correct and our internal controls are adhered to. Working in a small team there may also be times when you will need to cover for other staff absences, but this is a great opportunity to learn different roles in the team.

The successful candidate will need:

• CIMA part-qualified or working towards, and / or AAT qualified (D)
• Excellent organisational skills, accuracy and attention to detail (E)
• Experience working in a small finance team, including accounts payable (E)
• Confident user of Microsoft Excel and Office, and systems in general (E)
• Experience of Sage 50c (D) or other similar accounting system (E)
• Experience of Microsoft Dynamics (D)
• Comfortable working fairly independently from home but able to maintain good contact through Microsoft Teams and able/willing to travel to Sunderland as needed for face to face meetings (E)
• Comfortable liaising with and presenting to finance customer stakeholders (E)

What we can offer

The NHC is a small team, but we make a difference. We aim to offer a rewarding, supportive place to work where we invest in people, and they can be themselves and fulfil their potential. We have a modern effective working environment. We have always been an agile organisation, and we continue to use technology to ensure work is something you do, not just somewhere you go. We are fully committed to supporting our staff to work in a flexible way that allows them to balance their commitments inside and outside of work. We want our people to work in a way that lets them be at their best, whether that's in our hub office in Sunderland (which you will be expected to travel to on occasion to carry out face-to-face work with colleagues) or remotely anywhere in the UK.

• Flexible working arrangements
• The ability to work from a location which suits you
• Workplace pension scheme offering above statutory contributions
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays (increases by one day per year to 30 days)
• Access to Benenden Healthcare and Employee Assistance Programme
• Bespoke training & development opportunities, including payment towards gaining professional qualifications
• Mental health and wellbeing supportive employer including our Wellbeing hub with discounts to gyms and numerous online stores

To apply for this role, please send your CV and cover letter which demonstrates how you meet the requirements to enquiries@northern-consortium.org.uk by 9.00am on Monday 15th April.

Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a short task and an interview in the week commencing 22nd April.

For an informal discussion, please contact Yvonne Surtees, yvonne.surtees@northern-consortium.org.uk on 0191 566 1018.

Job Types: Part-time, Permanent

Salary: £34,650.00 per year

Expected hours: 27.5 – 30 per week

Benefits:

• Work from home

Schedule:

• Flexitime
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Sunderland

Reference ID: Financial Accountant