Accounts Payable and Payments Clerk

Salary: £22,197 with progression to £23,662 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 22 March 2023

The Role

We have an exciting opportunity to join the Accounts Payable & Payments teams based within Newcastle University’s Finance Hub. The Hub is a team of more than 150 skilled and ambitious colleagues who manage the financial business activities of the University. We provide a professional and proactive service to our students, colleagues and stakeholders. We are committed to supporting the personal and professional development of our team.

Working across both Accounts Payable & Payments teams, you will be responsible for a wide range of tasks, including:

•    Timely processing of University supplier invoices
•    Checking & reconciling of supplier statements
•    Assisting with student payment related processes
•    Assisting with purchasing card related processes
•    Dealing with all associated queries 

We are looking for a highly motivated, committed and reliable individual to join us. We need a team player who shows great attention to detail & enjoys communicating effectively with people at all levels and has good levels of numeracy, literacy, and IT skills.

If this is you then we’d love to hear from you. Please contact Gill Grierson (Accounts Payable Manager) for more information gill.grierson@ncl.ac.uk

We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment and are happy to discuss arrangements for flexible and/or blended/hybrid working.

To apply, please complete an online application and upload a CV and a cover letter. Please complete any application questions as directed. Your cover letter is a supporting statement and you should outline how you meet the essential criteria of the role and evidence this with examples

Key Accountabilities

• To carry out a range of accounts payable & payments processes using the SAP Finance System
• Ensure all supplier invoices are processed accurately, efficiently & paid within established terms and conditions.  Reconcile supplier statements to identify any queries & following up accordingly using the automated Accounts Payable Workbench
• Assist with the preparation and administration of Post Graduate studentships. Liaising closely with each Faculty Graduate School, academic units and students to ensure all relevant regulations are adhered to
• Assist in verifying and reconciling student and sponsor accounts in line with University regulations, in order to ensure that correct fees and payments are posted to fee accounts for postgraduate studentships
• Assist in administering and maintaining the University’s purchasing card database.  This includes issuing of new cards, maintaining card holder profiles in SAP and arranging substitute work flows as required.  Providing support to card holders as appropriate
• Undertake regular reviews of outstanding purchasing card transactions.  Liaising with cardholders and nominated approvers to ensure card transactions are coded & approved within required deadlines
• Provide support for general housekeeping routines on APW & the Accounts Payable Ledger
• Ensure rapid query resolution; by means of continuous interaction (telephone, e-mail & in-person), with both internal University staff, students and external suppliers

The Person 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience 

• Experience of working in a busy financial environment, preferably in an accounts payable / payment processing environment
• Able to work quickly and accurately with great attention to detail is essential to meet our internal & contractual deadlines.  (The team process large volumes of invoices, payment requests & queries on a daily basis)
• Has good interpersonal skills & be able to communicate clearly & concisely with internal and external customers.  Able to interact well with team members (essential)
• Good level of literacy and numeracy in order to interpret and communicate financial data effectively (essential)
• Possess well-developed IT skills, in particular Microsoft Office (Excel & Word) (essential)

Attributes and Behaviour

• Able to work in a planned and structured way to prioritise workload 
• Has a positive attitude & is enthusiastic in getting the job done on time to meet deadlines
• Co-operates with others to achieve targets
• Able to use initiative to resolve problems & queries
• Remains calm when responding to challenging situations
• Possesses a high level of integrity due to the volume, value & nature of transactions involved in the payment process

Qualifications

• Be educated to a minimum of 5 GCSEs grade 9-4 (A–C) or equivalent, including Mathematics and English or relevant experience

Newcastle is an inclusive global University community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University is also a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 25177