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The Assistant Finance and Operations Manager is a new role for The Christie Charity (Charity) and a fantastic opportunity for an individual looking to work for a fast moving, growing organisation. We are looking for an enthusiastic individual to take ownership in the finance team for day-to-day transactional processing for The Christie Charity group. This position provides an excellent opportunity to develop an understanding of charity and commercial finance. You will play a key role in supporting robust financial controls across the Charity group.
This is a hands-on role with responsibility for coordinating and overseeing day-to-day transactional activity undertaken by the Finance Officers, including purchase-to-pay, supplier payments, accounts receivable, banking, income reconciliation, corporate credit cards and other routine financial processes. The postholder will ensure work is completed accurately and within required timescales, review key reconciliations and outstanding items, and provide support and guidance to the Finance Officers where issues arise. They will remain actively involved in transactional processing where required, particularly in relation to more complex matters, periods of high workload and the transition of activities into the Charity.
The postholder will act as the first point of escalation for transactional matters which cannot be readily resolved by the Finance Officers and as a key point of contact for routine finance queries from external third parties. They will work closely with colleagues across the Charity to ensure financial processes operate effectively while maintaining appropriate controls and segregation of duties.
The Assistant Finance and Operations Manager will be an important day-to-day user of the Charity's finance and purchase-to-pay systems and will take a lead operational role in ensuring these systems are used consistently and effectively. The postholder will support Finance Officers and wider Charity colleagues with system and process queries, monitor compliance with agreed financial procedures and identify recurring issues or opportunities to improve processes. Working with the Charity Financial Controller and Funds and Finance Business Partner, they will contribute to the continued development of efficient, proportionate and well-controlled financial processes across the Charity group.
Additional information
Upon joining The Christie Charity, day-to-day financial transaction processing will continue to be delivered by The Christie NHS Foundation Trust during the initial months of the role, therefore, the postholder will be expected to work closely and collaboratively with their finance team to ensure seamless operations and continuity across the Charity group.
These functions are anticipated to transfer to the Charity group with the postholder taking ownership of these responsibilities within the first 3 months in role. The postholder will be expected to work autonomously to ensure the smooth transition of activities to the Charity.
This post would suit an individual who enjoys working in a dynamic, evolving environment, where responsibilities may shift in response to organisational priorities. The postholder must be comfortable navigating ambiguity, demonstrating flexibility, initiative, and a proactive approach to problem-solving.
The postholder will also provide support to the team on an ad-hoc basis as required.
The postholder will complete a shift approximately every four to six weeks at the Charity’s hub in Withington to support charitable activity at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.
When submitting your application, please provide the following:
- A cover letter; and
- An up-to-date CV (up to two A4 pages) with evidence of accountancy qualification(s) and current membership of any relevant professional accountancy body or bodies if relevant. These can be uploaded as one PDF.
Please note that applications must include all of the documents listed above and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications that do not meet these guidelines may not be considered.
Interviews will be held all day on Monday 21 September 2026 and on Tuesday 22 September 2026. Applicants are strongly encouraged to keep these dates available where possible.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
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Job title: Programme Assistant, Enquiries
Line manager: Team Leader, Enquiries (Senior Officer, Enquiries, in Team Leader’s absence)
Salary: £30,000
Type of contract: Permanent
Start date: Late October 2026 or shortly thereafter
Benefits:
- Challenging and rewarding work, always life-changing, sometimes lifesaving
- Competitive salary
- Team and individual training opportunities, including dedicated training budget and team lunch and learn activities monthly
- Commitment to personal development, including opportunities to develop skills and experience to support wider Cara strategy participating in working groups, contribute to office improvement initiatives
- Hybrid working, home and office (minimum 2 days each week in the London office)
- Eight hours each day Monday – Friday, with flexible working by arrangement around core hours of 10am – 4pm
- 25 days annual leave entitlement plus Bank Holidays and two weeks Christmas and New Year office closure
- 8% employer pension contribution
- Wellbeing support, access to counselling when required, Mental Health First aid and supportive small team environment
- Convenient office location at Elephant and Castle, close to Tube (Bakerloo and Northern lines) and bus routes
Role purpose statement: The Programme Assistant, Enquiries, plays a vital administrative role in the Fellowship Programme working directly with academics facing immediate risk in their home countries. The role exists to provide effective and efficient administration, completing due diligence tasks and onward signposting to prospective applicants. Duties include managing an individual caseload of applicants, assisting prospective applicants and administrative support for general enquiries, the Enquiries team as well as support across the Fellowship Programme when needed.
Organisational Background
The Council for At-Risk Academics is a UK-registered charity founded in 1933 under the leadership of William Beveridge, to assist academics suffering persecution under the rise of Nazism and facilitate their continued work in safety. Sixteen Cara Fellows from the 1930s and 1940s became Nobel Laureates, and many more innovators in their fields, including, Nikolaus Pevsner, Lise Meitner and Karl Popper.
