Bookkeeper jobs in city of london, england

The Quintin Hogg Trust (QHT) is seeking a highly organised and detail-driven Business and Governance Manager to support the smooth running of our governance, grant management, and operational functions. This role is central to ensuring strong regulatory compliance, effective Board and Committee administration, and robust coordination across our charity and its stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Governance & Board Support
• Prepare agendas and papers for Trustee and Committee meetings, liaising with the Chair and Deputy Chair.

• Produce accurate meeting minutes, record decisions and actions, and track progress for follow-up reporting.

• Ensure meetings are properly convened, quorate, and compliant with the governing document.

• Maintain key governance records, policies, and documents through the electronic library (DecisionTime).

• Manage the Trust’s risk register and conflicts of interest register.

• Organise trustee induction and ongoing training.

Operational & Administrative Support
• Coordinate with trustees, committee chairs, and advisers to ensure compliance with charity law and reporting requirements.

• Handle correspondence, collate information, and draft reports as needed.

• Manage insurance matters, including renewals.

• Enter into supplier contracts on behalf of the Trust.

• Support financial administration, including approving invoices and working with the accountant/bookkeeper.

• Assist in preparing the Annual Report and Accounts.

University Liaison
• Serve as the first administrative point of contact with the University of Westminster, ensuring decisions are communicated effectively.

Skills & Experience

Essential
• Experience working in a grant-giving charity, ideally within higher education.

• Understanding of financial processes relating to grants and experience auditing or reviewing grant recipients.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Advanced Excel skills or proficiency with grant-management software.

• Strong financial analytical skills and high attention to detail.

• Experience in effective negotiation.

Desirable
• Familiarity with charity governance frameworks
• Experience supporting Boards or Committees
• Ability to manage complex documentation and multi-stakeholder coordination

About You

We are looking for someone who:
• Is organised, proactive, and comfortable managing competing priorities
• Has strong judgement and confidentiality
• Works well with senior stakeholders
• Is committed to high-quality governance and charitable impact

Deadline to respond: 22 December 2025

Interviews: w/c 5 January 2026

Decision: w/c 12 January 2026

Role

We seek a Finance Manager to lead the day to day running of the charity’s finances including overseeing the work of our outsourced financial provider. As a grant giving organisation, there will be regular interaction with the programmatic workstreams in this position, offering a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to increase the capacity of a field-leading charity, help empower researchers in the Global South, and contribute to one of the world’s most important climate debates. If you are an ambitious qualified finance professional, this is an opportunity to step into a role with purpose, international influence, and real impact.  

Working with the COO, you will undertake organisational financial planning, budgeting and forecasting so that the senior staff and trustees have comprehensive information for decision making. Furthermore, in cooperation with the Development Manager, this role will support the submission of funding bids and reporting to funders to ensure the continued growth of the charity.

Responsibilities

As this is a new role, responsibilities are expected to evolve but some key items include:

• Financial Oversight: Overseeing the outsourced finance provider, ensuring service delivery meets organisational needs and deadlines. You will be the primary liaison between our financial services provider and the staff, ensuring that they make payments on behalf of the organisation, runs payroll, completes the bookkeeping via QuickBooks, the monthly management accounts, and the annual statutory accounts. 
• Budgeting & Forecasting: Preparing and monitoring annual organisational budgets including a mid-year adjustment, cash flow forecasts, financial models and annual accounts to support the annual business cycle and fundraising bids.
• Reporting: Finalising monthly management accounts prepared by outsourced financial provider, deliver financial reports for the COO, senior leadership, and trustees, and preparing donor financial reporting.
• Financial Strategy and Investment Oversight: Working with the COO to manage financial resources and reserves including developing the investment policy to support the long-term goals of the charity.
• Audit & Compliance: Leading on annual audits, maintain compliance with UK charity finance regulations, and ensure adherence to funder requirements.
• Programmatic financial support: Working closely with the programmes teams to ensure their payments processes run smoothly with the outsourced financial provider, and regularly reviewing their grant and event expenditure is in line with their own managed budgets.
• Process Improvement: Identifying opportunities to streamline financial processes and implement best practices, such as working with Operations to improve payments & expenses software, opening new bank accounts, or finding new platforms to reduce international payment fees.

