Finance Jobs in Greater London
We have an exciting opportunity to join our Events team at The Not Forgotten as a hands-on operational Events Manager. We are looking for a professional events coordinator who seeks greater autonomy and managerial responsibility, while still being an expert at and willing to deliver the nuts and bolts of a wide variety of events within a very small team. This is all about exceptional people skills, pragmatic event delivery and ensuring maximum impact for our beneficiaries/benefactors/supporters in support of the Head of Events (Delivery) and Head of Fundraising.
Overall responsibility of the job: Working in support of Head of Events (Delivery) and Head of Fundraising, to be TNF Events Manager; coordinating events as part of a small team. The position supports the delivery of a diverse national events programme and some international activities.
Your Role: As an event professional, ideally you will have a minimum of 3 years’ experience gained in an event coordination role and be ready to grow into a role with greater responsibility and autonomy. This is a hands-on event coordination role in a small team. Having a diplomatic and friendly manner with strong verbal and written communication skills, will be essential towards building relationships both internally and externally and while communicating with volunteers and beneficiaries. Event management/coordination skills are a key priority within this position, (especially delegate/beneficiary and event administration), combined with a meticulous, accurate and disciplined approach to work with strong IT and data management skills. Being able to prioritise a varied and busy workload and deliver to deadlines. Due to the nature of this exciting position within the charity, there is a requirement to attend events and meetings outside of normal working hours (including weekends) and travel as necessary, along with a relationship with beneficiaries, supporters, and gatekeepers.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
At Ambitious about Autism we're currently looking for a Governance Assistant to join our Finance and Planning team.
You'll provide effective and efficient support to the Trustees, Governors and members of Ambitious about Autism and the Ambitious about Autism Schools Trust; administering Board and Committee meetings and producing high quality minutes; facilitating the recruitment and induction of new Trustees and Governors; ensuring compliance with regulatory reporting requirements.
You'll coordinate the development of the overall policy framework and ensuring that policies are in place and are adequate and regularly reviewed at an appropriate level. You'll ensure confidentiality and security of all sensitive information and advising the Director of Finance and Planning and Head of Compliance of any breaches.
We are looking for someone who has:
- Experience in providing executive support to senior posts with multiple internal and external stakeholders, in a relevant setting.
- Experience of supporting a busy senior management team to achieve ambitious targets and goals and to respond to unexpected opportunities and tight deadlines.
- Experience of taking minutes of meetings.
- Experience of observing confidentiality and security/data protection of information and maintaining high levels of discretion whilst party to sensitive information.
In return, we offer great benefits including a generous holiday allowance and commitment to continued professional development (CPD), flexible, hybrid working and more!
This is a fantastic opportunity for an ambitious individual who would like to work for a forward-thinking, open and honest organisation and make a real impact to the young people we work with. Please find our full recruitment pack on the link below.
If you have any questions about the role or would like to have a confidential chat, please contact James Axford, Recruitment Officer.
Ambitious about Autism is fully committed to equality of opportunity and diversity and we warmly welcome applications from all suitably-qualified candidates. We welcome applications regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, disability, or age. All applications will be considered solely on merit.
Ambitious about Autism is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check. As part of our Safer Recruitment checks, an online search maybe carried out in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.
The Safeguarding responsibilities of the post as per the job description and personal specification.
Whether the post is exempt from the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendment to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2021. This means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS Filter Guidance.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
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At The National Brain Appeal, we support Queen Square, one of the world’s leading centres for the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with neurological and neuromuscular conditions, to fund pioneering research, innovative treatments and world-class facilities. These include stroke, multiple sclerosis, brain cancer, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia.
The National Brain Appeal is going through a period of exceptional growth and organisational change. This is a newly created role and offers the right individual genuine ownership and autonomy, and the opportunity to shape the future direction of the grants programme, while leading on a variety of other improvement projects within the charity. It represents a fantastic opportunity for a hands-on and creative project manager to design and implement a robust, fit for purpose, end-to-end delivery and reporting framework to optimise efficiency and performance and ensure good governance and compliance.
