19827BR
Cardiff School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Administrative Support
Finance Officer
School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is one of the top UK schools of Pharmacy. Our teaching is informed and supported by our research and allows students to explore the different aspects of pharmacy. Our educational philosophy and research ambitions are supported by a vibrant community of academic and professional service staff.
We have an exciting opportunity for a Finance Officer to join the Finance team within the School. We are looking to recruit a highly organised, proactive individual with proven financial administration experience. As an experienced finance professional, you will have a good working understanding of financial operations and transactions.
With a positive can-do approach, you will be a professional and friendly point of contact for staff, students and external stakeholders in the Finance Office team. We are looking for someone with strong organisational skills, who is able to work with a high level of accuracy, take responsibility for their own work and enjoys contributing to a positive working environment.
The role is varied and fast-paced and will include assisting with month-end and year-end processes, purchasing and procurement, assisting with research financial activity and dealing with varied queries on a daily basis.
This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, generally with three days on site, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you can also choose to spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home. The University is committed to offering this flexibility, wherever the role and business need allows, supporting work-life balance.
Please contact Nicola Bolt, Finance Manager, (BoltN1@cardiff.ac.uk) for informal, confidential discussion about the role.
This post is full-time (35 hours per week), and fixed-term to 31st May 2026 to cover a secondment.
Salary: £27,644 - £30,805 per annum (Grade 4). We do not anticipate appointing this position above Grade 4, point 18, £27,644 per annum.
Secondment opportunity welcome - please note for Cardiff University members of staff interested in this post on a secondment basis, permission will need to be sought from your current Line Manager before applying.
Date advert posted: Friday, 7 March 2025
Closing date: Friday, 21 March 2025
Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.
Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.
Job Description
JOB PURPOSE
Providing comprehensive and professional support to the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, providing support and guidance on Finance.
This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you can also choose to spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home. The University is committed to offering this flexibility, wherever the role and business need allows, supporting work-life balance.
As the biggest university in Wales – and a major employer, with more than 7,000 staff – we are an ambitious and innovative university located in a beautiful and thriving capital city. We can offer you the chance to work in a vibrant organisation, with great benefits and opportunities for progression.
Duties And Responsibilities
Key Duties
* Supervise the day-to-day operation of the Finance Assistant(s), including allocating tasks, producing work schedules, monitoring holiday cover arrangements; completing probation, annual appraisal and staff development requirements; and providing training and wellbeing support to staff members where necessary.
* Provide detailed advice and guidance on financial processes and procedures to internal and external customers (staff, students or members of the public), using judgement and creativity to suggest the most appropriate course of action, and contributing to the solving of more complex issues.
* Work with others to make recommendations to improve our ways of working.
* Establish productive relationships with key individuals (University colleagues and external contacts) to help improve the level of service the team provides to its customers.
* Perform a variety of administrative duties to support the team and School achieve its objectives.
* Gather and analyse data so that informed decisions can be made, establishing basic trends and patterns in the data and providing reports and recommendations for management.
* Assist with the management of the internal trade process for Facility usage within the School, ensuring that the shortfall of FEC is appropriately accounted.
* Monitor and reconcile key GL accounts, liaising as needed with relevant Teams to ensure recharges are accurate and timely.
* Review and approve Oracle purchase requisitions and act as final approver for orders, expense claims and payment grids up to the value of £1000, escalating requests for non-standard or hazardous items, ensuring validity and compliance with the Financial Regulations and Procedures.
* Verifying and approving all journal requests.
* Check and process payment grids and travel claims, ensuring validity and compliance with the Financial Regulations and Procedures and School guidance on student expense claims.
* Provide advice and guidance and general support to all members of the Finance Office, and also those outside the Office with respect to Financial Procedures and Regulations, both University and School.
* To manage and be responsible for the Oracle Open Order and Invoice on Hold reports, (checking transactions and resolving any issues by liaising with end users and external suppliers.
* To manage the Oracle internal trade report and reallocate income as appropriate.
* Raise inter-departmental transfers, miscellaneous payment request, sales invoices and salary payment claims (e.g. casual staff and overtime).
General Duties
* Abide by all University policies and undergo appropriate personal and professional development.
* Perform other duties which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
* Ensure that an understanding of the importance confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties.
* Uphold the Professional Services Values & Behaviours or local equivalent.
Person Specification
We want to employ people with a wide variety of experiences. We welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We are particularly seeking applications from candidates who come from backgrounds that are underrepresented at the University, including people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.
We are looking for a team player who will work with colleagues to provide a great service to staff and students. You don’t need to have worked for a University before; this is an opportunity to show your potential and start or continue your career at Cardiff University.
This role may be an opportunity for you to build on your experience from working in a previous administrative role or environment with particular interest in the finance function, showing your transferable skills and aptitude to be successful in the role. You should be enthusiastic about developing your knowledge and skills to become a valued member of the team.
Your application will be assessed against the following essential and desirable criteria for the role. Please copy and paste this section into a new document and give clear examples of how you can evidence meeting each criteria by writing under each one. You can draw on elements from any aspect of your life (e.g. work, home, education/qualifications or community life) as long as you focus on their relevance to the role.
Please save your supporting statement in a separate document with the title [YOURNAME-BR NUMBER-JOB TITLE] and attach it to your application in the recruitment system, available here.
Please note that these are also the criteria shortlisted applicants will be assessed against at interview and/or by other means (e.g. a skills test).
Essential Criteria
* Working towards or have achieved, a recognised accountancy qualification or equivalent financial experience.
* Evidence of a good standard of numeracy and IT literacy.
* Experience of working in a finance administrative role or environment and ability to set up standard office systems and procedures, making improvements to these as appropriate.
* Proficient in using all Microsoft Office programs, finance packages and IT databases.
* Experience of line managing or supervising the work of others to motivate and develop individuals and focus team efforts, ensuring that welfare issues are resolved.
* Ability to communicate specialist and complex information effectively and professionally to a range of customers with varying levels of understanding.
* Ability to advise and influence key stakeholders in your area of work.
* Ability to explore customers’ needs and adapt the service you provide accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered.
* Ability to use your initiative and creativity to solve problems, respond to queries and make recommendations, identifying and proposing practical solutions.
* Ability to work unsupervised to deadlines, planning, setting and monitoring your priorities and those of the team.
Desirable Criteria
* Qualification in a finance-related discipline, an equivalent qualification or equivalent work-related experience.
* Experience of working in a similar role or environment, e.g. Higher Education.
* Ability to speak/understand Welsh or a willingness to learn.
Additional Information
How We Will Support You In Performing This Role
We want to support and develop you in the role, using a combination of the following to help you reach your full potential.
* Regular one-to-one meetings with your team leader.
* An experienced and supportive team around you.
* Support to undertake job-relevant training and development, as identified by your Line Manager. This could be informal or could be a formal qualification, such as AAT or other accountancy professional qualification.
* A staff mentoring scheme.
* Support to learn Welsh or to update language skills.
Salary Range Min.
27,644
Salary Range Max.
30,805
Job Category
Admin / Clerical
Grade
Grade 4 #J-18808-Ljbffr