Senior Accounts Officer

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

About the role

To provide finance and admin support to the Commercial Estate Manager and Estate Surveyors in month end and year end reporting under the supervision of the Commercial Estate Manager (CEM). Also to provide a high level of customer service to Tenants by pulling together their service charge accounts and communicating these effectively with them. You will have line management responsibilities for the Accounts Officer.

!!This vacancy is open to internal applicants at NNC only!!

What will you be doing?

Principal responsibilities

1. Monitor, supervise and appraise the performance of day-to-day budgeting for the CEM commercial portfolio through the Councils financial system.

2. Support both the CEM and FBP with analysis of financial information, provide advice

where appropriate or signpost to other colleagues, to ensure effective budget management.

3. Review and challenge contract summary information to enable the submission of work requisitions for planned maintenance / compliance / project work to generate orders to suppliers, contractors, and consultants.

4. Provide advice in liaison with other finance colleagues to non-finance managers

and staff to improve their financial awareness.

5. Maintain allocated major supplier accounts (review and challenge open orders,

receipt orders, process invoices, reconciliation of statements, resolve queries and completing journals) to enable the Council to meet its contract terms in relation to payment.

6. Ensure that the necessary payment schedules / exports from the various systems are uploaded, identifying and correcting any errors, to ensure payment within the agreed terms.

7. Provide a detailed working knowledge and overview of the existing systems and

business processes to enable the FBP to develop them to ensure high quality and accurate financial / project information reporting.

8. Support other members of the Asset Management team by producing monthly debt reports and helping to reduce this and provide recommendations to the Property Management Surveyors and CEM as to escalation routes.

General responsibilities applicable to all jobs
• Demonstrate awareness/understanding of equal opportunities and other people's behavioural, physical, social and welfare needs.
• Comply with the Council's policies and procedures including (but not limited to) safeguarding, financial regulations, promotion of equalities, customer care, agreed audit actions, health, and safety (ensuring that reasonable care is always taken for the health, safety and welfare of yourself and other persons).
• Carry out any other duties which fall within the broad spirit, scope, and purpose of this job description and which are commensurate with the grade of the post.
• Undertake learning and development as agreed in probationary reviews, personal development reviews or any other such framework to meet service and individual targets.

This job description reflects the major tasks to be carried out by the post holder and identifies a level of responsibility at which they will be required to work. In the interests of effective working, the major tasks may be reviewed from time to time to reflect changing needs and circumstances. Such reviews and any consequential changes will be carried out in consultation with the post holder.

Specific features of the post

1. Ideally a Member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (or equivalent).

2. The post is flexible and will require both home working and office working to be agreed with the Commercial Estates Manager, to best support the wider Commercial Estate Team

Please also see the attached Job Description for full details of job tasks and responsibilities

About you

Please see the attached Person Specification for the essential and desirable requirements for qualifications, experience, skills and abilities. The person specification is used as part of the shortlisting process

Attributes

Essential criteria

Desirable criteria

Education, Qualifications and Training

Educated to degree level or equivalent (or equivalent experience) with evidence of continuing professional development in Financial or Management accounting.

Membership of the Association of Accounting Technicians (or equivalent) e.g. NVQ3 or 'A' levels in a financial related discipline

Experience and Knowledge

Management experience - managing and motivating a team.

Proven experience of working in a financial environment.

Demonstrable ability to write clear, concise, and accurate reports, letters, and emails appropriate to the audience.

Some knowledge of public sector property and working practices.

Ability and Skills

Evidence of IT literacy including a sound knowledge of tasks, systems, databases etc.

Proven ability to manage a range of conflicting work demands and pressures.

Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders (internal and external), across all levels; and write clear and concise management reports.

Diplomacy - managing different understandings / expectations.

Presenting information to a range of audiences

Developing articulate and evidenced based arguments

Developing high quality documents i.e. business cases, management reports etc

Proven experience working within a total team environment

Experience of working within the Public Sector and with external partners

Our benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we're transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You'll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising that you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our Key Commitments

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

North Northamptonshire Council re-signed the Armed Forces Covenant in June 2024 which highlights the Council's pledge to support the Armed Forces community. The council obtained the silver status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) and we are now currently working towards achieving Gold status.

We aim to be a carbon neutral Council by 2030.

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)