The National Brain Appeal (formerly known as The National Hospital Development Foundation) is the charity dedicated to raising vital funds for The Nat
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
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Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as the applications come in. Don’t miss your opportunity, apply now!
At The National Brain Appeal, we support Queen Square, one of the world’s leading centres for the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients with neurological and neuromuscular conditions, to fund pioneering research, innovative treatments and world-class facilities. These include stroke, multiple sclerosis, brain cancer, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and dementia.
We are looking for an efficient and capable Financial Controller to join the team; someone who is ready to take on all areas of finance and excited about growing the role along with the organisation. The Financial Controller will be responsible for budget control, robust and effective financial systems and processes, and business partnering to department heads. As a charity on a transformation journey, with an exciting growth strategy to deliver, this role will reward someone with a talent for improving and simplifying processes and reporting, someone resourceful and tenacious, with strong commercial acumen, who can help ensure the finance department’s working practices and output remain fit for purpose.
The National Brain Appeal (formerly known as The National Hospital Development Foundation) is the charity dedicated to raising vital funds for The Nat
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Using Anonymous Recruitment
This organisation is using Anonymous Recruitment to reduce bias in the first stages of the hiring process. Our system keeps your personal information hidden until the recruiter contacts you.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as the applications come in. Don’t miss your opportunity, apply now!
The Access Foundation is focused on making a real difference to people’s lives by awarding grants to charities which make a valuable and measurable positive impact. Our grant giving objectives fall into three categories:
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to mitigate the digital divide by making computing facilities, support and learning available to disadvantaged and vulnerable people
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to advance the charitable causes of the registered charities which are chosen as the "Access Group Company Charities of the Year"
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to advance the charitable causes of charities for whom there is a strong emotional connection with a member of staff (e.g. through support they or a close relative have received from the charity)
The Foundation aims to achieve this via a fund from which it awards grants to other charitable organisations aligned with the principles above. You are a key member or the team that works towards our target to award grants to a total value of +/- £2 million each year.
The Access Foundation was set up in 2021 following the success and growth enjoyed by The Access Group over the previous decade. While affiliated with The Access Group in terms of its identity, The Access Foundation is a separate organisation, governed by an independent board of trustees and with its own objectives and goals.
The Access Foundation wants to fund projects and activities that make a real difference to people’s lives in the countries the Access group is active.To achieve our objectives, we are looking to appoint an experienced Operations Manager to help run and improve our operational processes.
Job objectives
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Support the trustees in the due diligence and evaluation of each applicant and facilitate the decision-making process for each application
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Support the ongoing evaluation process of all successful applicants and ensure agreed measures and outcomes are reported back to the Foundation in a timely manner
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Manage the external communication of the Foundation’s successes back to stakeholders and supporters, as well as other channels on social media, such as Instagram and LinkedIn
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Manage the communication with the Access Group and maintain an open channel of communication with the charities team at the Access group
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Manage the Admin and Grants Assistant and ensure all Admin processes as well as operational processes are running smoothly and make changes where required
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Manage the use of the accounting package Access Financials to ensure processes are followed and grantees paid on time.
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Oversee the data collation for and write the impact report
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Collaborate and work with the trustees and volunteers
Duties and responsibilities will include
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Write regular reports to the trustees of new applications, applications in progress and outcomes, inform and advise the trustees to achieve a swift decision on all cases
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Organise the publicity and communications around each successful grant, including newsfeeds, social media and website updates.
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Liase with the Access Marketing team to support their own comms
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Ensure financial accounts are accurate and complete
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Liase with 3rd parties such as external suppliers and partners ranging from auditors to our financial partners
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Draft Offer letters for the successful applicants
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Recruit, Manage and Appraise the Admin and Grant Assistant
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Attend trustees, volunteers and applications meetings
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Manage the access controls for volunteers and staff
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Oversee the financial accounts, approve invoices on our bespoke Finance system and deal with some financial accounting together with our Chair of the board of trustees
Skills and Experience Required
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Organised, efficient and reliable with the ability to juggle multiple tasks simultaneous
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A minimum of 2 years' experience in a similar role
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Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build positive relationships at all levels from junior to CEO
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Computer literate with good knowledge of Excel, Word and Outlook.
