Candidate Information Pack

FINANCE OFFICERRef: JUN18/01

STAFF OFFICER ACCOUNTANT (SO)£32,317 - £34,446

(currently under review)

Reporting to the Chief Executive

Completed Application Formsmust be returned to NICCY

no later than 4pm On Friday 22nd June 2018

Background:The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) was established under the legislation (Commissioner for Children and Young People (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 to provide an independent voice to safeguard and promote the rights and best interests of children and young people in Northern Ireland.

Job Purpose:This is a full-time position to provide assistance to the Chief Executive in the effective management and administration of the various Finance functions within NICCY.

Salary:The salary for the post will be within the range £32,317 - £34,446 (under review), within which pay progression will be determined by performance. The starting salary offered will be at the minimum of the scale.

Annual Leave:The successful candidate will be entitled to 25 annual leave days per annum.

Working Hours:The successful candidate will normally be required to work 5 days each week, totalling 37 hours. On occasions the duties may include some evening and weekend working. NICCY operates a flexi working system.

Location:The successful candidate will be based at:

NICCYEquality House7-9 Shaftesbury SquareBelfast. BT2 7DP

If you have any queries about the competition process you should contactHuman Resources on 028 9031 6380, or email recruitment@niccy.org

Key Functions:The post will involve analysis of financial data; production of management accounting information; preparation of financial and management accounts; development and review of systems; policies and procedures; and providing advice on financial information, accounting requirements and best practice.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Finance Systems & Accounts Responsibility for management of financial and accounting systems; Monitor and manage income and expenditure of NICCY, corporately and

across different departments within NICCY; Control and issue payments and ensure that targets for prompt payment

are met. Monitor bank account(s) and prepare bank reconciliation; Monitor credit card payments, billing and the users of this facility; Ensure the timely and accurate presentation of the Annual Financial

Accounts, monthly management accounts and other financial information as required, including budgetary control statements;

Liaise with DfC/DoF about allocations of funds and draw down of funds; Prepare financial statements for presentation to internal auditors and

Northern Ireland Audit Office; Advise on decisions on technical accounting issues including, for example,

the treatment of capital assets, allocation of overheads, etc; Oversee and manage NICCY’s purchasing and procurement policies and

procedures and ensure adherence to same throughout the organisation; Maintenance of the Purchase Ledger, ensuring all invoices are correctly

authorised and properly accounted for, and correctly posted to the financial system;

Overseeing the preparation of all cheque payments by the Administration team, ensuring that all expenditure has been properly incurred, that adequate documentation is in place, and that payments are sent out in a timely manner;

Manage the process of raising invoices on behalf of NICCY; Assistance in setting up and maintaining budgets, apportionments and

variances.

Payroll Prepare on a monthly basis up to date salary information to go to NICCY’s

external payroll provider Ensure that any changes which affect staff salaries are updated and

passed onto the external payroll provider such as change to working hours or alterations to salary sacrifice schemes

Provide Pension and other ad hoc reports as required to the external payroll provider;

Calculating and ensuring that the pay remit is implemented accurately and in a timely fashion.

Systems of Internal Control Take responsibility for the maintenance and development of systems of

internal control and Governance Statements; Manage NICCY’s financial management information systems; Develop annual budget statements for approval by the Chief Executive; Prepare and advise the Chief Executive on the preparation and control of

annual and supplementary bids for funding; Liaison with senior staff on business plan projects and provision of reports

and advice on budgets and expenditure and, where required, provision of financial modelling of same;

Ensure compliance with financial reporting practices Adhere to relevant financial sections of the Management Statement and

Financial Memorandum; Ongoing review and development of financial systems, policies and

procedures to ensure the effective delivery of services and to ensure best practice is adhered to

Maintenance of NICCY’s Asset Register; Oversee the gifts and hospitality register.

