East Suffolk Council, Melton (IP12 1RT) or Lowestoft (NR33 OEQ) (depending on candidate preference)
Year 1 - £16,341 per annum; Year 2 – £24,521 per annum (NLW)
37 hours per week
21-month training contract
Start date – 14th September 2026

East Suffolk Council is an exciting place to work and a great place to make a real difference to people’s lives, delivering vital services to a quarter of a million people across East Suffolk.

We have an established and successful apprenticeship scheme, which has seen over 80% of apprentices stay on beyond their apprenticeships to develop promising careers with the Council. If you are looking for an exciting opportunity where you can earn money as well as gaining experience and a recognised qualification, then look no further!

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for two enthusiastic apprentices to join East Suffolk Council’s Finance team as a Finance Apprentice. This opportunity will give you the chance to work within our Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable team’s dealing with day-to-day financial transactions whilst studying for an accredited Finance qualification.

Your role

Your time will be spent working within either the Accounts Payable Team, processing invoices, checking for VAT compliance and dealing with queries from Council Service areas or within our Accounts Receivables team preparing sales invoices and monitoring mailboxes. These positions will rotate to ensure you get experience of both the Accounts Payables and Accounts Receivables teams which will help to support your studying. You will also learn how to use the Council’s financial system, a key skill that can be applied in many roles going forwards.

This role will enable you to study AAT Level 2 providing a basic understanding in essential accounting entries such as double-entry bookkeeping and basic costing. This is a widely recognised qualification, and along with experience working within our Finance Team will provide an excellent basis for your future career.

You will need:

You will need to have excellent written and verbal communication skills and IT skills and a minimum of 4 GCSEs at grade C or above or grade 4 -9 (or equivalent) including English and Maths (for entry onto the AAT course). No previous experience is required as full training will be provided.

Apprenticeship open evening!

We are pleased to announce that we will be holding two open evenings at our Melton and Lowestoft offices. This will give you the opportunity to find out more about East Suffolk Council’s apprenticeship scheme, learn more about each of our available opportunities direct from the placement managers and ask any questions you have. The open evenings are taking place on the following dates -

Tuesday 12th May 2026, 5.30pm – 7.00pm at the East Suffolk House offices (Riduna Park, Station Road, Melton, Woodbridge IP12 1RT)
Thursday 14th May 2026, 5.30pm – 7.00pm at the Riverside Offices (4 Canning Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0EQ)

Please email HR@eastsuffolk.gov.uk to book your place at one of our open evenings.

Why work for us?

East Suffolk Council is a great place to work and there are lots of benefits our employees can access. To find out more about why we are so proud of East Suffolk Council, take a look at our video and hear why our employees think it is such a great place to work.

Our apprentices have worked together to create a video to tell you a little bit about their experience of being an apprentice at East Suffolk Council, which we hope you find insightful.

Here are some of the main benefits:

A fully funded and supported Accounts or Finance Assistant Apprenticeship.
Generous holiday entitlement (equivalent to 25 days a year, increasing to 31 days after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays)
Flexible working arrangements
Local government pension scheme
The opportunity to meet and work alongside other apprentices in the organisation.
Great training and development opportunities to add to your CV.
A wide variety of staff support networks including access to health and wellbeing initiatives and programmes.
Discounts on mobile phones, computers, holiday and travel, fashion and clothing, health and beauty and many other products and services.

Please see our benefits brochure for further information.

For an informal discussion regarding this post, please email HR@eastsuffolk.gov.ukand we will arrange a date/time

If you think you could bring enthusiasm, fresh ideas and a different perspective to East Suffolk Council, we would like to hear from you!

Closing date: 11:30pm on 8th June 2026

Interview date: w/c 29th June 2026 and w/c 6th July 2026

How to apply

Step 1 - Read the advert and the Job Description and Person Specification

Step 2 - Complete the Supporting Statement template. Please see our Apprenticeship Application Guide to assist you in completing your application.

Step 3 - Complete the online application and upload your statement. Please note, CV’s are not accepted.

For more information, check out the How to Apply section of our Career Site.

East Suffolk Council is an exciting place to work and a great place to make a real difference to people’s lives, delivering vital services to a quarter of a million people across East Suffolk.
We hugely value our staff and know that in order for us to remain successful, it is essential for us to recognise talented employees, developing and retaining them within the organisation. We are therefore committed to investing in our staff and providing first-class support to ensure a positive culture and rewarding careers.
To find out more about why we are so proud of East Suffolk Council and to hear why our employees think it is such a great place to work, take a look at our video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSWedQksWt0

East Suffolk Council

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