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The ability to be an ambassador for the Foundation to all external parties and stakeholders
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Strong verbal and written communication skills
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Ability to travel to London as required (minimum once every 6 weeks)
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Sympathy for grassroot charities
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Experience of the charity sector
The Access Foundation is focused on making a real difference to people’s lives by awarding grants to charities which make a valuable & positive impact
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
If you’re motivated by delivering services to a high standard and able to work within defined procedures, then this could be the perfect job for you.
Thirtyone:eight, the UK’s leading Independent Christian Safeguarding charity is looking for an organised Finance Officer with experience of managing and prioritising a diverse workload. This role will need good communication skills as you will be liaising with wide range of people, including our members, either by phone or email.
We are looking for someone who is IT savvy, ideally with a minimum of 2 years accounts/finance office experience.
In return you’ll get to work in a dynamic and rewarding environment and have the opportunity to contribute towards the safeguarding of vulnerable children and adults.
Please note this job can be based at Head Office (Swanley, Kent), Home-based, or Hybrid.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Your new company
An ambitious, London-based charity.
Your new role
Reporting to the Chief Executive, you will be responsible for managing the finance function and the strategic direction of the organisation. You will also have responsibility for governance and risk and enjoy leading on complex projects. The anticipated duration is for 6-12 months+. Hybrid working: 2-3 days per week in the office. To start ASAP.
What you'll need to succeed
You will be a qualified Accountant with recent experience as a Finance Director within the charity sector.
What you need to do now
If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.
If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.
Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at hays.co.uk
Your new company
A well-established, London-based charity.
Your new role
Reporting to the Director of Resources, you will be responsible for leading the team in the delivery of an effective and efficient finance function. Key priorities will be the smooth delivery of the 23/24 financial year-end and audit; and acting as an advisor to the senior leadership team to support effective budget management and decision-making. The anticipated duration is for 4-6 months+. To start ASAP. Hybrid working: 1 day per week in the office.
What you'll need to succeed
You will be a qualified Accountant with strong, recent experience as a Head of Finance within the charity sector.
What you need to do now
If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.
If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.
Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at hays.co.uk
Your new company
Workingfor a professional body based in Farringdon, London. This opportunity is officebased 4 days a week. The office is closed on Fridays, so the successfulcandidate can work from home 1 day a week.
Your new role
- Reporting to the Finance Manager.
- Supporting with the preparation of management accounts.
- Bank reconciliations.
- Month-end journals.
- To support monthly close-down and the production of month-end reports.
- Post sales day books into nominal ledger.
- Support purchase ledger and credit control functions.
- To maintain and reconcile cash books to the nominal ledger.
- May be required to deputise for the Finance Manager.
What you'll need to succeed
- Strong double entry and reconciliation experience.
- You will be an experienced Accounts Assistant.
- Strong purchase and sales ledger experience is required.
- Ideally part-qualified.
- Strong systems' usage.
- Great communication skills - both written and verbal.
What you'll get in return - 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays. There will also be an extra 3 paid leave days between Christmas and new year due to office closure.
- 2 paid volunteering days. 1 paid leave day if you are moving house.
- Employer contribution pension scheme.
- Season ticket loan.
- Life assurance.
- + more.
What you need to do now
Ifyou're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copyof your CV, or call us now.
Ifthis job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position,please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.
Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at hays.co.uk
Do you have demonstrable experience of giving money and budgeting advice or support in a student facing environment or financial services setting? Do you have an understanding of issues facing students in Higher Education?
We are recruiting for a specialist Money & Budgeting Advisor into our Advice Service to provide money, budgeting and debt advice to our members, oversee the application processes for our expanded hardship funds and to run our new financial literacy programme. This role will work alongside another Money & Budgeting Advisor and with our wider Advice & Wellbeing team, supporting each other to achieve positive outcomes for our students. The post holder will provide accurate finance, debt and budgeting advice and information to students using the Advice Service including casework, support and advocacy.
