Forestry Commission
Finance Administrator

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Bellingham District Office, Hexham, NE48 2HP or Grizedale Office, Hawkshead, LA22 0QJ
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 a crucial role in the Business Support function and/or projects, helping it run smoothly by providing financial, administrative, logistical and operational support, using Microsoft Office applications and bespoke software to process and monitor financial information. You will liaise with colleagues, suppliers, customers and members of the public, collating and disseminating information. As part of the team, you will also provide office reception cover.
Job Description
Key responsibilities & accountabilities
- Provide day-to-day administrative support such as arranging meetings, maintaining accurate records, data input and liaising with colleagues as required.
- Raising/reviewing purchase orders and recording goods received notes
- Process purchase/sales invoices and credit notes promptly and accurately in line with Forestry England policies.
- Verify and process new suppliers' requests and any amendment requests, providing guidance as required
- Monitor and manage the finance inbox, ensuring that customer/supplier correspondence is dealt with professionally and in a timely manner.
- Assist in the budget monitoring process for the areas that you support.
- Assist in month end, quarterly and year end tasks for the areas that you support.
- Monitor and manage the general enquiries inbox, dealing with queries/requests promptly and professionally. Liaising with other colleagues / stakeholders as required.
- Monitoring reports from other teams and making sure any supporting information is collected and collated
- Assist in the generation of financial reports as directed.
- Give support and guidance to colleagues on FE systems, policies and processes.
- Support in the preparation and distribution of project documents and reports.
- Contribute to the ongoing development of processes within the Business Support function.
- Comply with the FE Health & Safety policy
- Provide cover and support to other members in the team as required.
- Any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.
- Assist in organising meetings, travel arrangements, bookings and other networking events
- Support for communication outputs as and when required
General
Occasional travel to other sites in the district will be required, potentially with overnight stays to attend meetings/training
Person specification
Skills, Knowledge & Experience
Essential professional and technical experience
- Relevant experience working in a busy office environment.
- Experience in working in a transaction processing team or related finance function.
- Proven ability to work with high accuracy and attention to detail.
- Excellent communication skills, written and spoken.
- Experience in supporting colleagues in a team environment.
- Competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications, in particular good working knowledge of Microsoft Excel including ability to export, sort and filter data and utilise formulae
- Experience in using accounting software and other bespoke IT applications.
Desirable Professional And Technical Experience
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- Ability to analyse data.
- Experience supporting creating reports/presentations.
Qualifications
Essential
- A GCSE in Maths and English or functional skills equivalent.
- Competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.
Desirable
- A level or level 3 equivalent qualification.
- Finance qualifications such as AAT or willingness to work towards or qualified by experience
- Qualification in First Aid or be willing to be trained as a First Aider.
Compensation
Alongside your salary of £26,959, Forestry Commission contributes £7,810 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides [here](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%
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 –
- Working together
- Delivering at pace
- Managing a quality service
“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](opens in a new window) 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 [checks](opens in new window).
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](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


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Further information on nationality requirements [opens in a new window](opens in a new window)
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.
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 the [Civil Service People Plan](opens in a new window) and the [Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy](opens in a new window).
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 a 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
Name : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
Recruitment team
Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
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.
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