Job Advert
Location: Hybrid with some attendance required in our Edinburgh Office
Work Pattern: Fixed Term, Full Time, 37 hours per week
As from 1/4/26, the Agenda for Change full-time working week will be reducing from 37 to 36 hours per week. Part time hours will be reduced pro-rata. However, there will be a corresponding increase in the hourly rate so that pay will not be affected.
Fixed-term or Secondment** 18 months for date of appointment
**For NHS applicants, an NHS secondment will be offered in the first instance. For non-NHS applicants, a fixed-term or secondment would be considered.
You must have eligibility and entitlement to work in the UK which is required to be maintained throughout your period of employment.
Who We Are
NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is the national health board with statutory responsibilities to effect sustainable change through workforce development, education and training across the health and social care system in Scotland, while working at UK level with partner organisations.
The Finance Directorate operates under a Finance Business Partnering ethos to support NES in delivering its strategic objectives and in the management of its £600m annual budget within a robust and proportionate governance structure. This post is within the Governance and Operational (Finance) team who are responsible for all aspects of financial governance and transactional processing
The Opportunity
We are looking for an enthusiastic and self-motivated individual to join our Finance Directorate, helping us to meet the deadlines and goals each month while being encouraged to self-develop.
Working within the Governance & Operational Finance team you will have the opportunity to work closely with two other colleagues to share tasks on a rotational basis to ensure efficient processing of supplier and customer invoices, processing of customer receipts and employee expenses as well as providing excellent customer service when dealing with queries.
Do you enjoy the challenge of working to deadlines and being adaptive to an ever-changing environment?
Do you enjoy working and communicating with a wide variety of people?
Do you want to play a key role in delivering a high-quality customer service to both our internal NES workforce and our external stakeholders (NHS visitors, suppliers and service providers?
Do you enjoy working in a team and supporting your team members?
Do you
Working within the Finance team you will have the opportunity to bring your unique skills and experience to the table, collaborating across multiple workstreams to support the Finance & Procurement Directorate and the wider NES
Does this sound like you?
What We Love to See
Finance Assistants offer a broad range of skills and experience, if you can offer some or all of these, we’d love you to apply:
Experience of processing customer and supplier invoices
Reconciliation of supplier statements
High attention to detail in all aspects of your work
A self-starter with a customer service focus and a high level of motivation and initiative
Experience of working collaboratively and flexibly within a team, directly supporting your colleagues
Ability to communicate clearly, effectively and confidently at all levels (both verbally and in writing)
Proven track record using Microsoft packages (in particular MS Teams, MS Outlook, and MS Excel) and confidence in learning and using other specialist software (e.g. accountancy systems
Demonstrate honesty, integrity, care and compassion when dealing with others, utilising tact and persuasion skills when necessary
Ability to work on own initiative, to organise and prioritise own workloads, to meet strict deadlines
Benefits Which Matter
As a valued employee of NHS Scotland, you can enjoy an extensive range of benefits including:
Life-work balance - with opportunities for flexible working and hybrid working
Generous NHS pension scheme
Annual incremental salary progression (up to the maximum of the salary band) plus annual NHS salary scale review
Annual Leave - 27 Days increasing in line with service plus 8 days public holiday
NHS discounts and more
Diversity and Inclusion
Developing a successful national service for Scotland means considering the diverse needs, perspectives, and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland. We are focused on hiring the very best talent and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds. Our aim to ensure that everyone is treated fairly, with respect, and has a positive recruitment experience—regardless of the outcome.
We welcome applications from all under-represented groups, including racially minoritised people and disabled people. It is not essential to be in a Finance Assistant role right now—you may be returning from a career break (e.g., maternity, paternity, caring) or coming from another field. Your experiences can bring a fresh perspective to our work.
If you are considering applying and would like to discuss the opportunity, any adjustments or alternative work patterns, please contact Lauren Mabon, Governance Senior Adviser, lauren.mabon@nhs.scot.
Next Steps
**NHS candidates will be considered firstly on a secondment basis, and so are strongly encouraged to discuss this with their current NHS employer at the earliest opportunity, ideally prior to application.
All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.
In person OR online interviews (including an assessment) will take place on Thursday 5th March 2026.
For further information please refer to the Job Information Pack below.
Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date. Please note, CVs will not be accepted.
Please be advised that if you are successful in being offered the role following the recruitment process, you will be expected to attend the office prior to your start date to complete face-to-face pre-employment checks. If you require any adjustments to support this, please let us know.
To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.
As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.
For specific types of post, if you do not have the necessary eligibility to work in the UK, it might be possible (though not guaranteed) to secure sponsorship via a UK Skilled Worker/Health & Care Worker Visa. However, this is only possible if the employer is a licenced Sponsor, and if the post does not fall below the current minimum salary threshold or ‘going rate’. Further information on these criteria can be found here.
It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.
If you have any queries regarding the NHS Scotland National Recruitment Portal or the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to contact our recruitment partners, the East Region Recruitment Service, at: EoS.ERRS@nhs.scot