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Cerebra is the national charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with neurological conditions and their families. We provide vital research, support, and practical solutions that empower families facing complex challenges.
With an annual income of £3 million and a headcount of 68 employees, we have ambitious plans to double our income between 2025 and 2027, ensuring we can extend our impact, reach more families, and drive real change. To achieve this, we are investing in fundraising innovation, income generating ventures, and strategic partnerships, alongside enhancing our brand to increase our national recognition.
Our work is underpinned by our values ensuring that everything we do aligns with our mission to create a better world for children with neurological conditions.
This is an incredibly exciting time to join Cerebra, as we are preparing to launch our new strategy and brand. The COO is a vital leadership role that will support the drive towards even greater impact for children and families across the UK.
Our Services
Sleep Advice Service
Cerebra understands that if you have a child that doesn’t sleep, the whole family suffers. Many children with neurological conditions suffer from disrupted sleep. Our sleep advice service provides bespoke advice and support so that everyone can get a good night’s sleep.
Legal Rights Service
Our Legal Rights Service provides help and support to families of children with neurological conditions when they are faced with barriers and difficulties in accessing statutory support services they are entitled to. The service provides information on their legal entitlements.
Book and Toy Library Service
Our specialist postal lending library contains a wide range of books for both adults and children, plus a selection of sensory toys specifically chosen for children with a neurological condition.
Innovation and Product Design Service
Our Innovation Service designs and builds bespoke products that cater to the specific needs of children with neurological conditions. The aim of the service is to make products that are desirable and exciting, therefore promoting social inclusion, peer acceptance and enabling children to participate in everyday activities that are so often close to them.
Information Products
Cerebra publishes different information products to help families with a child with a neurological condition. Our information products offer comprehensive, up-to-date support and research-driven strategies to assist families with a wide range of issues.
Buzgi and Toy Adaptation Service
Cerebra designs and builds bespoke assistive equipment for disabled children, this includes creating custom mobility aids, switch‑adapted toys, and other innovative solutions to help children access play, learning, and independence.
The Bugzi - a mini powered wheelchair for children offers many children their first experience of independent mobility. It uses either a joystick or switches and adaptable seating for complex needs, and helps develop spatial awareness, confidence, and early mobility skills. The Bugzi is available through a national loan scheme.
Additionally, we operate commercial services (including a web shop) to supplement our income to support children and their families.
Our services are provided to families free of charge.
Job Title:
Chief Operating Officer
Reports To:
Chief Executive Officer
Direct reports:
3 senior managers (Finance (headcount of 3), HR (headcount of 1), IT (headcount of 5))
Purpose of the Role:
The Chief Operating Officer will play a vital role in supporting the Chief Executive Officer, Board and Leadership Team to deliver Cerebra’s vision and ambitious strategic aims. The Chief Operating Officer will provide strategic leadership and operational management across key areas within Cerebra including:
- Operational Systems
- Governance
- Compliance
- Finance and Growth
This is a pivotal executive leadership role, responsible for driving organisational performance, sustainability and growth. The COO will translate Cerebra’s strategic ambitions into effective operational delivery, ensuring robust governance, financial stewardship and a high-performing, values-led culture.
As a trusted advisor to the CEO and Board, the COO will lead core operational services and commercial activity, enabling the charity to maximise impact and generate sustainable income in support of its charitable objectives.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic & Executive Leadership
- Partner with the CEO and Board to deliver strategic priorities, growth and long-term sustainability
- Collaboration with the Director’s Group to ensure strategic alignment across the charity. The Director’s Group consists of:
Chief Executive Officer
Chief Operating Officer
Director of Fundraising, Marketing and Communications
Director of Research and Support Services
- Provide expert advice on finance, operations, commercial performance and organisational risk
- Lead organisational planning, business continuity, and operational resilience
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement, accountability and inclusion
Finance, Commercial & Sustainability
- Lead financial strategy, planning and performance, ensuring long-term sustainability
- Oversee budgeting, forecasting, cashflow and financial controls
- Lead and develop Cerebra’s strategy for commercial income , ensuring alignment with charitable objectives
- Support funding growth through strong financial insight and business case development
- Ensure robust financial governance, audit and compliance
Operations & Infrastructure
- Lead and strengthen operational functions including HR, IT, governance and administration
- Ensure effective systems, processes and infrastructure that enable growth, efficiency and impact
- Oversee procurement, contracts, facilities, and organisational compliance
- Drive innovation and value for money across operations
People & Culture
- Champion a positive, inclusive and high-performing organisational culture
- Oversee HR strategy, workforce planning and leadership development
- Ensure compliance with employment law and best practice
- Promote wellbeing, engagement and organisational effectiveness
Digital & Technology
- Provide strategic oversight of IT, data and digital development
- Ensure systems are secure, resilient and aligned to organisational needs
- Leverage data and technology to improve insight, decision-making and organisational impact
Governance, Risk & Compliance
- Ensure effective governance frameworks, risk management and regulatory compliance
- Support the CEO and Board with high-quality reporting and strategic insight
- Lead safeguarding, data protection and organisational risk strategy
- Drive a strong culture of accountability and ethical practice
Leadership & Management
- Lead and develop a small senior team across finance, HR and IT
- Build capability, strengthen performance, and embed a collaborative culture
- Model Cerebra’s values and leadership behaviours
Key Attributes
- Strategic and commercially minded leader with strong operational delivery experience
- Strong financial leadership and business acumen
- Proven track record of driving income growth, sustainability and organisational performance
- Skilled in governance, risk and stakeholder engagement
Please see attached job description for the Person Specification.
