Research Finance Assistant

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust; Frimley; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust in the United Kingdom is looking for a Finance Assistant to join their Research and Innovation team. The role involves ensuring accurate income recovery, supporting grant management, and maintaining databases. Candidates should have strong attention to detail, numeracy skills, and experience in a busy team. The Trust promotes a healthy work-life balance and offers professional development opportunities, making it an ideal workplace for individuals seeking flexibility.

Benefits

First-class development opportunities

Flexible working patterns

Commitment to inclusivity

Qualifications

• Minimum 2 A Levels and 5 GCSE's grade C or above required.
• Experience in a busy team environment needed.
• Knowledge of income recovery processes is crucial.

Responsibilities

• Support financial management of research portfolios.
• Maintain accurate and effective use of databases.
• Initiate communication with internal and external stakeholders.

Skills

Attention to detail

Numeracy skills

Strong IT skills

Analytical skills

Problem-solving

Education

Min 2 A Levels

5 GCSEs grade C or above

NVQ L4 Accounting or AAT experience

Job description

Job Overview

Do you have excellent attention to detail, numeracy skills and experience of working in a busy team?

An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Research and Innovation team for a Research and Innovation Finance Assistant.

The main purpose of the role is to ensure accurate and timely income recovery for the R&I Department. This will be achieved through analysis of research activity and timely processing of related invoices and expenses. You will also be required to maintain accurate databases.

You will be expected to have excellent communication skills. Have a hands‑on approach and the ability to work under pressure to tight deadlines, whilst maintaining attention to detail and accurate records.

Main duties of the job

Work proactively and independently to support the R&I department in the generation of income from commercially and non-commercially funded research projects and income streams through invoicing processes, investigating financial queries as requested by study sponsors, internal or external stakeholders, R&I department, or the Trust finance team.

Assist with the financial management of the R&I department’s portfolio of growing grant awards, raising invoices in a timely manner and producing required reports and will be involved in the process of capturing and recording grant applications.

Play a key role in the accurate and effective use of the research EDGE database to ensure that financial information is available for use with reports produced in a timely manner.

Working for our organisation

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first‑class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available.

Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too.

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.

Frimley Health Trust benefits on Vimeo.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Initiate and maintain excellent communication with all stakeholders both internal and external to the Trust and respond to information requests and queries from members of the research and Trust finance team.

Liaise with internal colleagues and external agencies to raise invoice requests for research studies and maintain a database and files relating to the studies and other income sources.

Communicate sensitive and confidential information with the R&I team and outside organisations accurately.

Liaise with the R&I team regarding accurate invoicing following amendments to research studies.

Liaise with the R&I team on invoice requests to be reclaimed study sponsors, ensuring compliance with the study’s final contract terms.

Provide support to the team for costing studies, grant applications and track excess treatment costs for non-commercial research studies.

Liaise with the R&I Governance Officers, R&I Operation Manager, Head of Research & Innovation and provide regular income and expenditure reports.

Use the EDGE database and individual research study trackers to gather activity information by study to ensure income is collected, accounts are balanced and income received is accurately distributed to the correct cost centre.

Create and develop reports and documents detailing projected income for individual commercial research projects and where applicable, non-commercial research projects.

Ensure coding of income and expenditure is accurately recorded in the ledger.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Min 2 A Levels, 5 GCSE's grade C or above
• NVQ L4 Accounting or AAT experience

Desirable criteria

• Educated to degree level or working towards

Experience

• Meeting targets and deadlines
• Effective working knowledge of research protocols
• Experience of working in a busy team

Desirable criteria

• NHS Finance experience
• Research finance experience
• Experience of producing finance reports

Skill and Knowledge

• Strong IT skills
• Analytical and problem solving
• Able to prioritise and work with without close supervision
• Understand data collection
• Knowledge of income recovery processes

Desirable criteria

• Effective working knowledge of management accounting

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) is proud of its strong reputation, record of achievement and ambition for the future. We serve a population of over 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and South Buckinghamshire, and remain committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Our new organisational strategy – FHFT 2030 – sets out our ambition to be the best place to receive care and the best place to work in the NHS. Underpinned by our Trust values – Committed to Excellence, Working Together, Facing the Future, and being a modern, compassionate, Healthcare Organisation – we are creating a culture where our people can thrive and patients always come first.

We continue to invest heavily in our services and facilities. This includes the development of a new hospital at Frimley Park, major expansion of diagnostics and inpatient capacity, and the continued transformation of services across our sites. We have already delivered a brand-new £100m state‑of‑the‑art Heatherwood Hospital, a £49m Emergency Assessment Centre at Wexham Park, and a £10m upgrade to maternity services.

We are also committed to sustainability and the NHS Net Zero ambition. Our new hospital and estate developments are being designed to be environmentally responsible, energy efficient, and future‑proofed, featuring on‑site renewables energy and intelligent energy systems. Through our green plan, we are embedding sustainable practices across all areas of care and operations, ensuring we reduce our environmental impact while improving population health and wellbeing. Our staff are key to helps us deliver on our ambition and to ensure sustainability is a core component of care delivery and our operations.

Alongside estates’ investments, we are embedding a strong focus on digital innovation and quality improvement. Our electronic patient record (Epic), launched in 2024, is already enabling safer, more connected, and more effective care for patients, while giving staff the tools they need to do their best work. Our electronic patient record also supports safe and effective digitised care pathways, savings time and carbon, whilst delivering excellent quality of care.

Everything we do is guided by our values, shaping how we care for patients, support colleagues, and build a sustainable future for healthcare together.

Apply online now