We are a registered charity employing over 100 career staff and 300 student staff, delivering a wide range of services and representative functions for UCL students. We have the widest portfolio of services any student organisation in the country, managing UCL’s extracurricular programmes for sport, music, drama, dance, media, volunteering, academic societies and intercultural engagement; providing a wide range of fantastic social spaces; leading on student democracy and representation across UCL; and offering excellent student support services.
It's an exciting time our growing organisation as we lead the delivery of UCL’s groundbreaking new Student Life Strategy. This is enabling us to build more programmes to improve students’ mental and physical wellbeing, promote genuine equity for all, build students’ skills and confidence, develop their international connections and intercultural skills, and make a real contribution to our local community.
We support flexible working, with hybrid working for all staff.
Excellent benefits including defined benefit pension scheme and generous holiday entitlement. We are proud of high levels of staff engagement and pride ourselves on being a great place to work.
This role is a fixed term maternity cover role for 9 months (with possible extension).
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
We are currently working with a London based Council to recruit an interim accountant for an initial period of 6 months. You will be supporting year end and the closing of accounts as well as working on some of the transformation that will be taking place
The successful candidate will be fully qualified, with great technical experience in a local authority setting, especially around the closing of accounts and year end. Experience is transformation/ change management work in a local authority setting is also required.
This role offers hybrid working with time in office to be once a week.
A quick application is encouraged. If you would like to apply please contact Charlotte Daly
About Salix
We’re Salix Finance, but we’re not a bank.
Our mission is to enable, and inspire, public sector organisations to move towards net zero. We deliver government funding schemes to support councils, schools, housing associations, hospitals and universities boost their energy efficiency, reduce their impact on the environment, save money and to remove more households from fuel poverty.
As well as managing the funding schemes, we provide professional advice, expertise, and support to grant recipients throughout all stages of their projects. We also offer insight, intelligence, and influence by sharing knowledge and lessons learned from project delivery to help improve future schemes and policy development. We were created in 2004 and have been growing ever since. We now employ 200 people. We are committed and passionate about supporting governments to reach their ambitious net zero targets. We are proud and excited to be on the journey with them.
The Role
This role will support the Financial Controller to deliver a high-quality payments and cash management service. The role of the Cash and Payments Manager is to oversee the Operational Finance team (3 people) and be responsible for managing, monitoring, and reporting on all cash transactions. You will manage cash management systems and processes, recommending and implementing any improvements to current processes and controls.
You will review and approve bi-weekly supplier/expenses payment runs ensuring that there is sufficient cash available and review, sample check and provide second stage approval for payment run files on the banking systems to ensure accurate payments.
The postholder will have strong leadership skills, a positive attitude and will take pride in getting a job done to the highest standards. You will have the personal motivation to work in a fast-paced environment and be responsive to changing demands.
What you will need to succeed
- A strong background in transactional finance – particularly accounts payable
- Experience of managing a small team
- Experience of process improvement
What Salix can offer you?
- The chance to join an organisation at the forefront of decarbonising the public sector.
- £45,000-£50,000pa dependent on experience.
- 28 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) and up to 3 additional days during the Christmas period
- Hybrid working – 1 day a week in the London
- Contributory pension scheme (we will match up to 10% of your contribution)
About Us
MSI Reproductive Choices is one of the world’s leading providers of sexual and reproductive healthcare. We believe that everyone should have the right to choose. From contraception to safe abortion and life-saving post-abortion care, we are committed to delivering compassionate, affordable, high-quality services for all.
Today, our organisation has over 9,000 team members working in 37 countries across the world. Our success lies in the fact that MSI teams are locally led, entrepreneurial and results-driven, and are passionate about delivering high quality, client-centered care in their own communities. As a social business, we focus on sustainable delivery, efficiency, and funding models that are built to last, so that the women and girls we serve today will have a choice in the future too.