Key relationships:

• Supervised by COO 
• Primary liaison with our outsourced financial provider (including a management accountant, payments officer and bookkeeper)
• Works with the Development Manager
• Grants Manager
• Operations team

The Executive Director has overall responsibility for TOLFA UK’s fundraising, financial management, marketing and communications, and personnel, to implement its mission of providing vital and preventative healthcare to India’s ownerless animals and those belonging to low-income owners, as well as educating communities in their welfare and value 

Initially  a salary of £19,000 per year for 24 hours per week; both the hours and salary could potentially increase based on the organisation’s income and financial assets 

A minimum 18-month commitment is expected; longer is preferred 

Reporting to the Board of Trustees
 

Responsibilities 

• Proactively diversify and sustainably increase TOLFA UK’s fundraising, such as: 

• Submitting grant proposals and reports to trusts and foundations 

• Cultivating individual donors and major donors 

• Using TOLFA UK’s donor database to raise funds more effectively 

• Collaborate with the Board of Trustees to develop the strategy of TOLFA UK, which will include becoming a more impactful organisation with increasing revenue and additional staff 

• Provide the vision and leadership to ensure the implementation of TOLFA UK’s strategy 

• Maintain excellent communication with the Board of Trustees, including providing monthly reports 

• Lead, motivate, and evaluate other staff, freelancers or consultants of TOLFA UK 

• Oversee TOLFA UK’s finances, collaborate with a bookkeeper to create and monitor budgets and ensure strong financial controls are in place, and promptly notify the Board of Trustees of any concerns. Lead on oversight of processes such as submission of year end accounts with third party accountancy partners. 

• Liaise with TOLFA India, including to understand their funding needs and obtain content for communications and fundraising 

• Manage TOLFA UK’s public communications, such as enquiries from the public and the media 

• Fill other roles and complete additional tasks as needed
 

Person Specification 

• UK Based 

• Demonstrated leadership skills which are necessary to expand TOLFA UK

• Proven success in fundraising

• Proven success in leading fully remote teams 

• Exceptional interpersonal skills with donors, trustees, staff, collaborators, and others 

• Excellent administrative skills including organization and attention to detail 

• Demonstrated efficiency, versatility, and ability to complete tasks within deadlines, when working independently and remotely. Strong ability to manage simultaneous ongoing tasks, projects or deadlines. 

• Strong writing skills, including writing in diverse styles and for diverse audiences 

• Demonstrated passion for animal welfare 

Please note that early applications are encouraged and we reserve the right to close the advert if we find the right candidate before the closing date of 12th Dec.

Contract: 1.0 FTE (37.5 hours per week), permanent with 6-month probation period

Salary: £56,650-70,000 per annum, depending on experience

Location: Remote working, with option to use co-working space

Start Date: As soon as possible

Reports to: Executive Director

Please note: You must have the right to work in the UK.

How to Apply

Closing Date: 4th January 2026 (23:59 GMT)

To apply, please submit the following: 

• Cover letter (maximum 2 pages)

• CV

Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you have not heard from us within two weeks of the closing date, your application has not been successful on this occasion.

About BASIC

BASIC is an independent, non-profit think tank working to safeguard humanity and Earth's ecosystem from nuclear risks and interconnected security threats, for generations to come. Our vision is for a global security consensus founded on multilateralism, the recognition of the indivisibility of security, adherence to Earth's planetary boundaries, and consideration of future generations.

For nearly 40 years, we have built a global reputation for groundbreaking dialogue and incisive thought leadership to strengthen international peace and security. We are an intellectually and culturally diverse team of 20 expert-practitioners with deep institutional experience, headquartered in London with additional presences in Berlin and Rome. We are independent, receive no core funding from any state, and our project work is funded transparently.

BASIC's approach to resolving contemporary nuclear dynamics is centred on dialogue as both a practice and a philosophy. We interpret dialogue broadly, recognising that meaningful engagement takes many forms: from facilitating direct strategic conversations between adversaries grounded in conflict resolution principles, to developing networks and diplomatic initiatives that build consensus around shared objectives, to shaping the intellectual foundations of policy discourse through rigorous research and thought leadership.

BASIC is a fast-paced and rewarding environment with an exceptionally positive and inclusive team culture. We have experienced rapid growth over the past decade and are well-suited to people who are motivated by our mission, able to work at a sustained pace, keen to develop professionally, and enjoy being part of a collaborative team working on consequential issues.

