Finance officer jobs in Leicester

Role Overview

As part of the CfA funding, we have an exciting opportunity for a Finance Officer to join GSF. This is a part-time role, based remotely within the UK.

This role will be central to ensuring that all financial aspects of the Communities for Afghans programme are delivered to the highest standards of accuracy, compliance, and transparency. You will oversee budget management, financial reporting, grant payment processes, and fraud prevention measures, ensuring that every pound is spent in line with government and contractual requirements.

You will work closely with other team members, Sponsor Groups, and funders to ensure financial processes are efficient, clear, and fully compliant. This is an opportunity to make a real impact by ensuring that funding reaches Afghan families quickly and appropriately, enabling them to settle into safe homes and begin building their new lives in the UK.

About the Role

As Finance Officer, you will:

· Manage programme budgets, spending, and grant tracking to ensure every aspect of funding is compliant with grant conditions.

· Act as the primary point of contact for Sponsor Groups and internal staff on finance-related queries.

· Maintain meticulous financial records for audit purposes and ensure timely and accurate reporting to funders.

· Implement strong controls and authorisation processes to ensure financial probity.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

The role will involve the following, but is not exhaustive:

Financial Management & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with government grant conditions and all funder requirements.

• Manage the Communities for Afghans programme budget and track expenditure.

• Contract management and compliance monitoring for all funding contracts.

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records for audit purposes.

• Arrange deposits for accommodation when required.

Payments & Authorisation

• Design and maintain a clear payment authorisation flow.

• Process payments and invoices efficiently and accurately.

• Require proof of spend / evidence packs from Sponsor Groups using standard templates.

• Process payments to Sponsor Groups only after authorisation.

Monitoring & Fraud Prevention

• Work with the Sponsor Group Relationship Manager and Sponsor Groups to ensure grant funds are used correctly, providing guidance on compliant spending and supporting them to submit evidence packs using standard templates.

• Carry out periodic spot checks and reconciliations of Sponsor Group expenditure to confirm accuracy and transparency.

• Implement fraud controls, such as dual sign-off and audit trails, to safeguard programme funds.

• Provide independent assurance of correct grant usage within six months after the end of the financial year, helping to identify and address any issues proactively.

• Report any significant compliance concerns to the Operations Director and contribute to improving financial processes where needed.

Sponsor Group Support

• Ensure guidance and templates are clear, accessible, and consistent with funder requirements.

Salary: Officer,  £36,353 - £38,536 per annum (pro rata) (depending on experience and skill level)
Contract length: 1.5 days a week/0.3FTE (working days flexible) for 2.5 years from August/September 2026 to the end of March 2029.
Location: London (Guildhall) with options for remote and flexible working.
Reporting to:    The Roding Rises Project Manager

About Thames21

Thames21 is an environmental charity that works across London and the Thames Basin to deliver high-impact, nature-based solutions to the climate and biodiversity crisis by restoring rivers, while also connecting communities to their local green-blue spaces and inspiring long-term stewardship of them. 

Diversity at Thames21

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Thames21 is key to our success, and as such, we employ staff from a diverse range of backgrounds. We believe this is crucial in ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity and is not treated differently or discriminated against due to their characteristics. We value the voices of our individual employees and strive to work in a collaborative, innovative, and balanced way. The postholder must actively support this.

Purpose of the job

To work with Thames21’s Head of Finance and The Roding Rises delivery team to oversee the administration of The Roding Rises, a three-year project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund that aims to kick-start the revitalisation of the River Roding. This position will work alongside Thames21’s Head of Finance and The Roding Rises Project Manager to ensure that every day finance functions for The Roding Rises project operate efficiently and accurately. To successfully deliver this job, the postholder will have a strong eye for detail and have experience in budget management/bookkeeping to ensure funding claims and invoices are paid on time. 
 
Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Track project costs against projected budget to ensure budget vs actual expenditure is effectively managed, raising concerns early with Thames21’s Head of Finance and The Roding Rises Project Manager. 
• Complete The National Lottery Heritage Fund claims process at agreed intervals to ensure an appropriate cash flow.   
• Assist with relevant reporting tasks back to project funders.
• Work with the Thames21 Head of Finance and Thames21 Finance Officer to ensure all payments are completed in a timely manner in line with internal financial processes and any outstanding payments are managed in line with the approved funding agreement/ project proposal documentation. 
• Support The Roding Rises Project Manager with the administration of the Roding Grant Scheme.
• Support the development and integration of improved financial tracking and reporting processes across wider Thames21 teams.

Other Duties
This job description cannot cover every issue or task that may arise within Thames21. At various times, the post-holder will be directed to carry out other reasonable duties in support of other Thames21 activities that are consistent with those in this Job Description.

For more information and how to apply, please see the attached Job Description. Please apply through the Charity Job website. 

The closing date for applications is 31 July 2026

Interview dates: Week commencing 10 August 2026 (subject to change)

We appreciate the time you took to apply for this role, and we understand that it can be disconcerting when you don’t hear back from a position you have applied for. However, due to the high number of applications we expect to receive, we are unable to respond to or provide feedback on individual applications. Nevertheless, we want to manage expectations. Therefore, if you do not hear from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that your application has not been successful on this occasion.

Please advise in your application if you are happy for us to contact you for any future opportunities that may arise, should you not be successful in this position.

No agencies, please.

 Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage.

The Roding Rises is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we are working with partners to bring communities together to restore, protect and deepen connections with the River Roding and its surrounding environment.

The Environment Agency is also supporting The Roding Rises through providing match-funding via its Water Environment Improvement Fund.

Please visit our website for more information about this project. 

Our partner is a humanitarian organisation working to support communities affected by conflict and violence. They are seeking an interim finance professional to provide hands-on support to the finance team during a busy period. The role will focus on day-to-day accounting, reconciliations, transaction processing and support with income, inter-company and cost recovery processes.

This would suit a part-qualified accountant, experienced Finance Officer or someone qualified by experience who is confident working across reconciliations, journals and transactional finance.

Key responsibilities

• Post transactions accurately to the organisation’s accounting system.
• Ensure bank reconciliations are completed and reconciling items are followed up, including helping to clear a short backlog.
• Reconcile income received against CRM records, ensuring data and details match across both systems.
• Support the reconciliation of inter-company transactions between UK and overseas entities, including helping to clear existing backlog items.
• Work with the Programme Finance Manager on salary and overhead recoveries.
• Prepare and post journals to the accounting system.
• Support the finance team with other accounting, reconciliation and month-end tasks as required.

Person specification

• Part-qualified or QBE professional with experience in an all-round Finance Officer or similar role.
• Strong reconciliation experience, including bank reconciliations and income reconciliations.
• Experience posting transactions and journals to an accounting system.
• Good attention to detail and confidence working with financial data across different systems.
• A practical, organised and hands-on approach, with the ability to work through backlogs and resolve discrepancies.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with finance and programme colleagues.
• Experience in the charity, international NGO or grant-funded sector would be helpful, but is not essential.

Details

• They are seeking someone to start immediately, with the contract is expected to run for approximately 3 months.
• Ideally, the organisation is seeking full-time support. However, they would also consider someone available 4 days per week.
• The role can be delivered largely remotely from the UK. Attendance at the office for induction and occasional meetings would be helpful. Please note, this role requires RTW in the UK.