Lead membership development officer jobs in Islington, greater london

Who we are

Chefs in Schools is a young, ambitious charity that’s rapidly growing. Our mission is to improve kids' health, through improving school food & food education. Working in areas of high deprivation, we support and train schools and their kitchen teams to serve the best, freshest and tastiest food possible, alongside meaningful food education. We share our learning and resources freely, aiming to inspire and enable others to follow our lead.

We’re backed by some of the biggest names in food and have ambitious targets to ensure every child has access to incredible school food and food education, setting them up for life with the skills and knowledge to feed themselves well.

About you and the role

This is a pivotal role, at a pivotal moment for us. We are entering a critical growth phase, which includes rapidly expanding our own operations and managing significant external partnership. As Head of Finance & Systems, you will be accountable for ensuring we have the right systems and structures in place to grow at pace without detriment to good governance.

The purpose of this role is to lead on our finance strategy, and ensure all of our systems, reporting and processes are helping to drive forward the charity and deliver on our objectives at scale. You will work closely with the Chief Executive and Directors to ensure that financial planning is effective and supported by accurate data analysis. You will report directly to Trustees as required and ensure that the highest standards of transparency and probity are maintained. 

You will be joining the team during a period of growth in the size and complexity of our delivery. We currently have 24 employees and anticipate growing significantly in the next twelve months. You will have a crucial role in shaping our systems and processes to ensure we can scale effectively, both our existing programmes and a new membership-based programme that is in development. We’re looking for an experienced finance professional with an interest in effectively using technology and systems to drive efficiency, without compromising on accuracy or compliance. 

You will oversee all financial administration, ensuring this is carried out proficiently and in line with all legal and regulatory requirements, including ultimate responsibility for ensuring that all statutory filings are made accurately and on time. Your role will also encompass ensuring that we operate within legal & regulatory frameworks and stay up to date with changes in relevant legislation.

The responsibilities, skills and experience listed below are intended to give you an idea of what we need for this role. If you don’t meet every requirement, but feel as though you would be able to work with us to deliver the majority of them, we would urge you to apply anyway. We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and for us the most important ‘experience’ is passion for our mission. You may be just the right candidate for this, or other roles.  

We want to get to know you at the interview and understand we can do this best if you’re at ease. We’re an inclusive employer and work hard to create a welcoming working environment for everyone, including appointing a neurodiversity champion to help us identify how we can make our work environment work for everyone. If you need adjustments to the interview process please let us know.

As we work with children & young people, an offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and DBS clearance, in line with our safeguarding policy.  

Key responsibilities:

• Developing a comprehensive financial strategy that supports the delivery of the charity’s objectives and activities.

• Have ultimate oversight of the external audit and production of the statutory accounts, supported in delivery of this by the book-keeper.

• Produce the monthly management accounts and bespoke financial reports—including accurate forecasting, restricted fund tracking, and variance analysis—ensuring decision-makers have clear, actionable data.

• Forecasting cash flow and managing the treasury position.

• Manage the contract and performance of the bookkeeper  and outsourced payroll providers; setting strict monthly closing deadlines, enforcing data accuracy, and ensuring they deliver a clean trial balance for management accounting.

• Oversee sound financial administration, management and governance across the organisation, ensuring robust financial controls in place and operating effectively.

• Provide leadership and guidance to all things finance related, providing mentoring and support to the team, and coaching on financial awareness. 

• Accountability for monitoring that the organisation’s services are, and will, run to budget, supporting budget holders and reporting promptly on risks 

• Support the Partnerships & Impact team and Programme Managers with financial inputs to funding proposals and ensure restricted funds are used in compliance with grant conditions.

• Developing our systems strategy, including reviewing suitability of our current systems (Quickbooks for accountancy, Beacon CRM, PLEO for expenses management, Survey Monkey for data collection etc. ) and ensuring optimal use of systems, maximising automation, and using AI where appropriate.