What We Offer

• Competitive salary with room for growth

• 30 days annual leave (pro rata), plus bank holidays and closure days over the December festive period

• Employer pension contributions of 5% (above the national minimum)

• Flexible working arrangements, with set days (Wednesdays required) but flexibility on hours

• Remote working with option to use co-working space

• 1-2 all-staff in-person team away day per year, as well as other in-person working opportunities

• Opportunities for professional growth and development

• Excellent team culture built on respect, openness, and inclusion

The Role

BASIC is seeking a hands-on Financial Controller to lead our finance function during a period of sustained growth. The Financial Controller will work across Programme teams ensuring strong financial management and reporting to funding partners, maintain strong financial controls, ensure compliance with charity finance regulations, and provide accurate financial reporting to our Directors and Board of Trustees.

The Financial Controller will oversee the small finance team, including line management of a Finance Assistant and management of an external bookkeeper consultant. This team will be responsible for the majority of financial accounting, processing payroll, and accurate bookkeeping, for which the Financial Controller will be ultimately accountable.

The role includes managing restricted and unrestricted funds in accordance with funder requirements and programme needs, preparing statutory accounts for external audit, and overseeing payroll processing. This role reports directly to the Executive Director to prepare annual budgets and financial strategy, and works closely with the Board's Financial Development Committee to present its implementation.

The ideal candidate will be a qualified accountant with strong technical accounting skills, experience in charity finance, and a proven track record of effective financial management of a growing organisation. You should be comfortable both managing a small team and working hands-on when needed, building collaborative relationships across the organisation. You will need to be a multitasker with the ability to work at pace, and be willing to develop the finance function and best practices to enable the organisation to grow further.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Accounting and Reporting

• Oversee the maintenance of accurate financial records and bookkeeping in accordance with charity accounting standards (SORP)

• Prepare monthly management accounts including variance reporting and rolling forecasts

• Prepare annual statutory accounts and manage the annual independent audit process in its entirety

• Manage restricted and unrestricted funds in accordance with funder requirements

• Provide accurate and timely financial reporting to the Board of Trustees, Executive Director, and funding partners

Financial Operations

• Oversee day-to-day finance operations including payment processing, staff expenses, and cost allocation (including staff costs)

• Oversee monthly payroll using QuickBooks (led by Finance Assistant)

• Manage treasury functions including bank and cash management

• Oversee procurement of key assets such as IT equipment

• Cashflow management

Grant and Budget Management

• Support budget development for funding bids and proposals

• Monitor spend against grants and projects, working towards full cost recovery

• Prepare financial reports for donors and funding partners

• Lead annual budget-setting and forecasting processes in collaboration with the Board and Executive Director

Financial Systems and Controls

• Develop and maintain robust financial systems, processes, and controls

• Continuously improve finance processes and identify efficiencies

• Advise on financial governance and best practice

• Manage financial risks and opportunities (e.g., insurance, foreign exchange)

Team Management and Stakeholder Relations

• Line manage the Finance Assistant and oversee external bookkeeper consultant

• Build collaborative relationships across the organisation

• Manage relationships with key external stakeholders including banks, international transfer services, and audit partners

• Work closely with the Board's Financial Development Committee and BASIC's Treasurer

Please note: This list is not exhaustive. Other tasks may be required as they arise.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria:

• Qualified accountant (ACCA, CIMA, ACA or equivalent) or part-qualified with significant relevant experience
• Proven experience in a mid-level to senior finance role, with responsibility for financial accounting and reporting
• Experience managing restricted and unrestricted funds
• Experience preparing statutory accounts and managing audit processes
• Experience in a growing organisation, implementing and improving financial systems and controls
• Strong technical accounting skills and understanding of financial controls
• Excellent numeracy and attention to detail
• Proficiency with accounting software (experience with QuickBooks highly desirable)
• Strong Excel/spreadsheet skills
• Excellent communication skills, able to explain financial information to non-finance colleagues
• Highly organised with ability to manage multiple priorities and work to deadlines
• Proactive and solutions-oriented, with ability to work both independently and collaboratively
• Comfortable working hands-on when needed while also providing strategic oversight
• Ability to work at pace in a fast-growing organisation
• Commitment to BASIC's mission and values

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience in charity finance and understanding of charity accounting standards (SORP)
• Experience line managing finance staff
• Experience in an international organisation or with international funding
• Understanding of charity governance and regulatory requirements