Finance Officer

Newcastle University; England; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

Newcastle University is seeking a motivated Finance Officer for its Business Operations Team to cover maternity leave. This full-time role involves maintaining the school's accounts, ensuring accurate reporting of income and expenditure, and providing financial advice. Ideal candidates will have strong communication skills and relevant experience, contributing to the university's prestigious educational environment.

Benefits

Generous holiday package

Pension schemes

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Qualifications

• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Demonstrable work experience in a similar role.
• High degree of IT skills and experience of using various IT systems.

Responsibilities

• Maintain operational aspects of school accounts.
• Prepare timely invoices in compliance with VAT regulations.
• Act as point of contact for all queries relating to school accounts.

Skills

Communication

Numeracy

IT skills

Problem solving

Education

AAT qualified or equivalent

Grades A-C in English Language and Mathematics at GCSE

Tools

SAP

Job description

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Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 07 July 2025

The Role

Newcastle University Business School is seeking a motivated and highly diligent Finance Officer to join our Business Operations Team (maternity cover).

You will have responsibility for maintaining all operational aspects of the schools accounts, ensuring all school income and expenditure is accurately processed and reported upon and providing financial advice and assistance to colleagues within the school.

You will possess excellent organisation, interpersonal and communication skills, and will be passionate about providing a consistently excellent level of service. You will have demonstrable work experience in a comparable setting, with the ability to use initiative and apply judgement. You will have a working knowledge of relevant systems, in addition to comprehensive knowledge of Microsoft Office packages.

This is a full time, fixed term post to cover maternity leave for approximately 7 months. This could be available to existing University colleagues as a secondment opportunity and you should discuss this with your current manager before submitting your application.

Newcastle University Business School is located in Newcastle City Centre and at the gateway to the Newcastle Helix, a £350million partnership between Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council and Legal and General, where business meets Science.

Home to 4000 students, Newcastle University Business School is one of an elite group of Business Schools worldwide to hold triple accreditation from the three internationally recognised accreditation bodies: AMBA, AACSB, and EQUIS. This places the School in the top business schools worldwide and is testament to our reputation for Teaching and Research. Our vision is to be globally renowned for the Future of Work and developing students for a future they can shape.

To apply, please attach your CV and a cover letter that demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria for the position, as outlined in the Person Specification of the Job Description. Any requested additional documents required as part of your application, should be included within the same file as your cover letter. The total file size must not exceed 10MB.

Key Accountabilities

• Undertake purchases on accounts within the School ensuring that transactions are recorded accurately and efficiently in compliance with all relevant internal and external regulations (e.g. VAT).
• Undertake sales activity to receive income into the School. Preparation of accurate and timely invoices in accordance with VAT regulations.
• Receive, check, process and record fee and expense claims, complying with internal accounting procedures and external regulations (e.g. VAT) and resolving queries where required
• Receive and log requests for advances, advising colleagues in line with University financial regulations. Receive, check and reconcile claims. Prepare supporting School statements for consideration and approval by Head of School.
• Work with Finance Coordinator/Business Partner to set-up and monitor School accounts, reconciling School budget spreadsheets with SAP reports to ensure accurate financial reporting.
• Work with Finance Coordinator/Business Partner to produce regular and ad-hoc reports of School income and expenditure to budget holders, to include specific bespoke reporting to support School monitoring requirements, for example Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Accreditation, Research Excellence Framework etc
• Act as point of contact for all internal and external queries relating to School accounts, liaising where necessary with School Professional Services colleagues, budget holders, vendors, customers and the Faculty & University accounts team
• Set up new vendors and customers as and when required in liaison with Procurement office and the finance sales team.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records in preparation for audit and accreditation in strict compliance with all applicable data protection legislation e.g. GDPR
• Any other duties within the scope and general nature of the grade which may be required from time to time.
• Briefing of other professional services colleagues in financial administration so they are able to assist and provide cover as required.

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• High degree of literacy and numeracy skills
• High degree of IT skills and experience of using various IT systems
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• Demonstrable work experience in a similar role and/or comparable setting
• Experience of using financial systems
• Familiarity with the SAP financial system (Desirable)

Attributes and Behaviours

• Communicates effectively, using appropriate tools and methods tailoring content of communication to the audience, changing style, tone and format appropriately.
• Plans workload and tasks in a systematic way, ensuring all activities are completed on time using systems and tools to ensure records and audit trails are clear and up to date.
• Embraces change, reviewing and revising plans to meet with changing demands, is flexible and has an adaptable approach to working.
• Works collaboratively with others, plays a positive role in teams and establishes and builds good working relationships.
• Delivers a high quality service to both colleagues and customers, demonstrating attention to detail and a positive attitude.
• Has good problem solving skills with the ability to use their own initiative.
• Has an aptitude for picking up new systems and processes quickly and applying them to their work

Qualifications

• Grades A-C in English Language and Mathematics at GCSE or equivalent level qualification(s) plus experience in a similar role, or substantial work experience in a similar setting
• AAT qualified (Association of Accounting Technicians) or equivalent (Desirable).

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silverAthena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.