Finance Assistant

Ashford College; Canterbury; On-site; GBP 10,000 - 13,000; Part time

Job summary

An educational institution in Canterbury is seeking a proactive Finance Assistant to join their Finance team. The role involves supporting the collection of tuition fees, monitoring payments, and liaising with external companies for debt recovery. Ideal candidates will have strong organisational skills and previous experience in finance. This is a part-time role (18.5 hours per week) with competitive benefits including generous annual leave and learning opportunities.

Benefits

Generous Annual Leave

Learning and Development Opportunities

Exclusive Discounts & Perks

Flexible Personal Leave

Wellbeing and Health Support

Competitive Pension Scheme

Qualifications

• Ability to prioritise workload in line with changing demands.
• Previous experience working in a busy finance office.
• Preferably experienced in sales ledger or debt collection.

Responsibilities

• Support the collection of tuition fees.
• Monitor instalment plans and student loan payments.
• Liaise with external debt-recovery companies.

Skills

Strong organisational skills

Administrative skills

Communication skills

Understanding of sales ledger

Experience in debt collection

Tools

Computerised accounting system

Job description

About The Role

Add up your ambitions — join EKC and make every penny count

East Kent Colleges Group are seeking a proactive and detail-driven Finance Assistant to join our Finance team, primarily based at EKC Canterbury College.

Step into a role where your precision and people skills make a real impact. You’ll play a key part in ensuring smooth financial processes across the Group and supporting both learners and employers.

In this role, you will:

• Support the collection of tuition fees, including elements of credit control
• Monitor instalment plans and student loan payments
• Raise accurate invoices for employers and commercial customers
• Carry out debt-chasing in line with the Group’s debt policy
• Liaise with external debt-recovery companies where required
• Respond to queries relating to fees and invoices, providing clear and helpful guidance

Hours per week: 18.5

Working week: to be agreed (Mon-Fri)

Salary: £12,405

Here are just some of our benefits when working for the East Kent Colleges Group:

• Generous Annual Leave - 24 days +3 days after 5 years
• Learning and Development Opportunities - 3-4 annual paid group development days, bespoke programmes e.g. Aspiring Leaders Development Programme and strong internal progression - 1 in 3 roles are filled internally
• Exclusive Discounts & Perks - Inc. restaurant, grocery, retail and holidays discounts as well as car leasing and tech purchasing schemes, on-site nursery (if based at relevant site)
• Flexible Personal Leave - Time off for your child's first day at nursery, school or college, moving homes and for interviews
• Wellbeing and Health Support - Generous sick pay, counselling services, discounted gym membership at Canterbury College
• Culture and Recognition - Being part of Community Days, an annual Staff Celebration Day, and an eco-friendly organisation dedicated to reaching net-zero by 2030
• Competitive Pension Scheme - 18% employer contribution

About You

As a Finance Assistant you will have:

• Strong organisational, administrative and communication skills
• Understanding of the sales ledger process, including raising invoices and allocating payments electronically
• Ability to prioritise workload in line with changing demands
• Previous experience working in a busy finance office
• Preferably experienced in sales ledger or debt collection
• Experience using a computerised accounting system

It's a simple application process — no need to update your CV, just complete our short online form (you can save and return anytime)

For an informal chat or any questions, contact us at [e-mail]

About Us

Outstanding Ofsted Provider

East Kent Colleges Group is an Ofsted Outstanding rated provider. It is proud to be the first General Further Education college organisation in the country to have received the Outstanding grade against each of the strands under the new Ofsted inspection framework. An inclusive provider, our colleagues place our students and the communities we serve at the heart of everything they do across EKC Group and this is illustrated in our ‘Strong’ skills grading by Ofsted.

Commitment to Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and we ensure that all staff are aware of their responsibilities for upholding these principles.

As a designated establishment, we are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore have an obligation to carry out checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children and vulnerable adults. These checks include conviction/caution self-declaration, Enhanced DBS check and obtaining sufficient referencing.

It is a criminal offence to apply for a post which involves engaging in regulated activity relevant to children if you are barred from doing so.

If you are successful in being shortlisted to interview, your suitability to work with children and vulnerable adults will be explored as part of the interview process.

Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

East Kent Colleges Group is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all members of our communities. We are particularly keen to increase the diversity of our staff body and encourage applications from candidates where there is underrepresentation in our workforce.

We are proud to hold the Positive About Disability Award and are a Disability Confident Employer. This confirms our commitment to interviewing all applicants who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification. With any successful candidate, we will explore any reasonable adjustments to a role due to a health needs or disability.

Similarly, we have a commitment to Care Leavers (Care Covenant Pledge) and to current or previous Armed Forces personnel (Armed Forces Covenant Pledge) with a commitment to interview applicants who meet the positions essential criteria and who have declared this on their application.

We welcome applications from anyone wishing to work flexibly and those considering a return to work from a career break.

We do not engage with agencies for permanent staff and have an in-house recruitment team.