Part Time Finance Officer – Supplier Maintenance Team, within P2P.

Essex County Council; Chelmsford; Presencial; GBP 26.000 - 29.000; A tiempo parcial

Descripción de la vacante

Essex County Council in Chelmsford is seeking a Part-time Finance Officer for the Supplier Maintenance Team within P2P. The role is a fixed-term 12-month contract, 22.2 hours over 3 days per week, with regular attendance at County Hall once weekly.

Salary ranges from £15,575.40 to £17,172.60 per annum for the actual part-time hours, and the full-time equivalent range is £25,959 to £28,621. Closing date is 28 October 2026. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Formación

• Educated to RQF level 3 (A level) including English and Mathematics, or equivalent by experience.
• Knowledge of P2P systems and demonstrable accounts payable, purchase to pay and e-invoicing experience.
• Strong attention to detail and data entry accuracy.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Familiar with GDPR and data handling in financial processes.

Responsabilidades

• Provide financial support related to ECC’s payments to internal and external customers.
• Contribute to data management of payee records, adding, amending and archiving data per GDPR.
• Verify bank account information to prevent fraud and ensure payments are secure.
• Support team members and respond to complex queries with professional guidance.
• Help drive process improvements and technology changes for efficiency.

Conocimientos

Attention to detail

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Microsoft Office

P2P systems knowledge

Accounts payable

Data verification

Fraud prevention

Educación

RQF Level 3 (A level) including English and Mathematics

Herramientas

Oracle

Data Transparency

CIS

Descripción del empleo

About The Role

Part Time Finance Officer - Supplier Maintenance Team, within P2P.

Fixed Term, Part Time

£25,959 to £28,621 Per Annum, Full Time Equivalent

Location: Chelmsford

Closing Date: Wednesday 28th October 2026 at 11.59pm

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

This role is offered on a part-time basis, with 22.2 hours worked over 3 full days per week. There is flexibility regarding which days are worked (Monday to Friday), but once selected, the working days must be maintained as a regular weekly pattern.

Please note that this is a Fixed Term Contract / Secondment opportunity for a period of 12 months.

The actual salary, for the 22.2 hours per week will be £15,575.40 to £17,172.60 Per Annum.

This position has the expectation that the successful worker will attend County Hall, Chelmsford one day per week.

Interview Date: Wednesday 11th November 2026.

To read more about our business area, please visit: Corporate Services

The Role

The Suppliers team is responsible for setting up and maintaining all of ECC's payee records. This is data management of the highest quality, requiring excellent attention to detail and a strong understanding of different supplier and payee structures.

Payee information must be gathered, verified, and recorded accurately to ensure ECC can make timely and secure payments to suppliers, organisations, and vulnerable residents. This involves identifying and validating information for a wide range of payees, including limited companies, sole traders, partnerships, charities, and individual recipients.

Key information such as registered addresses, VAT details, company registration data, and bank account information must be sourced, verified, and maintained in line with Council procedures and financial controls. An understanding of how different business structures operate is desired to ensure the correct checks are completed, risks are identified and payments are made to the right recipient.

We are a busy Accounts Payable team responsible for maintaining around 30,000 payee records, where accuracy, professionalism and attention to detail are critical to preventing duplicate records, fraud, and payment delays.

The Opportunity

Purchase to Pay (P2P) aims to provide a comprehensive financial transactional and support service, maximising new and innovative technology to provide excellent customer service using a multi skilled workforce.

Finance Officers in Purchase to Pay (P2P) will contribute to the delivery of the business plan for financial transaction processing, by ensuring payment data is accurately maintained and managed within policy and legislation standards. Responding to more complex customer queries and supporting changes in technology to streamline the customer experience.

Educated to Level 3, with knowledge of P2P systems and demonstrable accounts payable, purchase to pay and e-invoicing experience. The role requires good interpersonal and communication skills to deliver excellent customer service.

Accountabilities

• Provides financial support in relation to ECC’s payments to both internal and external customers, contributing towards delivery of the business plan for financial transactions, in support of the wider organisational vision.


• Contribute to data management of payee records, adding, amending, and archiving data in line with GDPR.


• Responsible for adhering to robust verification procedures and fraud prevention controls, ensuring all bank account information is thoroughly validated and verified to protect Council funds and prevent fraudulent payments.


• Provides technical support to team members and customers answering more complex queries in a professional manner in accordance with financial procedures. Acts as the subject matter expert for P2P processes.


• Contribute to the identification and clarification of customer needs, to deliver process and technology changes, which drive efficiency and value for money.


• Contribute to improving financial awareness and capability across the organisation, to promote the culture of empowering budget holders in line with financial regulations.


• Contributes to service improvement projects/programmes to achieve best practice and organisational efficiency by recommending process improvements and redesign.


• Contributes to maintaining currency on legislation changes and translating these into local policy and procedure, to identify and review potential changes in technology.


• Working collaboratively and flexibly across teams within P2P to deliver a high level of service to all functions.


• Contribute to identifying risks and supporting the resolution, to minimise financial impact and loss to the organisation.


• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to RQF level 3 (A level) including English and Mathematics, or equivalent by experience.


• Commitment to continued personal development within a working environment.


• Knowledge of P2P systems and demonstrable accounts payable, purchase to pay and e-invoicing experience.


• Strong knowledge of accounts payable/P2P 3-way match process and regulations


• CIS (Construction Industry Scheme), Data Transparency and Oracle experience is preferred.


• Strong attention to detail, accuracy in data entry and organisational skills


• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, both verbal and written


• Aptitude and willingness to work flexibly in multi skilled Operational Teams.


• Level of good competency using Microsoft office packages including, Outlook, Word, and Excel


• Ability to interpret varied information for supporting continuous improvements in service delivery.


• Ability to build effective working relationships with internal and external customers, suppliers, and partners.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone's Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities, blogs, news, events, and industry related news at Essex County Council, please join The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email [e-mail]

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