Finance Assistant - Band 4

Job summary

We are seeking a Finance Assistant who will support the delivery of the financial services function within the ICB.

The team ensures the integrity of the ledger, reporting and annual accounts close down. This team is crucial to everything the wider team delivers and has a key role to play in ensuring the organisation realises its ambitions.

The team is responsible for managing the overall accounts payable and receivables function for the ICB. This includes managing invoice workflows, raising debtors invoices, dealing with internal and external queries, supplier setups, processing journals, analysing and preparing internal reports.

The team is also key to interpreting technical guidance and works as a conduit across the finance and commercial directorate, as well as with external partners where required.

Main duties of the job

Your responsibilities will include:

Ensuring the ledger supports the appropriate functioning and delegation in respect of the SFIs and Standing Orders.

Supporting analysis required for statutory accounts completion and month end requirements.

Assisting Coders/Approvers in the resolution of queries relating to invoices.

Advising suppliers to communicate directly with SBS in the first instance with regard to invoice settlement queries.

Reviewing of Oracle activity and proactively working with Budget Holders to ensure invoices are coded and approved in a timely manner.

Assisting with elements of ICB payments including faster payments when required, Primary Care Payments and Collaborative Payments.

Supporting the finance team in ensuring appropriate systems and processes are in place to enable the effective management and reporting of the organisations finances.

Supporting all relevant financial control related tasks such as Agreement of Balances and mismatches and providing coding guidance to finance staff.

Participating in projects, initiatives and other work as required by the Senior Financial Accountant or Deputy Director of Financial Management, Accounts and Financial Services

About us

NHS Essex ICB is a statutory organisation responsible for the planning and funding of NHS services for around 1.9 million people across Essex. Our role as an ICB is to bring health and care services together, improve the health and wellbeing of our population and ensure equitable access to services and outcome for everyone. The organisations headquarters is Seax House, Chelmsford, and we operate a hybrid working model (2 office-based days) that includes working across Essex and from home. Essex ICB currently has offices in Brentwood, Harlow and Colchester, in addition to the Chelmsford HQ.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that values diversity. We know that different experiences, ideas and perspectives help create a stronger and more innovative organisation that delivers better outcomes for patients. We welcome applications from all backgrounds, including people of all ages, disabilities, sex, gender identity or expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or personal circumstances. Our policies ensure all applicants are treated fairly and consistently throughout the recruitment process, including consideration of reasonable adjustments for disabled applicants.

Please note that the organisation does not hold a sponsorship licence.

Details

• Date posted: 27 August 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 4
• Salary: £28,392 to £31,157 a year
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: D9708-MSE556
• Job locations: Seax House, Victoria Road South, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1QH, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

ROLE PURPOSE / SUMMARY

The proposed Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) will be a new organisation formed through the consolidation of three ICB areas in response to the NHSs ambition to deliver a more streamlined, strategic and cost-effective model of health commissioning. The ICB will oversee the commissioning of care for the approximately 2 million people who live in Essex. Operating within a reduced running cost envelope and aligned to the new requirements of ICBs in Eng By establishing clear and transparent funding arrangements, triangulated with activity and workforce within our system we aim to support our collective understanding of how resources are allocated across the system for both revenue and capital.

The Finance Assistant supports the overall delivery of financial services and management accounting within the ICB. The team ensures the integrity of our ledger, our reporting and our annual accounts close down. This team is crucial to everything the wider team delivers and have a key role to play in ensuring the organisation realises its ambitions. The team will deliver the monthly cycle of close down and reporting working closely with our Business Partnering team to support the budget holders, project owners and senior responsible officers across the organisation to ensure they have the right insight to deliver their objectives. Sharing and learning from each other to shape forecasting, resource utilisation, risk, mitigation, productivity and value opportunities. The team will be key to interpreting technical guidance and will work as a conduit across the finance and commercial directorate, as well as with external partners where required.

land, the proposed Essex ICB will focus on improving population health outcomes, health equity and smarter resource allocation.

