The National Transport Authority wishes to recruit a suitably experienced and qualified individual to the role of Rural Finance Accountant. Successful candidates may be placed on a panel from which future vacancies may be filled.
Duties and Responsibilities
Reporting to the Finance Manager, the Rural Finance Accountant will support the delivery of accurate, timely, and insightful financial oversight across rural transport initiatives, including Rural Regular Services (RRS), Demand Responsive Transport (DRT), and associated programmes such as Connecting Ireland, Smart DRT, and the Just Transition Fund (JTF). The role combines financial analysis responsibilities with operational tasks, financial stewardship ensuring robust controls and compliance and quality control.
The successful candidate shall undertake tasks, including those listed below, to the highest standards:
* Assist in the preparation of annual budgets across programme areas (e.g. Admin and Wages, Marketing, Tech Assist, Smart DRT, JTF), drawing on prior-year expenditure, current trends, and agreed assumptions;
* Assist with the Programme of Activities (POA) submission to the Transport Contracts Unit (TCU), including gathering service-level data, reviewing previous year submissions, and identifying routes that may require retendering;
* Support preparation of monthly cash flow forecasts, reviewing funding allocations against actual and anticipated expenditure, and highlighting variances or funding gaps;
* Extract and review monthly actuals related to rural programmes and post supporting journal entries into Microsoft Business Central;
* Assist in preparing monthly reconciliations, investigating and resolving discrepancies as required;
* Support variance analysis of budgeted vs actual expenditure across RRS, DRT, and related service costs;
* Support training and knowledge sharing on key processes and tools, such as Rural Programme reporting cycles, Solver reporting, Power BI dashboards, and POA preparation workflows;
* Maintain risks and controls, implementing and monitoring effective controls to mitigate any potential threats;
* Act as key point of contact for internal and external stakeholders including Local Link offices;
* Coordinating with internal and external auditors, providing necessary documentation and evidence where required and addressing any audit findings or queries;
* Participate in process improvement and digital enablement to provide new insights and identify opportunities for efficiency improvements where relevant;
* Contribute to a strong compliance culture by ensuring robust internal controls and audit standards are achieved and maintained; and
* Assist with other ad hoc assignments as agreed to support the general work of the NTA.
Note
:
The functions and responsibilities initially assigned to the position are based on the current organisational requirements and may be changed from time to time. The person appointed requires flexibility to fulfil other roles and responsibilities at a similar level within the NTA
.
Essential Criteria
Please note: In order to satisfy the shortlisting panel that you meet these criteria you must explicitly reference how you meet same in your application. Failure to demonstrate these may prevent your application progressing to future shortlisting stages.
Each candidate must meet the following requirements at the time of the competition closing:
1. Hold a minimum of a NFQ degree level 7 qualification in a finance, IT or other related discipline;
2. Have at least 5 years relevant experience in finance working with the financial modules of Microsoft Business Central or similar finance technologies;
3. Hold, or currently be undertaking a recognised professional accounting qualification;
4. Possess strong MS Office skills, particularly Excel;
5. Demonstrate proficient management and delivery skills (communication, relationship management, proactivity, decision-making);
6. Demonstrate strong attention to detail, including through the application process for this position; and
7. Demonstrate strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
Desirable Criteria
Please note: Should further shortlisting be required after essential criteria above, a selection of the following may be assessed.
The ideal candidate will also:
1. Demonstrate ownership, initiative and self-motivation over own work;
2. Have strong communication and interpersonal skills, demonstrating the ability to build and maintain relationships with different stakeholders;
3. Have knowledge of public service policies, services and activities, specifically in the transport sector;
4. Have a proven ability to organise and manage a range of work activities while delivering results successfully and in a timely manner; and
5. Demonstrate the ability to work within, and contribute positively to, multi-disciplinary teams.
Remuneration
Salary Grade: Higher Executive Officer
Salary Scale: €58,847, €60,567, €62,285, €64,000, €65,723, €67,437, €69,157, €71,637 (LSI 1), €74,112 (LSI 2).
Personal Pension Contribution (PPC) rate.
This salary is payable to an individual who is required to make a personal pension contribution (PPC) to their main pension (in general those persons whose initial appointment to the Public Service is on or after 6th April 1995).
€56,047, €57,664, €59,279, €60,907, €62,537, €64,180, €65,811, €68,158 (LSI 1), €70,513 (LSI 2).
Non Personal Pension Contribution (non-PPC) rate.
This salary is payable to an individual who is not required to make a personal pension contribution (PPC) to their main pension scheme.
Annual Leave:
29 days per annum. This leave is on the basis of a five-day week and is exclusive of the usual public holidays.
Note:
* entry will be at point 1 of the scale and will not be subject to negotiation;
* different pay and conditions may apply if, immediately prior to appointment the appointee is already a serving Civil Servant or Public Servant;
* the rate of remuneration may be adjusted from time to time in line with Government pay policy.
Contract:
Permanent Contract
Probation:
There is a 6 month probationary period which may at the discretion of the CEO be extended to 10 months.
Selection Process
Prior to completing your application please read the Important Candidate Information Booklet on our careers page here:
How to Apply
Please submit your application in one single word document or PDF referencing the title of the role you wish to apply for in the subject of the email to
with the following:
1. A comprehensive cover letter outlining why you wish to be considered for the post and where you believe your skills and experience meet the requirements for the role of Rural Finance Accountant; and
2. A comprehensive CV (not to exceed 3 pages).
Please note that omission of any or part of the 2 requested documents, as set out above, will render the application incomplete. Incomplete applications will not be considered for the next stage of the selection process.
Closing Date
The closing date and time for applications is strictly 12pm (noon) on 13 February 2026.Applications received after the specified deadline cannot be accepted.
If you do not receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your application within 2 working days of applying, please email