Finance & Verification Assistant in Coleraine

Our client Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council are currently looking for a Finance & Verification Assistant to join their team on a temporary basis.

MAIN PURPOSE OF POST: This post will be responsible for providing support to the Funding Unit. This support will include financial, vouching, verification and monitoring of the Councils Grant Funding expenditure. The post holder will ensure that all funds allocated to Grant Programmes by Council are effectively and efficiently accounted for in accordance with Council policies and procedures. The post holder will ensure that all responsibilities are carried out in a timely and effective manner and that general confidentiality is maintained in all areas relating to the work of the Council. The post holder must have compliance knowledge and grant finance knowledge as these are both essential for this position given the specialist nature of the role.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• To provide support to Council's Funding Unit, ensuring Application Forms are processed for eligibility.
• To ensure ineligible letters, Letters of Offer or Rejection are issued to organisations, along with other applicable documentation.
• To vouch and verify all grant expenditure and to process invoices in accordance with Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council requirements.
• To undertake Verification visits or on the spot verification visits when required.
• To monitor the implementation of projects against letter of offer targets, ensuring that grant conditions are adhered to and that accurate project claims are supplied on a timely basis.
• To give advice and guidance to projects in respect of monitoring where required.
• To assist the Compliance & Verification Officer to process invoices and prepare regular claims to external funders.
• To ensure transparency and accountability through all payments approved by Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.
• To liaise with the external funders regarding information and queries relating to funded projects.
• To undertake the collection and collation of financial and monitoring information for projects and input information into relevant databases ensuring that accurate records of all expenditure are maintained.
• Ensure compliance with Council procedures and systems and cooperate fully with any audit inspections.
• To issue timely correspondence with grant recipients to ensure claims are submitted in an efficient manner.
• To record and monitor when claim documentation is received by Funding Unit, being a first point of contact for applicants to advise if relevant claim documentation is provided.
• To ensure data is being stored accurately on databases and grant manager software.
• To ensure all project monitoring is signed off by the relevant service area and signed versions are held by the Funding Unit.
• To ensure all necessary conflict and confidentiality forms are signed and returned by assessment panel members, and to ensure these documents are retained for audit purposes.

Essential Criteria:

• Applicants must have two years' experience in financial and administrative duties.
• Two years' demonstrable employment experience claims processing including the vouching and verification of expenditure.
• Two years' experience of using a range of IT packages which will enable the postholder to fulfil the requirements of the post including word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software and databases.
• Access to a form of transport to enable the postholder to meet the requirements of the post in full.