We know that access to reproductive choice is life changing. For some, it can mean the ability to complete an education or start a career. For others, it means being able to look after the family they already have. For everyone, it means the freedom to decide their own future, creating a fairer, more equal world.
About the Role
The Regional Programme Advisor will contribute to the fulfilment of MSI’s mission by providing support to two key country programmes (Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo), facilitating effective project and grant management, financial and narrative donor reporting and compliance and contributing to the development of strategies to improve capacity and delivery in our programmes. This role requires French and English fluency.
About You
We recruit talented, dynamic people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, all united by a belief in our mission and a focus on delivering measurable results. We’re proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to creating a fully inclusive workplace, where everyone feels able to participate and contribute meaningfully. You must be open-minded, curious, resilient, and solutions-oriented, and committed to promoting equality, and safeguarding the welfare of team members and clients alike.
To perform this role, it is essential that you have the following skills:
- Professional proficiency in written and spoken French and English.
- Ability to work in a diverse and inclusive environment, respecting and collaborating with all individuals equally, and with a commitment to overcome bias and prejudice.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills and ability to organise and present information in a compelling way.
- Ability to design, implement and monitor effective project management, including a solid understanding of donor budget management.
- Understanding of, and ability to write and edit donor proposals and reports.
- Ability to design, implement and monitor effective project management
- Ability to work well with others in a team environment and across disciplines and cultures
- Excellent influencing and negotiating skills
- Ability to work proactively, with an enthusiastic, positive and determined mind-set.
- Ability to manage a heavy and fluctuating workload as well as competing priorities and remain calm under pressure.
To perform this role, it is essential that you have the following experience:
- Demonstrated administrative, finance and programme management experience.
- Experience of working in an overseas location, preferably a developing country (desirable)
- Knowledge of donor regulations, policies and procedures.
- A knowledge of reproductive health care (desirable)
- Understanding of, and ability to write and edit donor reports and/or proposals
Personal Attributes:
We seek exceptional individuals who are aligned to MSI’s mission and entrepreneurial mindset. You must be a strong communicator, self-motivated and solutions-seeking, committed to driving social change in an environment that measures sustainable results and impact at an individual and global level. You must be able to work effectively with and across diverse teams and be comfortable with ambiguity.
Formal education/qualification
- Educated to Degree level or equivalent.
- Post-graduate qualification in public health, international development, public management or related field (desirable).
- Professional proficiency in written and spoken French and English
For this role, we’re looking for an individual who is:
- Committed to the protection of team members and clients, with a focus on vulnerable groups
- Able to role-model inclusive and culturally sensitive attitudes and behaviours
- Ability to manage a heavy and fluctuating workload. Results orientated
- Demonstrates MSI team member behaviours
- Pro MSI philosophy of social enterprise and cost recovery
- Pro choice
For more information about the role, please view the job description and person specification on our website.
Location: London Support Office (hybrid working) or where any MSI country programme operates.
Full-time: 35 hours a week, Monday to Friday (UK contracted hours).
Contract type: Permanent
Salary: £34,200 - £42,750 per annum for UK based candidates. Discretionary bonus + benefits.
Salary band: BG 7
Please see the job description on our website.
Closing date: 20th May 2024 (midnight GMT+1). Interviews may take place before this date for exceptional candidates.
For internal employees applying from an MSI country programme, the role will be positioned within the existing salary structure of the country. Local terms and conditions of the country will apply.
Using Anonymous Recruitment
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The Partnership Manager role will report to the CEO and sit within the Business Development Team.
The Partnership Manager will be responsible for identifying new business opportunities in order to generate revenue, improve profitability and help the business grow. You will have a clear ability to tailor the way we sell our services to potential clients.
You will lead and support others across the company to communicate our service offering to external stakeholders that will directly contribute to the company’s growth strategy and impact.
The Partnership Manager will also be a key member of the department and contribute to, departmental strategies, systems and maximising efficiency, and communicating our brand values and services that attracts a wide range of clients.