Cara has been a lifeline to academics at risk for over 90 years enabling them to continue their teaching and research in safety, as and when world events have placed them in the line of fire: Hungarian Uprising, Cold War, Apartheid South Africa, Iran, Latin American Juntas, Vietnam, Kosovo, DRC, Rwanda, Sudan, Zimbabwe etc. and, more recently Iraq, Turkey, Yemen, Palestine, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine.
Today, our Fellowship Programme convenes a network of 135 UK universities in the UK to secure research placements for at-risk academics and support for their families, continuing a longstanding commitment of protecting academics and preserving their knowledge and expertise.
Cara Objectives‘To assist academics who have been, or are at risk of being, subject to discrimination, persecution, suffering or violence on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, to relieve needs among them and their dependants and ensure that their specialist knowledge and abilities can continue to be used for the benefit of the public.’
‘To advance education by supporting academics and their educational institutions in countries where their continuing work is at risk or compromised, to ensure that such academics and institutions can continue to fulfil their critical role as educators for the public benefit.’
Role & Responsibilities
Casework
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Signposting prospective applicants to the application form.
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Manage own caseload, preparing cases for eligibility review, including arranging calls to speak with applicants, booking English language tests, and gathering all relevant documentation.
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Escalating complex cases to the Team Leader as required.
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Maintain accurate and GDPR-Compliant records of casework activity.
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Researching international affairs to develop understanding about risks applicants face.
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Attending weekly case review meetings with the team.
Administration
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Provide general administrative and logistical support, including answering phone enquiries.
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Manage the general enquiries inbox, alongside another colleague, answering emails about the enquiries’ process, the Fellowship Programme and Cara.
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Signpost enquiries to relevant colleagues internally and to other organisations where applicable.
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Assist with compilation of reports to funders.
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Present and collect data on general enquiries and applications to the Programme.
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Ensure safekeeping of confidential information.
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Maintain excellent detailed records of correspondence, documents, and activities.
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Provide administrative support to colleagues on projects across the organisation as required.
Managerial Support
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Take part and contribute to Cara wide working groups across a range of research and strategy topics, including contributing to efficiency improvements.
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Provide advice and guidance to colleagues where applicable.
Ad Hoc Responsibilities
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Show adaptability and willingness to take on additional work when necessary.
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Support the Fellowship Programme and Cara as a whole with ad hoc responsibilities.
Responsibilities also include related activities that might arise in relation to the Fellowship Programme and Cara's other programmes as required by the Chief Executive and Deputy Chief Executive & Fellowship Programme Manager, and other senior colleagues.
Person Specification
Essential:
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Bachelor’s degree
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Fluent English (spoken and written)
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Proactive with a willingness to learn and contribute to a growing organisation
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Confident and empathetic with strong interpersonal and communication skills
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Ability to remain adaptable and work under pressure in a fast-paced environment
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Keen team player who is ready to support and help colleagues
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Excellent record keeping and attention to detail
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Ability to work independently in a hybrid work setting
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Good time management with ability to manage competing priorities and work to deadlines
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Understanding of issues of confidentiality
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Ability to handle difficult conversations with sensitivity and resilience
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Interest in and commitment to the work of Cara
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Confident using Microsoft package
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Awareness of current global issues
Desirable
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Master’s or equivalent experience
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Casework experience
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Arabic language skills are desirable. Other foreign languages (such as Farsi/Dari, Pashto, Ukrainian and Russian) will also be considered
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Salesforce/CRM software experience
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Lived experience or experience in supporting people who’ve gone through forced migration or other forms of severe adversity
Applicants must have the right to work in the UK and be willing to undergo a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if offered this position.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an initial online interview on the week starting 21st September and if successful, will be required to attend an in-person interview at our office in London on the week starting 28th September. If you require any reasonable adjustments at any stage of the process, please mention this as part of your application.
Our staff team is a small (approx. 20 staff), committed and dedicated team, who works with our organisational values of Community & Collaboration, Trust & Integrity and Resilience through Knowledge & learning, we welcome applications from those with diverse identities and you will find a warm and welcoming team, committed to the highest standards as we seek to support those at risk around the world.
Application Instructions
Please send a CV along with a cover letter in response to the screening questions below. Applications that do not follow this guidance will not be considered.
At Cara, we do not utilise AI tools at any stage during the recruitment process, and all applications we receive are reviewed by at least two members of our team.
We recognise that whilst artificial intelligence can be a useful tool in preparing a job application, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Applicants may find AI useful for:
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Refining and clarifying ideas and thoughts in your application
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Researching publicly available information about Cara
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Checking spelling, grammar and clarity of your answers
However, we ask you to refrain from using AI for:
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Generating responses to application questions and copying these into your application
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Inventing or exaggerating your skills and experiences
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Using live AI during interviews to answer questions
We tend to find that applications that rely too heavily on AI-generated responses are not as competitive, and at Cara we value answers informed by personal experiences. We may also reject applications where AI has been used inappropriately.
Please respond to the following questions in your cover letter (max. 2 pages).
- What interests you about Cara and the work of supporting at-risk academics, and how do your experience and skills relate to this role? (max 500 words)
- Describe a specific situation in which you had to manage competing priorities? How did you approach the situation? (max 250 words)
- Tell us about a time when you had to deal with a person who was in a vulnerable situation. How did you handle this and what did you learn from this experience? (max 250 words)
We reserve the right to close applications for this role early if we receive a high number of applications.
