Purchase to Pay Assistant

Maritime and Coastguard Agency; Southampton; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 29,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Civil Service pension (28.97%)

25 days annual leave

Bank Holidays + Privilege Day

Staff discount portal

Career development opportunities

Employee Assistance Programme

Flexible working

Job summary

Maritime and Coastguard Agency in Southampton is looking for a Purchase to Pay Assistant to support the P2P Lead with financial transactions, supplier master data checks, and processing of POs and invoices.

The role offers hybrid working and a fixed-term contract until June 2027, with potential extensions and flexible working arrangements. They welcome diverse applicants and offer opportunities for professional development.

Qualifications

• This role sits within the Financial Transactions team and supports the P2P Lead.
• Provides support to stakeholders to ensure compliance across financial processes.
• Focuses on P2P responsibilities including supplier data checks, PO and invoice processing, and T&S/GPC queries.

Responsibilities

• Input, review and approve supplier master data, ensuring fraud checks are completed.
• Resolve requisition, PO and invoice queries to ensure 3-way matching and prompt payment.
• Process requisitions for the Directorate of Corporate Services and wider Agency.
• Process internal credit/debit, manual and one-off payments and keep supplier balances accurate.
• Assist with expense queries and apply MCA subsistence rates.

Skills

Excel

Word

Job description

Purchase to Pay Assistant

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Location: Southampton (This role is suitable for hybrid working)

Salary: £26,607 - A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Contract Type: Fixed term until June 2027 with the possibility of extension – Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Available Positions: 1

This role sits within the Financial Transactions team and supports the Purchase to Pay (P2P) Lead. The role involves providing support to a range of stakeholders to ensure compliance across financial processes, in line with Government requirements. The role will focus on Purchase to Pay responsibilities, including supplier master data fraud checking; purchase order (PO) and invoice processing, queries and verifications; Travel and Subsistence (T&S) claims and Government Procurement card (GPC) queries and compliance checks; and data cleansing.

The purpose of the Purchase to Pay Finance Assistant is to assist the P2P Lead in ensuring that all transactions are processed in accordance with the MCA's policies, procedures, and controls. Support the work of the regions and other business areas whilst liaising with Unity Business Services (UBS) as necessary. Help resolve pro-actively any MCA queries with the Shared Services provider UBS.

Top Responsibilities

• Input, review and approve Supplier master data within the accounting system in a timely manner, ensuring all fraud checks have been completed.
• Resolve requisition, purchase order and invoice-related queries in support of all Business Areas, to ensure 3-way matching process is accurate and timely, and that prompt payment targets are met.
• Process requisition requests on behalf of the Directorate of Corporate Services and on occasion the wider Agency.
• Process internal credit/debit, manual and one-off payments to ensure payments are processed and supplier account balances are accurate.
• Support Business Areas with expense queries within the expense platform, develop a working knowledge of MCA policy on UK and Overseas subsistence rates to ensure correct rates are applied.

For more information on the role and responsibilities please see the full job advert on CS Jobs using the link provided.

Benefits

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King's birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

About You

• Ability to work under pressure, deliver to deadlines and work on concurrent tasks
• Experience in Excel and Word
• Proactive approach to problem solving & issue resolution

This vacancy closes at 23:55 on Monday 31st August 2026