• Constantly seeking to develop and improve the organisation’s financial systems, policies and procedures to promote dynamic, best practice and up-to-date application of tools, systems and approaches

• Supporting the organisation’s data governance by ensuring financial systems (e.g., Quickbooks, payroll, expenses) are secure, compliant, and integrated in line with data protection principles.

• Leading an effective risk management process.

• Ensuring the organisation’s compliance with charity law, in accordance with the Charity Commission in England & Wales and all financial reporting requirements.

Essential Skills & experience:

• Charity Finance Experience: Practical, senior-level experience working within a UK non-profit finance function, including a strong working knowledge of the Charities SORP and accounting for restricted vs. unrestricted funds.

• Hands-on Management Accounting:Proven experience independently producing monthly management accounts, cash flow forecasting, and variance analysis from scratch.

• End-to-End Audit Management: Experience preparing year-end audit files, reconciling balance sheet control accounts, and acts as the primary point of contact for external auditors.

• Accountancy Qualification: Full or partial qualification through an accredited body (ACCA, CIMA, ACA, CIPFA). 

• Tech Literacy & Data Reconciliation: Comfortable troubleshooting and navigating modern finance tech stacks (e.g., Xero, Pleo) and pulling financial data/reports from a CRM system (e.g., Beacon).

• Vendor & Staff Management:Experience supervising junior staff (or office managers) and actively managing the performance, timelines, and accuracy of outsourced providers (e.g., bookkeeping and payroll).

Desirable skills & experience

• Systems Implementation: Past experience project-managing a software migration or building native integrations/automations between a CRM system and accounting software.

• Broader Operations/HR Exposure: Basic familiarity with HR administration, GDPR workflows, or managing organizational risk registers in a small team environment.

• Sector Passion: A demonstrable interest in food education, children’s health, or food systems.

Benefits

You would be joining a friendly, supportive team who works hard but believe in a healthy work/life balance. We were voted one of CODE Hospitality’s happiest places to work in 2024. We seek a diverse range of perspectives, skills, experience and knowledge. Joining a small, collaborative team means you’ll be able to contribute to and draw on various projects and strategic insights.

We offer 33 days of holiday per year including bank holidays, 3 additional office closure days over the Christmas period as well as wellbeing days over the summer school holidays.  We also have a Cycle to Work scheme, hybrid working, enhanced parental leave, and free access to the CODE app for discounted restaurants & hospitality venues. We are committed to developing our team and will support you with relevant training opportunities including £250 towards elective training and development of your choice.

We also offer Bupa Dental Insurance, Income Protection Insurance, as well as access to the Aviva Smart Health Platform which offers health benefits including free rapid access online GP appointments, free counselling and wellbeing support.

Application process

In line with our commitment to ensuring a fair and unbiased recruitment process, we invite candidates to answer a series of questions related to their day-to-day job. 

We recommend that you develop your answers offline and copy them in when you’re ready to ensure you don’t lose your work if interrupted.

Your answers will go through our sifting process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers. A long list of candidates will then additionally have their CVs reviewed. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a 30 mins online interview. Successful candidates will be invited to attend a second, in-person interview at our office in Brixton, London.

Expected duration of this application process: 7 weeks

First interviews will be held 1st -4th September

GoodWork is a youth employment and social mobility charity, creating fairer opportunities for young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. This is an exciting opportunity to join GoodWork at a pivotal moment in our growth. Founded in 2022, we’re a fast-growing organisation with real impact and big ambitions to drive systemic change for the community we serve. 

About the role 

This is a key strategic hire for GoodWork. As our Operations Manager, you'll play a central role in how the organisation runs, grows and delivers impact. Reporting directly to our CEO and joining our Leadership Team, you'll bring structure, pace and clarity across GoodWork, helping turn our strategy into effective day-to-day delivery.

You'll be the only person at GoodWork dedicated full-time to operations - plugged in to what's happening across every team, helping the CEO, trustees and staff connect the dots and making sure GoodWork runs coherently and efficiently. This is a broad, stretching role, but as we’re a small organisation, a lot of the job is rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck into the work yourself, and we're looking for someone who finds real satisfaction in both the bigger picture and the detail.

