Finance officer jobs in Central london, greater london

The Director of Finance & Planning is a member of the senior management team and key Board liaison, responsible for supporting the organisation to deliver a sustainable financial and operating model. Therefore, the role is key at both the strategic and operational levels, including finance & planning, operations, HR and IT. 

Main responsibilities

Board representation and liaison

• Act as the key focal point for the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, including liaison with the Treasurer on agendas, producing relevant papers and tracking/implementing agreed action points
• Attend People and other Committee meetings as required 
• Attend board meetings and produce board papers where required
• Ensure company secretarial requirements are met for Bond, including Companies House and Charity Commission filings. 

Ensure appropriate financial governance framework is in place

• Ensure that appropriate financial controls, systems and resourcing are in place that meet the needs of the organisation, adapting as these evolve over time 
• Oversee regular review of finance/HR/operations policies and related staff hand-books, ensuring appropriate updates are made as needed and communicated to stakeholders as necessary 
• Ensure timely, accurate and insightful monthly management reporting is produced for the organisation 
• Provide updates on Bond’s finances to SMT and staff as required, at least quarterly 
• Enable accurate and timely financial reporting to funders in line with funding agreements. Maintain oversight of basis for allocation of costs and staff time to restricted grants 
• Take ownership of the year end external audit, leading the audit relationship and overseeing accounts production and sign off 
• Maintain Bond’s reserve policy, tracking financial position against agreed target and ensuring annual review of policy and target level with Trustees 

Provide organisational leadership on Finance, Operations and HR 

• Provide leadership and line management to the Finance, Operations & Effectiveness team. Provide support and oversight on day-to-day activities of the team as needed.
• Represent functional areas within the Senior Management Team
• Actively engage with staff reps and wider staff team to build organisational understanding of Bond’s finances and HR policies 
• Support development of funding proposals, ensuring realistic and accurate budgeting and seeking to maximise organisational cost recovery 
• Provide support to teams across Bond, and the finance manager, in grant management and reporting
• Provide authorisation for payments as appropriate to the scheme of delegation 
• Demonstrate a commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion

Lead Bond’s planning and budgeting process 

• Own Bond’s medium term financial plan, regularly updating the financial outlook across both restricted and unrestricted funds and supporting SMT discussions to ensure long term financial sustainability of Bond 
• Lead on the annual planning and budgeting process, ensuring that team plans and budgets align and support delivery of the organisational strategy 
• Work with SMT to ensure that teams are able to demonstrate and quantify their impact
• Provide support to project managers in developing and managing budgets
• Meet regularly with budget holders to review management accounts for their areas of responsibility
• Reforecast income and expenditure, and review progress against team plans, at least quarterly to ensure visibility of performance and allow in-year correction where needed

Legal and risk management

• Maintain the organisational risk register, updating with SMT regularly and reporting onwards to the Board 
• Monitor risks owned by Director of Finance & Planning, ensure that required actions are being taken and report any change in risk profile to the CEO, SMT and the Board
• Organisational lead on data protection 
• Review material contracts before signature, to assess financial and operational risks, and seeking external legal counsel where needed 

Day-to- day finance tasks 

• Due to size of Bond and the small finance team, Director of Finance & Planning is required to undertake day to day finance tasks as needed, such as: 
• Oversee, review and sign off on payroll, pension and taxes including monthly payroll journal to allocate costs to grants 
• Review and sign off bank reconciliations and journals raised by the Finance Manager 
• Overhead allocations to grants 
• Donor financial reporting production and review 

Person Specification

Required 

• Qualified accountant (CIMA, ACA, ACCA or equivalent)
• Senior management experience, including leadership of multi-function teams and liaison with Trustees 
• Strong understanding of charity accounting, including restricted grant management 
• Experience of managing HR professionals or experience of a wide range of HR matters 
• Demonstrable commitment to anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion 
• Enjoy holding both strategic view and hands-on operational tasks 

Desirable 

• Experience of setting measures to track impact as well as broader organisational KPIs 
• Salesforce experience (Certinia finance a bonus) 

Benefits

Bond offers a competitive salary and benefits package including: 

• 27 Days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays, with additional staff privilege days, normally between Christmas and New Year 
• 7% pension contributions (staff pay 3.5%)
• Flexible working hours (Hybrid working – 1 day, minimum in the office per month) 
• Staff Development days 
• Perk Box access 
• Employee Assistance Programme 
• WeCare (Health and wellbeing services, including access to 24/7 online GP services, second medical opinion, mental health support such as counselling, guidance from health professionals, burnout prevention, life event counselling, get fit programmes, nutritionist advice, etc. – for staff and immediate family) 
• Interest free season ticket loan 

How to Apply

To apply submit your CV and cover letter by 18th May 2026

In the cover letter we expect you to set out:

• Why you are interested in this role
• How you meet the role requirements
• Your understanding of equity, diversity, inclusion and why it matters in this role

About Action Tutoring
At Action Tutoring, we believe every child should be given the opportunity to succeed in school. But in the UK today, young people from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to 

achieve the grades they need to progress in life. This isn't because they are any less able; they have less access to the tools to help them reach their potential. 
 