In this role, you will work closely with the Digital Communications and Marketing, Monitoring and Evaluation, Programme and Finance teams.
Essential Experience
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Have a minimum 5 years sales and client relationship experience
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Proven success in a similar role, with a track record of securing income through multi-year partnerships
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Strong relationship management skills, particularly within the education and/or corporate sector.
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Ability to manage a heavy and varied workload effectively and maintain high levels of both accuracy and output
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Ability to think strategically and identify new opportunities and initiatives to grow the business
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Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with experience of producing high quality written materials that are tailored to the needs of specific internal or external audiences.
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Experience managing a CRM system, sales systems flow and executing sales campaigns/funnels
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Experience working in a fast-paced environment and working independently to find solutions to problems
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
The Task Ahead: Finance Manager
As The Difference moves from its early start-up phase into the delivery of our 2025-30 strategy, our programmes and sector-influencing work are expanding to reach more schools and to deepen our impact. Alongside this growth, our team - and the operational function which supports them - is also growing.
As Finance Manager, you will be a key member of the Finance & Operations team. You will hold end-to-end responsibility for the finance function, from reconciliations to budgeting. You will decide where and how our existing processes could be improved, as well as developing new systems that will underpin our work as a larger and more established charity. You will be supported by the Director of People, Finance & Operations, as well as our external auditors.
The Difference is still a small and growing charity. This means that our work is fast-paced, our roles are broad, and there is a culture of being reactive and flexible, as the needs of the organisation evolve. If this sounds exciting rather than daunting, then this could be the role and team for you!
Areas of Responsibility
The Difference is looking for a Finance Manager to lead our finance function in the following ways:
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Oversee our internal bookkeeping, payment, and accounting processes, and improve these systems ongoingly.
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Lead on budgeting and forecasting across the organisation, supporting teams to predict income and expenditure and make sound financial decisions.
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Lead on the production of management accounting information, including internal monthly management accounts, quarterly reports for Trustees, and financial reports for investors.
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Lead on The Difference’s audit process, with external auditors.
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Work with the Development & Impact Manager to update fundraising pipelines, and ensure the availability of high quality income projections for Trustees.
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Support accurate budgeting and reporting for grant funding, including tracking spend of restricted funds.
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Support business planning by working with teams to model potential future work - e.g. costs of expansion of an existing programme; modelling potential new programmes.
Person Specification
Essential – We are looking for the following skills, aptitude and experience; though you may be stronger in some areas than others:
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Values – Your experience evidences shared values with The Difference (see below) and a personal commitment to our mission to improve life outcomes for vulnerable people.
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Finance experience, operational and strategic – Experience across all areas of finance, from accurate invoicing, payments and record-keeping, through to setting and managing budgets, financial modelling and forecasting, and working with external accountants or auditors.
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Finance process development – Experience of developing finance systems; the ability to recognise how processes could be continuously improved, and enact this improvement.
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Leadership of self and others – Confident in identifying skills or information gaps within your team, and drawing on the expertise of others to address these gaps. Able to show how you've continually grown your own skills and those of your team members so that together you can efficiently cover workload and plan ahead.
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Proactive problem-solving – Ability to thrive in a fast-paced start-up environment and to problem-solve: from rolling sleeves up and diving into detail to working collaboratively to build capacity.
Desired – You are more likely to be successful in your application if you have one or more of the following additional experiences:
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Accounting qualification and experience - Some form of accounting qualification and post-qualification experience.
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Early-stage charity/social enterprise experience – You may have specific experience growing charities or businesses for social good at the early or start-up phase.
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Experience of charity finances – You may have worked for or supported other charities, and have experience of working with philanthropic grants, charity accounting, and governance.
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Insight into schools – You may have experience working in the education sector, whether that’s through working for a business or charities that partnered with schools, or through working in a school yourself.
Why Work for The Difference?
