Accounts Payable Officer
Cancer Research UK · Stratford · £28,000–£30,500 (stated in the posting)
£28,000 - £30,500
Reports to: Senior Finance Manager (Accounts Payable/Receivable)
Department: Finance, Governance, Assurance
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time 35 hours per week
Location: Stratford, London Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)
Closing date: 29 October 2026
Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.
Recruitment process: 1-2 stage competency based interview
At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.
We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That’s why we’re looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.
We are looking for a motivated and detail-oriented finance professional to join us as an Accounts Payable Officer. Ideally, you will have experience processing invoices and supplier payments, strong organisational skills, and a commitment to delivering excellent customer service, as you will be working closely with colleagues across the charity and managing relationships with a high volume of suppliers.
This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to develop a long-term career in finance. We are committed to supporting professional development and may be able to offer study support opportunities and other qualification pathways, depending on your level of study and experience.
What will I be doing?
- Processing high volume Purchase Order and Non-PO invoice transactions, non-staff expenses and other applicable Accounts Payable transactions in an accurate and timely manner in accordance with the agreed SLAs (Service Level Agreements)
- Carry out weekly BACS and CHAPS payment runs in line with the agreed payment schedule
- Oversee the invoice matching process and managing any mismatches or discrepancies
- Ensure all transactions are entered accurately on the finance system
- Maintain the Queries Log and ensure any invoices in query are regularly followed up on
- Update and maintain the Non Paid Staff Expenses tracker
- Regularly following up on invoices processed but not approved
- Appropriately deal with supplier queries relating to invoices & payments liaising with colleagues as appropriate
- Ensure all supplier letters detailing problems, differences and disputes are sent out automatically and followed up for resolution
- Reconcile all supplier statements received into the department to the internal records
- Manage Accounts Payable enquiries from Suppliers and End Users seeking support on Accounts Payable queries
- Ensure helpdesk calls are logged, responded to within the SLA and are effectively resolved
What skills will I need?
- Experience of working in an Accounts Payable department and/or processing a high volume of invoices
- Experience of working in a customer facing role is essential
- Ability to apply excellent communication skills, escalating complex and contentious matters to more senior team members
- Experience of proactively building relationships
- IT literate and experience and the ability to pick up financial systems quickly
- Accurate and efficient data entry with high attention to detail
- Strong customer focus, ensuring effective resolution of queries
- Effective time management, meeting KPIs and targets set
We recognise that no candidate will meet every requirement. If you're excited by this opportunity and believe you have the skills and potential to succeed, we'd love to hear from you.
Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.
Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination
Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism
Human: Act to have a positive impact on people
Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively
We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.
If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we’d still love to hear from you.
What will I gain?
We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.
You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.
How do I apply?
We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively.
Please note that applications can’t be edited once submitted.
Owing to the nature of this position, any offer of employment for this role will be subject to a satisfactory basic DBS check.
For more information on this career opportunity please visit our website or contact us at recruitment@cancer.org.uk.
For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.
We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact recruitment@cancer.org.uk or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.