Our benefits
We are committed to continuous improvement, building a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible workforce alongside promoting innovation and creativity whilst keeping children, young people and families at the heart of all we do.
We really value our workforce and offer you a great benefits package including:
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28 days annual leave, plus 8 Bank Holidays (pro rata for part time) and an additional 5 days, after 5 years
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Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health pension protection.
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Opportunity to purchase up to 25 days annual leave
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Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
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Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
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Flexible and family working arrangements including enhanced maternity benefits
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A permanent, supportive and inclusive management team where you will be empowered to make good professional decisions
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Extensive Learning & Development and career development opportunities
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Subsidised town centre car parking scheme
About the role
A fantastic opportunity for someone who enjoys working with numbers, building strong relationships, and making a real difference behind the scenes in Children's Social Care.
As a Finance Officer Social Care, you'll play a vital role in ensuring carers, providers and young people receive accurate and timely payments while delivering excellent financial support to a wide range of stakeholders
You'll be responsible for reviewing, processing and reconciling social care payments, ensuring that providers, carers and young people receive payments accurately and on time. Working closely with internal services, finance colleagues and external partners, you'll provide professional financial support, resolve queries and help maintain robust financial controls.
This is a varied role where no two days are the same. You'll combine your financial expertise, problem-solving skills and customer-focused approach to support processes that handle significant levels of expenditure and directly impact the people who rely on our services. You'll also have the opportunity to contribute ideas for improving systems and processes as we continue to modernise the way we deliver social care finance services.
We welcome the opportunity to speak to any interested candidates so please feel free to email: [email protected] and they can agree a mutually agreeable time to call you
What will you be doing?
- Reviewing and validating social care payments to providers, carers and young people, ensuring accuracy before processing.
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Processing payment files within agreed deadlines and reconciling transactions across finance systems.
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Managing and maintaining the provider portal to support efficient communication and payment processes. Raising invoices, processing manual adjustments and preparing journals in line with financial procedures and controls.
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Investigating and resolving payment queries, working collaboratively with colleagues, providers and carers to reach positive outcomes.
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Presenting financial information in a clear, accessible way to both finance and non-finance stakeholders.
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Planning and managing your own workload to ensure critical payment deadlines are consistently achieved.
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Supporting compliance with audit requirements, financial regulations and organisational procedures.
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Contributing to continuous improvement by identifying opportunities to enhance processes and service delivery.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, we encourage you to submit your application as early as possible.
About you
You'll be a highly organised and proactive finance professional who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment where accuracy and attention to detail are essential.
You'll bring experience of working within a finance or business support setting, along with the confidence to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders. Whether you're analysing data, resolving complex payment queries or explaining financial information to non-finance colleagues, you'll be able to build positive relationships and deliver excellent customer service.
We're particularly interested in hearing from you if you have:
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GCSEs in Maths and English (Grade C/4 or above) or equivalent.
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Experience working in a finance environment with financial controls, reconciliations and payment processes.
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Strong numerical and analytical skills, with the ability to interpret and present data clearly.
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Excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively with both internal and external stakeholders.
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Good IT skills, including experience using Excel, Word and financial management systems.
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Strong organisational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritise workloads and meet deadlines.
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A collaborative approach and a commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes.
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An understanding of Children's Services, local government finance or an AAT qualification (or equivalent) would be an advantage.
Join us and you'll play an important role in delivering reliable financial services that support some of the most vulnerable children, young people and families in our community.
When applying please ensure your supporting statement details how you fulfil the essential criteria set out in the person specification as this will be used for shortlisting. You will need to provide a full employment history including any gaps since leaving full time education
About us
At Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, children, young people and families are at the heart of everything we do. Every decision we make and every action we take is guided by our commitment to delivering high-quality services that make a lasting difference to the lives of children, young people and families across Northamptonshire.
We know that our people are our greatest strength. Our workforce is at the centre of our success, and we are committed to creating an environment where colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered to do the best job of their lives every day. We foster a culture built on kindness, collaboration and trust, where achievements are recognised, ideas are welcomed and innovation is encouraged.
We are proud of the positive impact we make together and delighted that our work has been recognised by Ofsted, with an Outstanding rating for Leadership and Management and Good ratings across Help and Protection, Children in Care and Care Leavers.
At NCT equality, diversity and inclusion are part of us and in everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and thrive in our organisation. We are a Disability Confident employer and have a commitment to care leavers, who we guarantee an interview if they meet the essential criteria.
If you are passionate about making a difference and want to be part of an ambitious, supportive and forward-thinking organisation, Northamptonshire Children’s Trust could be the place for you.
Supporting Children – A Career That Matters