Financial and Risk Management Involved in identifying resource needs, and preparing business cases to

meet business objectives; Work with Chief Executive and Senior Management team in developing,

managing and controlling budgets; Prepare and present reports to the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee

(ARAC). Provide ad hoc financial information for the Commissioner, Chief

Executive, Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC), Heads of Department and staff as required;

Develop and implement effective organisational risk management strategies, structures and arrangements to ensure that NICCY meets its statutory and corporate responsibilities and delivers its Corporate and Business Plans;

Take responsibility for embedding effective risk management strategies within the Corporate Services Team;

Take responsibility for the management of physical assets within the responsibility of the Corporate Services Team.

Further On occasion staff will be required to work outside the normal working week

which may include evenings and weekends Members of staff are expected at all times to provide the appropriate

service and to treat those with whom they come into contact in a courteous and respectful manner;

NICCY is an Equal Opportunities Employer. All staff are required to adhere to NICCY’s Policies and Procedures

throughout the course of employment; To ensure the ongoing confidence of the public in the staff of NICCY, staff

must ensure they maintain the high standards of personal accountability.

The above is given as a broad range of duties and is not intended to be a complete description of all tasks. It is important to note that the responsibilities may change to meet the evolving needs of the services that NICCY provides.

PERSON SPECIFICATIONCandidates must demonstrate that they meet all of the following essential criteria in their written application and at interview:

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA:

1. A degree in a Business or Finance Related discipline and a minimum of 3 years experience in a finance related environment; or a minimum of 4 years experience in a finance related environment;

2. Be a fully qualified accountant via a recognised accountancy body i.e. ACA, ACCA, CIPFA, CIMA, ICAI, ICAEW, ICAS;

3. Experience of preparing management accounts or budgets4. Experience in the use of a financial system and use of a purchase and

nominal ledger (e.g. Sage, Pegasus, Sun systems, etc);5. Experience in the analysis and presentation of statistical/financial

information;6. Experience of working with internal and external auditors;7. Experience of using Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook;8. Possess, excellent verbal and written communications skills;

*Experience includes employment (full time or part time) and voluntary work.

Desirable Criteria:1. Experience of managing risk in a public sector organisation.2. A Degree in a business or Finance related discipline and at least 4 years

experience in a finance related environment; or at least 5 years experience in a finance related environment.

If a large number of the candidates brought forward for shortlisting meet all the essential and desirable criteria for the role, where a specified period of experience is mentioned it may be increased by one-year increments as a method of reducing numbers.

Relevant or equivalent qualifications:Applications will also be considered from applicants with relevant formal qualifications considered to be of an equivalent or higher standard to those stated.

If you are providing an equivalent qualification, please state the type of qualification and date awarded on your application form (the date awarded is the date on which you were notified of your result by the official awarding body). If you believe your qualification is equivalent to the one required, the onus is on you to provide details of modules studied etc so that a well-informed decision can be made. If you are providing a qualification of a higher standard, you must ensure that you state how it meets the English and Mathematics GCSE requirement. Further information on determining the

equivalence of relevant formal qualifications can be found at www.ofqual.gov.uk/qualifications-assessments

PLEASE NOTE:

It is essential that applicants provide sufficient details, using examples and dates where appropriate and to demonstrate how and to what extent they meet these requirements;

It is not sufficient to simply list your duties and responsibilities;

NICCY will not make assumptions from the title of the applicant’s post or the nature of the organisation as to the skills and experience gained;

If you do not provide sufficient detail, including the appropriate dates needed to meet the eligibility criteria, the selection panel will reject your application;

ONLY the details provided by you in the employment history and eligibility criteria (and/or shortlisting criteria where applicable) sections of your application form will be provided to the selection panel for the purpose of determining your eligibility for the post;

NICCY may decide to interview only those applicants who appear, from the information available, to be most suitable in terms of relevant experience and ability;

NICCY reserves the right to carry out testing/assessment of candidates as required at any stage of the recruitment and selection process.

INTERVIEWS

It is intended that interviews for this post will take place in the NICCY offices, located at Equality House 7-9 Shaftesbury Square, Belfast during July 2018 although dates will be confirmed at a later date.