51 - 100
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Submit your application as normal and our system will anonymise it for you. Your personal information will be hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
We are looking for someone who is a qualified or part-qualified accountant (including qualified by experience) to take responsibiity for the full day-to-day running of the finance function, ensuring accurate financial records, strong controls and timely reporting.
You will have experience in a hands-on finance role and in producing management accounts and charity statutory returns. You'll have a strong accounting knowledge and good excel and accounting systems capability. Ideally, you'll have experience in small organisations in the charity or social impact sector and of business partnering.
Very importantly, you'll be collaborative and team oriented, able to manage competing priorities effectively and be adaptable and comfortable working in a fast paced and entrepreneurial environment.
You'll work closely with our part-time Finance Director to:
- deliver all core financial operations
- produce high quality management information
- maintain compliance with charity regulations
- support financial planning and decision making
- manage and analyse the financial performance of the charity's trading arm
Key responsibilities:
- day to day financial management
- management accounts and reporting
- support of budgeting and forecasting processes
- financial control and compliance
- year end audit preparation and liaison
- compliance with fund and grant accounting requirements
- payroll
- HMRC compliance including gift aid returns
- trading financial management and analysis
- system and process improvements
- stakeholder suport
- support to Finance Director
Registered Charity
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Last year, 124,000 young people approached their council for help because they were homeless or at risk of homelessness. The figure has risen year-on-year for eight consecutive years, highlighting the scale of a challenge that continues to affect young people across the UK. Yet we believe the resources, expertise and influence already exist within the built environment sector to help tackle youth homelessness. That is where LandAid comes in.
We bring together the UK property industry, harnessing its capital, assets, skills and networks to help end youth homelessness. We do this by awarding grants to frontline charities, providing financial support, brokering free professional advice and expertise, and creating opportunities for our partners to make a meaningful difference to the lives of young people.
The Chief Financial and Operating Officer plays a critical role in helping us achieve our ambitions. A key member of the Leadership Team, you will ensure we have the financial insight, operational effectiveness and governance frameworks needed to deliver our strategy successfully. A key priority will be to provide high-quality management information, analysis and forecasting that supports confident decision-making across the organisation.
You will also help us continue to strengthen our internal operations, driving continuous improvement and ensuring our systems, processes and technology support a more efficient, evidence-led organisation. Working closely with our Board committees, you will oversee financial stewardship, risk management and governance, helping to ensure LandAid remains resilient and well positioned for future growth and impact. Beyond finance, you will oversee our outsourced HR and IT functions, ensuring we receive high-quality and cost-effective support and have robust systems and policies in place, while also helping us continue our commitment to being an excellent place to work.
We are looking for a qualified accountant who brings senior finance leadership experience, either at executive director level within an organisation of similar scale or at deputy director level within a larger organisation. Experience within the charity sector would be valuable, as would knowledge of the built environment, capital investment or social investment. Most importantly, we are looking for someone who combines technical expertise with a collaborative leadership style; someone colleagues trust, learn from and enjoy working with.
Diversity in all its forms matters to us, and we especially welcome applications from qualified women, people who are from black and minority communities, who are LGBTQ+, who live with a disability, and/or haven’t been privately educated.
Our people are our greatest asset and you would be joining an exceptional team united by a shared commitment to ending youth homelessness. If that mission resonates with you, we would love to hear from you.
To download a full copy of the candidate brief and learn more about the role, please click the ‘Apply’ button, where you will be redirected to the website of our recruitment partner, Tall Roots.
Applications should include a CV and cover letter (no more than two pages), explaining your motivation for applying for the role, along with how you meet the Knowledge & Experience section of the Person Specification.
