Apprentice Assistant Accountant

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Finance

Apprentice Assistant Accountant

Ref: 001617

Contract: Fixed Term (2.5 - 3.5 years)

Salary: £20,740 - £24,296 per annum (Apprentice Grade)

Hours: 36.66 per week

Location: Spindles Offices, West Street, Oldham, OL1 1LF

Closing Date: Tuesdsay 28 July 2026

Interview Date: TBC.

Role Overview:

Are you looking to start a rewarding career in finance whilst helping to make a real difference in your community?

Join Oldham Council and take the first step in a supportive, forward thinking organisation that is committed to developing talent and helping you grow. You will be part of a dynamic workplace that values collaboration, innovation and continuous development, giving you every opportunity to build a successful and meaningful career.

As an Apprentice Accountancy Assistant, you will play an important role in supporting our Finance team. You will gain hands-on experience in a wide range of financial system administration tasks including income management allocation, reconciliations, ledger maintenance such as journals and dealing with queries from external customers and internal Council staff.

As part of your apprenticeship, you will be setting a strong foundation for future career progression within the Council with the potential to go on to secure permanent roles and advance within the organisation.

If you are ready to learn, grow and make a difference, we would love to hear from you. Join us and be part of something bigger in the Finance Team at Oldham Council.

Key Responsibilities:

• Be able to maintain accurate computerised information systems by inputting, updating and extracting data.
• Follow set processes for setting up projects, raising purchase orders, debtor/ sales invoices and journals.
• Helping budget holders and requisitioners with financial system queries.
• Assisting with cash and credit control matters.
• Entering and analysing information in Excel spreadsheets.

Key Requirements:

To succeed in this role, you will :

• Have a desire to work within a business office environment and an interest in finance is desirable.
• Possess a good level of communication skills, written and verbal;
• Have a strong attention to detail, working accurately, and consistently striving for excellence.

About Us:

We want Oldham to have vibrant, safe neighbourhoods where people are proud to live with opportunities for healthier, more fulfilled lives; and a sustainable, thriving economy. As we look to the future, the challenges may be significant, but so are the opportunities. We’ve identified three missions with our residents and partners, focusing on what will deliver the biggest impact:

A Great Place to Live, Healthier, Happier Lives, and Green and Growing.

We’re looking for candidates who will support us to achieve our ambitions and we encourage you to download our Corporate Plan: Ready for the Future and our Oldham Plan for further information.

Our Values and Behaviours:

By driving innovation, investing in our people, and championing our communities, we will ensure that Oldham continues to be a place where everyone can live their best life. To support this, we have three core values which define who we are and how we operate. These are ‘Proud, Ambitious, and Together’, and they shape our culture, inform our decisions, and inspire us to deliver on our commitments to the people of Oldham.

We have translated these values into five behaviours which guide our actions and are the standards we hold ourselves to, day in and day out:

• Work with a resident focus
• Support local leaders
• Committed to the borough
• Delivery high performance
• Take ownership and drive change

You can find out more about our values and behaviours on our greater.jobs Oldham page

Our Benefits Package:

At Oldham Council we offer a great benefits package for our employees, which includes the following:

• 25 days annual leave which increases after 5 and 10-years’ service
• The option to purchase additional annual leave.
• An attractive LGPS benefit pension scheme with the option to make shared cost additional voluntary contributions.
• Discounted gym membership with Oldham Active.
• Staff discount scheme for shopping, entertainment, eating-out, eating-in, travel, motoring and more.
• Salary sacrifice scheme for home and electronics and Cycle to Work.
• Wellbeing support, including a Mental Health First Aider network and an Employment Assistance Programme that provides 24 hours access to advice and support.
• Staff recognition and celebration events.
• Peer support groups

Inclusive Recruitment:

We work closely with employees to help them work at their best, including making adjustments such as flexible working, describing available working patterns, providing equipment or making changes to the workplace.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and therefore expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you have lived or worked abroad for 3 months or more in the last 5 years or 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the last 10 years whilst aged 18 or over, please refer to the link below for details for how to obtain your Certificates of Good Character. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal-records-checks-for-overseas-applicants

Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to offer sponsorship.

If you have completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme please indicate this within the ‘About You’ or ‘Supporting Statement’ section of your application.

If you’re an applicant with disabilities and have previously been in or currently in care, a carer, someone who has served in the Armed Forces, or you’ve participated in the GM Elevate Programme, and you meet the essential criteria of the role, you are guaranteed to reach the first stage of assessment under our Guaranteed Assessment Scheme.

Data and Privacy:

For details of how we use your data please see our Privacy Notice

Important Information:

Please note that should a vacancy that has been released for internal or external recruitment be deemed suitable for a current employee at risk of redundancy, it can be pulled back at any point, up to the post being formally offered to a candidate who is not at risk of redundancy.

Right to Work in the UK from 1st July 2021.doc