Finance Assistant

This Client Finance Assistant post sits in the Direct Payments area of the council's Client Finance service, which handles financial work linked to Adult Social Care. The role centres on processing payments and instructions, keeping customer and financial records accurate, and investigating discrepancies and over payments. It is career-graded, with a route from Grade 3 to Grade 5 as a Client Finance Technician, and combines hybrid working with a nominated contractual base.

Fluency in spoken English is essential, and visa sponsorship is not available.

• Processing payments to Direct Payment clients and handling the resulting queries
• Processing invoices, payments, refunds, credits and financial adjustments
• Arranging payments, issuing agreements and supporting documents, and updating changes to care promptly
• Maintaining accurate customer, financial and provider records
• Completing checks, reconciliations and data-validation work
• Investigating discrepancies, failed payments, missing information, incorrect records, unspent balances and potential over payments
• Supporting client billing and maintaining payment arrangements
• Responding to enquiries from customers, families, representatives, providers and colleagues
• Identifying financial, safeguarding or compliance risks and escalating them appropriately
• Taking ownership of allocated work and following it through to resolution
• Working with colleagues across Client Finance, Adult Social Care and other council services
• Contributing ideas to improve quality, reduce duplication and make processes more efficient

• Experience in administration, customer service, finance or social care, or transferable skills from another role

• Good numeracy and confidence working with financial information
• Strong attention to detail and accurate record keeping
• Clear communication, including explaining information simply
• Organising and managing competing priorities
• Confidence using Microsoft 365 and other computer systems
• Practical approach to investigating and resolving problems

• Criminal record check, which may apply to the post

• Ability to converse at ease with customers in accurate spoken English
• Empathy and professionalism when handling sensitive information
• Willingness to learn Direct Payments and Client Finance processes and guidance
• Good home connectivity for remote working
• Commitment to safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults

• Package designed to support work-life balance
• Health and wellbeing support
• Financial security benefits
• Career growth within Client Finance
• Learning and development support to build knowledge and career
• Hybrid working, with arrangements agreed during appointment