Registered Charity
11 - 20
Cara provides help to academics in immediate danger, those forced into exile, and those who remain and work in their home countries despite the risks.
Thank you!
Grade: 4
Salary: £44,080 per year
Position Type: Full-time, 37.5 hours week, Permanent (flexible working considered)
Responsible to: Senior Philanthropy and Partnerships Manager
Direct reports: None
Location: Remote (UK), within reasonable commuting distance to London to accommodate regular donor meetings. This may be up to once a week. Additionally, there will be two trips per year to our HQ in Truro, Cornwall.
ROLE PURPOSE
Sitting within our Philanthropy & Partnerships team, you will play a pivotal role in securing the philanthropic support that makes ShelterBox's work possible. By identifying, qualifying and developing major donor opportunities from our supporter base, networks and wider community, you will help connect more people with our mission to ensure no one is without shelter after disaster.
At the heart of this role is building and strengthening the major donor pipeline. You will proactively analyse data, identify high-potential prospects, uncover valuable connections and work with colleagues across the organisation to create opportunities for supporters to deepen their engagement with ShelterBox. Through strategic prospect research, qualification and relationship building, you will help move individuals from initial interest to meaningful philanthropic partnerships.
Working closely with colleagues across Philanthropy & Partnerships, senior leadership, volunteers and key stakeholders, you will develop and implement tailored cultivation plans that create pathways to giving and maximise the long-term potential of prospective donors. You will support the delivery of bespoke engagement opportunities, proposals and communications drawing on ShelterBox's powerful humanitarian mission, compelling stories and tangible impact to engage diverse audiences and inspire long-term philanthropic support.
You will also play a key role in coordinating the Philanthropy Advisory Board and supporting events and activities that help expand networks, generate introductions and unlock opportunities to engage prospective major donors with ShelterBox's work.
Through strategic pipeline development, relationship building and effective use of data, insight and networks, you will help grow a thriving community of future major donors whose investment enables families affected by disaster, conflict and climate-related crises to access shelter, safety and a foundation for recovery.
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
We are looking for a proactive and strategic fundraiser with a talent for identifying opportunities, building relationships and developing a strong pipeline of future major donors.
You will be naturally curious and enjoy analysing data, researching prospects and uncovering opportunities to deepen engagement with existing supporters. Equally comfortable networking with supporters, volunteers, senior stakeholders, and professional contacts, you will be confident initiating conversations, and skilled at connecting people to ShelterBox's work whilst creating meaningful pathways towards philanthropy.
You will have excellent communication, influencing and project management skills, enabling you to coordinate multiple prospects, cultivation activities and stakeholder relationships simultaneously. Highly organised and confident using CRM systems, supporter insight and prospect research tools, you will be experienced in managing and progressing a pipeline, ensuring opportunities are effectively qualified, cultivated and moved through the donor journey.
This is an exciting opportunity for a major donor fundraiser who enjoys opening doors, creating new opportunities, building meaningful supporter engagement and converting warm prospects into committed philanthropic supporters whose generosity will help families affected by disaster.
DUTIES WILL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO:
- Effectively manage a portfolio of major donors: developing strong and personal relationships, delivering bespoke stewardship and communication plans to ensure donors feel part of ShelterBox; providing them with inspiring stories, unique engagement opportunities, and strong impact reporting.
- Work with the ShelterBox team and key external influencers, connectors, partners and/or networks to grow and steward the major donor pipeline, cultivating relationships with new audiences.
- Develop a wide range of compelling communications for prospects and existing major donors including proposals, reports, and deliver concise and engaging updates via email, phone and in person.
- Work with the Senior Philanthropy and Partnerships Manager, Head of Philanthropy & Partnerships, Director of Fundraising and Communications, and CEO to steward to the top high-level donors.
- Working with the Head of Philanthropy & Partnerships to refine and implement the major donor strategy.
- Work closely with the Stewardship and Research Officer and Philanthropy & Partnerships Assistant to carry out targeted prospect research, and develop bespoke and strategic cultivation plans for prospective donors currently in the pipeline.
- Support with the development and implementation of cultivation and stewardship events to deepen donor engagement and reach new audiences.
- Utilise the grant management system when securing restricted income (i.e. tracking pipeline, asks, restricted income secured, reporting requirements).
- Act as the subject matter expert (SME) to provide knowledge and expertise in major donor fundraising and the wider ShelterBox team (UK and global affiliates).
- Maximise the benefits of the CRM to create and implement cultivation and stewardship journeys for high-level funders, keeping records updated and following Data Protection regulations.
- Be active in the fundraising sector, know and follow the latest fundraising legislation and codes of practice, seek out peer learning and peer mentoring opportunities, network and contribute.
- Represent ShelterBox as required and always work in line with our aims, values and plans.
- As part of an emergency organisation there will be times when you will be required to work evenings and weekends at short notice in response to a disaster
- Any other duties as required which are deemed appropriate to the level and grade of the post.
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