"Finance Manager" Jobs
The Commonwealth Foundation is committed to bringing Commonwealth civil society and its citizens into the centre of discussion and decision-making around critical issues that affect their lives. As Governance Officer in the Office of the Directorate, you will serve as a main point of contact between the Foundation and its external partners, including High Commissioners and other stakeholders. This position demands frequent and meaningful interaction with the Director-General, ensuring governance activities align closely with the Foundation’s strategic goals.
Applicants must have relevant experience. This position is only open to applicants with an existing right to work in the United Kingdom.
The organisation
The Commonwealth Foundation is mandated by its Member States to advance the interests of Commonwealth civil society. The Foundation seeks to nurture the growth of vibrant and free societies: championing the active and constructive participation of people in all aspects of governance. Our key focus areas are climate justice, health justice and freedom of expression. Our cross-cutting themes are gender equality, small and vulnerable states and young people.
The programme
The Office of the Directorate is headed by the Director-General of the Foundation, Dr Anne T. Gallagher AO. In addition to providing overall leadership, it brings together core functions related to governance, finance and people management.
The role
The Governance Officer liaises with external partners and supports the Director-General to ensure governance activities align with the Foundation’s strategic goals. Working under the direction of the Senior Office Manager (People and Finance), you will bring strong administrative and diplomatic skills.
Your main responsibilities will include:
- Manage communications and correspondence with Governors, High Commissions, and external stakeholders.
- Keep detailed electronic records of Directorate activities, decisions, and communications.
- Provide administrative support to the Directorate, including diary management and event coordination.
- Offer advice on diplomacy and protocol.
- Organise travel and manage logistics for Directorate engagements.
- Lead the planning and execution of Board and Committee meetings, handle related scheduling, correspondence, and logistics.
- Prepare and distribute documents for Board meetings, assisting with minute taking where required.
- Serve as the contact point for the Foundation’s Civil Society Governors.
- Assist with the reconciliation of expenses, preparation of financial reminders, and support finance-related tasks.
- Contribute to HR, office management, and other Directorate responsibilities as needed.
- Foundation-wide Support: Handle external communications, participate in Foundation-wide initiatives, and contribute to strategic planning and process improvement.
The individual
We seek an individual with strong administrative experience, preferably in an intergovernmental or diplomatic context. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, are essential, along with the ability to build relationships across the organisation and a commitment to fostering a welcoming, inclusive work environment.
The ideal candidate will be discreet, practical, and solution-oriented; exhibiting a strong work ethic, high attention to detail, reliability, independence, and the flexibility to adapt to new challenges and learn new skills.
What we offer
Salary expectation: £31,000 – £33,000
The Foundation is proud of our welcoming and accommodating working environment. We strive to be a great place to work.
We offer generous holidays 30 days (plus 8 bank holidays and 4 privilege days).
Fifteen percent of your salary is payable tax-free at stipulated periods in lieu of a formal superannuation scheme.
Foundation staff have access to our private health scheme, including dental cover.
We are based in Marlborough House, Pall Mall, central London. We are currently operating a flexible working policy which requires all staff to work from the office at least five days per fortnight including every Wednesday, and applicants must be able to affirm their capacity and willingness to work within this policy.
Our commitment
The Foundation celebrates diversity, and we are proud of our diverse and welcoming team. All qualified applicants already eligible to work in the UK will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status or pregnancy.
If you need us to make any special accommodation in the recruitment and selection process because of a protected characteristic, please let us know.
The process
Interested candidates should apply online through the link below.
The application requires you to provide a comprehensive CV as well as a motivation letter that clearly addresses the criteria as outlined in the person specification and the competencies framework.
You must possess and declare the right to work in the UK at the time of application submission for your application to be considered.
Closing date for applications
17 April 2024, 1pm GMT.
Interviews
First-round interviews will be online on Thursday 2 and Friday 3 May 2024.
Second-round interviews will be held in person week beginning Friday 17 May 2024.
Sightsavers is looking for a Governance & Safeguarding Coordinator - a new role within our expanding team to help us coordinate our governance and safeguarding systems, processes and frameworks
Salary: £24,045 - £28,288
Location: UK-based - with lots of working from home, occasional travel to Haywards Heath, West Sussex when required plus some international travel
Contract: Permanent
Hours: This is a full-time role with some flexibility around hours worked
We are looking for an organised and effective coordinator to provide support to the the Controller of Governance and Assurance and the Global Head of Safeguarding. This will involve managing a portfolio of administrative responsibilities, including supporting key safeguarding stakeholders, Sightsavers global boards, as well as working with UK Board and sub committees, ensuring that they are provided with a comprehensive and efficient support service, enabling them to discharge their roles.
Key duties will include:
- Board administration
- Planning and coordination
- Trustees
- Insurance
- Governance and risk management
- Communications
- Supporting incident management
- Training administration and coordination
- Travel of up to four weeks per year is anticipated - in the UK and abroad (typically to Dubai but possibly also Kenya)
This will be a varied role. Please see the full for further details
This is an ideal opportunity to build on your existing coordination To succeed in this role you will need:
- Experience within an organisation in a relevant field such as governance, safeguarding, compliance, legal, finance or similar
- Experience implementing organisational policies and procedures
- Experience working with a wide range of stakeholders
- A practical understanding of safeguarding and how to create safe environments (this is desirable not essential)
- Excellent written communication
- Excellent administration, including letter, email and report writing and presentation
- Strong verbal communication
- The ability to manage confidential and sensitive information
- An analytical approach with excellent attention to detail
- The ability to follow issues through to completion
- Effective time management
- The ability to work with minimal supervision, prioritise work to meet deadlines by working well with other team members
- An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity for disabled people
- Experience with Microsoft Office products
Please read the full for further details
Benefits
Sightsavers offers some fantastic benefits. Our comprehensive benefits package includes generous annual leave allowance, pension, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme, discounted gym memberships and wellness discounts. If you choose to work in or are visiting our collaborative, modern office space, you will find it an easy 20-minute train journey from Brighton or 45 minutes from London. This is a full time role but we can offer some flexibility around the hours worked. We consider that 10am to 3pm, five days per week will need to be the core hours for this position. Please note that there will be an expectation that you can visit our modern and collaborative offices in Haywards Heath, West Sussex (RH16 3BW) at least once a month for team and other meetings although more frequently would be preferred.
To apply for this exciting opportunity, please complete an application via our recruitment portal. We are particularly interested in learning of your motivations for applying. We anticipate that remote interviews will take place in mid-April and the evaluation process will include a minute-taking task to be completed by shortlisted candidates in advance of the first interview.
As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply. Sightsavers is an employer that does not tolerate any form of harassment and has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All potential candidates will be subjected to rigorous background checks and controls.
In line with its commitment to safe programming and recruitment, Sightsavers participates in the inter-agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS) administered by the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response. Through collaboration with other MDS members, Sightsavers aims to ensure that there are no sexual exploitation, abuse or harassment issues relating to potential new hires and that we can respond systematically to checks from fellow MDS members. This ensures our work is accountable, delivered to a high standard and supports safeguarding across the development and humanitarian fields.