Finance Payments and Admin Officer

Role Overview:

We are seeking a detail-oriented and proactive Finance Payments and Admin Officer to join a busy Finance Business Partnering team within a large public sector organisation. The role focuses on delivering high-quality financial processing and administrative support, either within Education & Schools or Agency Staffing Payments.

This is a great opportunity for someone with strong Excel and finance admin experience to contribute to the smooth running of critical payment functions and liaise with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

Depending on the team allocation (Schools or Resources), your duties may include:

For Schools & Education Payments:

Manage the monthly schools advances process, ensuring timely and accurate payments.

Respond to queries from schools and Council officers, escalating complex issues where necessary.

Collate monthly school VAT returns and submit them for inclusion in corporate VAT claims.

Gather and verify financial data for monthly, quarterly, and year-end reporting.

Liaise with schools and third-party organisations to ensure compliance and accuracy.

For Agency Staffing Payments:

Process agency staffing payments accurately and in line with internal procedures.

Ensure all costs are correctly coded and supported by valid documentation.

Collaborate with HR, finance teams, and external staffing partners to resolve payment issues.

Assist with year-end processes, including agency accruals and account closure.

Support wider administrative processes across the finance function.

General Duties:

Provide professional and customer-focused finance support services.

Respond to internal and external queries efficiently and with a high standard of service.

Maintain accurate audit trails and ensure compliance with internal controls.

Use finance systems and Excel to record, monitor, and analyse payment data.

Identify opportunities for improving processes through automation or simplification.

Support the induction and training of new or temporary staff when required.

Requirements: Essential:

Experience in a finance-related environment, particularly payments and admin.

Strong Excel and IT skills.

Excellent communication, numeracy, and customer service skills.

Ability to manage high volumes of work under tight deadlines.

Proactive approach to resolving queries and managing stakeholders.

Desirable:

Advanced Excel (e.g., VLOOKUPs, pivot tables).

Experience with accounts payable or public sector finance systems.