We don't think this is fair. We know tutoring is an effective way of improving academic attainment and so we harness the power of volunteer tutors to bridge the gap and ensure this help can be accessed by every pupil who needs it, not just those who can afford it. 
 

We specifically help pupils facing socio-economic disadvantage and who are at risk of leaving primary or secondary school without reaching national standards in their exams. We work in partnership with schools in different cities and regions across the UK, delivering weekly tutoring in English or maths to those pupils who need it most. 
 

About the opportunity
The Director of Finance and Operations works closely with the CEO to build the organisation, operations and systems to enable us to scale and respond to emerging opportunities. A critical strategic role, they are a hands-on financial leader that brings strategic insight and challenge. Passionate about our mission, they lead a small team and use their experience and expertise to make our strategy a practical reality.

Closing date: Sunday, 17th May 2026
Interviews:Thursday, 28th and Friday, 29th May 2026, in our London office. There will be a second round of interviews.
Start date: Ideal start date is asap. However, we’re happy to wait for the ideal candidate.
Contract and hours: Permanent. Full time. We offer flexible hours with 9.30-4 as core hours. A full working week is 37.5 hours. 
Place of work:  Hybrid/flexible. This role requires 6 days a month in our London Office, Fivefields, Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0DH.

Duties and responsibilities
 
Finance

Lead financial strategy and long-term planning to support the development of the organisation, as well as holding overall responsibility for finance processes and controls. 
 

Operations

Drive continuous improvement of operations to increase productivity, quality of delivery and value for money. With the operations team, provide oversight of all operational matters to ensure compliance and the smooth running of the organisation.
 

HR and team development

Action Tutoring has a Head of People & Culture who oversees day-to-day HR operations. However, with a permanent staff team of around 60, this role holds strategic responsibility for talent development and HR processes. This includes training and development strategy, effective diversity and inclusion policies and regular reviews of performance and reward systems.
 

Senior Leadership 

As one of the four members of the Senior Leadership Team of Action Tutoring, you will contribute to leadership decision-making, representing your own areas of expertise but also advocating for the best strategic options for the charity as a whole. 
 

Legal compliance, risk management and governance

This role ensures legal compliance of the organisation.
 

Line management

Overseeing a small team, this role has direct line management responsibility for the Head of People & Culture, the Operations Manager, and the Senior Finance Officer. You will also, with support from your team, manage relationships with external support agencies, including the outsourced management accountant, IT support company, and HR and employment law consultancy.
 

This role also plays a key part in a number of internal working groups, including leading the Digital Systems working group and serving as a member of both the Sustainability and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion working groups.
 

A full list of duties and responsibilities can be found in the job description attached to the BreatheHR advert.

Person specification
 
Qualifications criteria: 

• The right to work in the UK.

We are looking for some of the following attributes, though you might be more experienced in some areas than others:

• Deep finance and operations experience as well as a track record of strategy development. You will have significant experience overseeing finances and managing budgets and be able to demonstrate a high level of understanding of financial management and forecasting within a fundraising setting. Familiarity with charity accounting and SORP will be essential. 
• Someone with the ability to see the big picture and lead long-term strategy while being able to zoom into the detail and set high-expectations for the team and wider organisation. 
• An excellent eye for detail and an experienced project manager who relishes delivering long-term projects through to completion, you will be a self-starter with a strong ability to take initiative to drive change.
• An ability to identify areas for organisational development and growth. You are someone who leads change and development. Alert to reputational risk, proactively preventing errors.
• An established track record in delivering results in a growing environment at the management level.
• Experience with a range of business functions and systems, including budgeting, finance, legal, IT and human resources or a willingness to build expertise in these areas.
• Understanding of developing policies and procedures; experience in good governance practices, including:
  • Familiarity with routine HR legislation and processes.
  • A good understanding of GDPR compliance and processes.
  • Familiarity with reporting at Trustee level (or equivalent). 
• Excellent team leadership skills. 
• A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. 
• A commitment to the mission and values of Action Tutoring.
• A commitment to promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children.
• Always aiming to help more pupils and have a bigger impact, we continually seek ways to improve tasks, processes and culture.

You will likely be more successful in this role if you have: 

• Additional formal qualifications relevant to the role (e.g. qualified accountant, MBA, CIPD Level 7).
• Experience or knowledge of safeguarding procedures.
• Digital transformation project management.
• Experience in the charity sector or the education sector, particularly in charity legislation and accounting.
• Experience in monitoring and evaluation processes and/or school data.
• Experience in improving systems and processes.