As the ICB transitions to become a leaner, more focused strategic commissioning organisation the post holder will be expected to support the Director of Finance in delivering on the three fundamental shifts set out in the NHS 10-year plan:

• From Treatment to Prevention: Embedding preventative, personalised and population based approaches to commissioning.
• From Hospital to Community: Championing care model redesign that supports community and neighbourhood health.
• From Analogue to Digital: Enabling clinically driven transformation through digital innovation, data analytics and evidence based improvement.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

To deliver on the job description set out above, the job holder will be expected to deliver on the requirements set out below:

Policy and service development

• Support implementation of policy and / or service developments related to Finance
• Support team to ensure compliance with relevant ICB policies
• Completes surveys or evaluations to support project delivery

Strategy and analysis

• Helps present insights and reports relating to finance, drawing on complex data, that can be used to inform decision making and delivery
• Use of data and insight to contribute to reporting, including performance management, financial and quality reporting against agreed contractual or project deliverables

Planning and organisation

• Manage competing priorities, prioritizing own resources to effectively deliver agreed tasks or projects
• Ensure accurate reporting and records management
• Supports the team with the management of payments, invoices and reconciliations.
• Supports the team with preparation of final statements each month.

Communications and Partnerships

• Work collaboratively, modelling inclusive, respectful and compassionate behaviours
• Supports development of high quality written and verbal briefings
• Regular use of email and phone communications to deliver administrative tasks
• Build strong, trust-based relationships across the team and ICB as needed
• Work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams to help deliver agreed projects / manage directorate
• Effective management of complex, sensitive and challenging information
• Manages supplier queries and relationships with SBS.

Financial and resource management

• Supports procurement of relevant services
• Review invoices received and forward to the appropriate staff for coding and approval
• Liaise with SBS to review and resolve issues
• Forward any invoices received direct by the ICB to NHS SBS at the agreed address
• Assist Coders/Approvers in the resolution of queries relating to invoices
• Advise suppliers to communicate directly with SBS in the first instance with regard to invoice settlement queries
• For new suppliers complete and electronically submit the New Supplier Set Up Request Forms
• Purchasing card; reconciliation to statement and raising of journal
• Review of Oracle activity and proactively work with Budget Holders to ensure invoices are coded and approved in a timely manner
• Other finance support as required
• Support the finance team in ensuring appropriate systems and processes are in place to enable the effective management and reporting of the organisations finances
• Ensuring that the organisations finance policies and procedures are followed
• To plan and organise own time in conjunction with other team members to ensure that team deadlines are met
• To undertake reconciliation and analysis work as requested by the Senior Finance Team
• Support the monthly reporting process and the production of returns and year end accounts
• Contribute to the delivery of the teams objectives
• To participate in projects, initiatives and other work as required by the Senior Financial Accountant or Associate Director of Financial Management, Accounts and Financial Services

Team management and capability building

• Work as an effective team member, undertaking training as required
• Support the effective transition of relevant functions to new portfolios within or beyond the ICB to support the new NHS operating model, in line with the requirements of the Model ICB Blueprint
• Work collaboratively with system partners to facilitate transitional arrangements
• Maintain a focus on quality, safety and affordability during transition
• Supporting effective Information Asset Management for the team

Other

• Primarily desk-based work that requires use of visual display units, focused concentration and frequent participation in on-line or in person meetings
• Expected to be physically on site at least 2 days a week, this may be in the ICB officer, or in a partner location as required
• Able to use software required to develop report, including ability to deliver high quality documents through Microsoft suite (word, power point, excel)

Flexibility and evolving responsibilities

As the ICB continues to evolve, portfolios may be subject to change to reflect the needs of the organization, the health and care system and national policy direction. This may include adjustments to areas of responsibility or realignment of reporting structures.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

The post holder will need to build constructive relationships with partners from across the health and care system. Key relationships will be with:

• Team members
• Finance business partners
• HR business partners
• Information Governance Team
• Business Managers