Schooling isn’t working for the children who need it most. Every week in England 109 children – equivalent to three full classrooms – are permanently excluded. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Since the pandemic, school suspensions have risen significantly, as has persistent absenteeism. 1 in 5 children are missing more than 10% of their time in school. Children who are excluded or persistently absent are much more likely to already be experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage. They are more likely to live in poverty, have additional learning needs, suffer mental health challenges, or experience a lack of safety outside school. Certain ethnicities are also disproportionately affected, notably Gypsy Roma Traveller and black Caribbean children.
Exclusion and high rates of absence can have a dramatic effect on life chances. These young people are more likely to drop out of education or employment, become vulnerable to long-term mental ill health, or be at risk of criminal exploitation. The Difference believes that children and young people deserve better and that the education system has to change.
Our Organisation
The Difference is a young education charity, founded to change the story on lost learning. By 2030, we want rates of exclusion and absence to be falling nationally and for schools to be better equipped to support all children, including those who may be vulnerable. The Difference was born out of a year of research into school exclusions with think-tank IPPR. This research identified a lack of inclusion expertise in schools and proposed a new leadership development programme to fill this gap. In 2018, Difference founder Kiran hired the team who took this idea from concept to reality, beginning work with our first schools.
The Difference is now a 22-strong team delivering multiple school leadership programmes, alongside a growing research and policy arm. The team is supported by our Youth Advisory Board, made up of young people who have experienced exclusion and who provide their expertise and insights on how school inclusion work should be done. This work is needed more than ever. Effects of COVID-19, coupled with the spiralling cost of living, have substantially increased levels of vulnerability. Schools serving excluded pupils face under-funding. The Difference has had excellent early impact but there is work ahead to capture this, share learning with schools and policy-makers, and grow our capacity to lower exclusions across England.
Our Values
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High Expectations - We are ambitious for excellence from young people, colleagues and ourselves. We don’t believe in writing off someone’s potential because of their identity or experience of crisis.
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Strong Relationships - We prioritise genuine relationships over transactional interactions, and know that this requires deliberate relational practice. We see colleagues and partners as people first and their roles second; and know this greater trust allows us to take more risks, gain more feedback and have greater impact.
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Internalised Locus of Control - We work hard to reframe difficult situations to discover what we have within our power in terms of solutions. We take it upon ourselves to walk towards challenges and can take a high level of ownership and agency in our work/
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Pragmatism - We believe leadership means recognising current limitations and striving for improvements within and beyond them. We develop consensus and chart new ways forward, challenging false and extreme positions like “zero exclusions” or “no excuses”.
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Scientific approach - We take a diagnostic approach to unpicking causes of problems. We are loud and proud of our failures, recognising failing fast and often is key to finding the best solutions. We test solutions and are willing to use data and feedback to make adjustments and choose new directions.
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Not Squeamish about Structural Inequality - We believe patterns of inequality can and should be disrupted. We strive to be clear-eyed about these inequalities, and both the individual practice and system-changes required to address them. We push ourselves to overcome awkwardness in talking about this; and begin by acknowledging our own biases and blind spots.
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Asset-based - We work hard to avoid deficit thinking and aim to start with what’s strong, not what’s wrong. We are careful not to frame our colleagues and stakeholders - particularly young people and families – as victims but instead to recognise their agency.
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Wise selves - To both enjoy work and do their best, we want to make decisions and work with others in our “wise” - or regulated - selves. We also want to bring our compassionate self to those we work with, externally and internally, to support one another through challenging times.
How To Apply
To apply, please complete all sections of the application form by midnight on Sunday 19th May.
First round interviews will be held during the week beginning 27th May, over video call. Please indicate if you would not be available to attend an interview during this week.
If successful in this stage, second round interviews (including a task to be completed the same day) will take place on the week beginning 3rd June, at our office in Bethnal Green.
We are committed to building a diverse team and strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups in the charity sector such as people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with experience in the care system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates.
As part of our commitment to fairer recruitment, all applications will be assessed with names and any protected characteristics redacted.
Recommended Reading
If you’d like to understand more about The Difference and what we are trying to achieve, we would recommend the following:
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The research which underpins our organisation.
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Our latest Impact Report, sharing our work in 2023
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