You'll have real ownership and influence across the organisation, including:

• Keeping GoodWork running brilliantly day to day, creating the conditions for our team, volunteers and young people to do their best work
• Leading core business operations across finance, planning, reporting and controls, working closely with our CEO, Treasurer and external accountants
• Helping shape how we work as a growing organisation, from people processes and onboarding to policies, culture and staff wellbeing
• Strengthening governance, risk and compliance - including Charity Commission and data protection requirements - and supporting the CEO and Chair to ensure the Board has the information, structure and assurance it needs
• Improving the systems, tools and ways of working that help GoodWork operate efficiently and professionally as we scale
• Driving cross-organisational projects and priorities, helping unblock issues, connect teams and make sure important work moves forward
• Contributing as a member of the Leadership Team to organisational strategy, annual planning and key decisions about GoodWork's next stage of growth
• Growing, over time, into a guardian of GoodWork's team culture as well as our operations - going beyond process and systems to help shape how it feels to work here

We’re a small team, which means we need everyone to pick up some admin. For this role, this will include managing our Shared Mailbox, processing DBS checks and keeping the office well stocked and organised. As GoodWork grows, we expect this role - and the wider operations function - to grow and evolve too, including the potential to build a small team around you in time.

As our first Operations Manager, you'll be building this function from the ground up. We'll work with you to prioritise what matters most, but we'll also expect you to bring initiative, judgement and high standards from the start.

What we're looking for

We're looking for someone who's excited by the chance to help build the operational engine of a growing, ambitious charity - someone who enjoys making organisations work better, brings structure, judgement and pace, holds a high bar for quality and follow-through, and is willing to roll up their sleeves to get things done.

You'll need to be a self-starter with a proactive, hands-on attitude who wants to get stuck in and solve problems as they arise. You don't need to have experience solving every issue that comes up, but you should be a generalist at heart, comfortable with uncertainty and learning as you go. A growth mindset is essential.

• Significant, hands-on operations experience in a small or growing organisation, ideally with exposure across finance, people, governance, systems and organisational planning
• The ability to take ownership of a broad brief, bring order to complexity and turn ideas into clear priorities, strong processes and tangible progress
• Good commercial and financial judgement, comfortable working with budgets, reporting, data and digital tools
• Excellent organisational and communication skills, including the tact, discretion and attention to detail needed to work with sensitive information, senior stakeholders and Board-level engagement
• A proactive, resilient and resourceful approach, with the maturity to be the operations lead in a small, fast-moving team
• A fast learner, able to build knowledge quickly, solve problems and move easily between strategic priorities and practical delivery

Just as important as your experience will be how you work. We're looking for someone who's motivated by mission, energised by growth and comfortable playing a visible, trusted role at the heart of the organisation. You won't need experience in the early careers, youth or education sector, but you will need to connect with GoodWork's purpose and show real commitment to helping us increase opportunity for young people from underserved communities.

We work with a diverse group of young people from underserved communities. We particularly encourage applications from minoritised ethnic candidates and those who have lived experience relevant to our programme, particularly non-graduates and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Key Info

• Full time (37.5 hours per week).
• Permanent contract, ideally starting by mid to late October 2026.
• Salary: £39,520 annually with 4% employer pension contribution.
• Hybrid (London), 3 days a week in-person with the team at GoodWork HQ, Warren Street.
• 25 days holiday per year, plus Bank Holidays and additional leave during our annual Winter Break between Christmas and New Year.
• Appointment is subject to Enhanced DBS Check. GoodWork operates in line with safe recruitment practices and adherence to our Safeguarding Policy is essential.
• We are unable to sponsor visas, applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

Life at GoodWork: 

Making GoodWork a great place to work is hugely important to us, and as a small charity we’re continuously working to improve our offer. For now, our team benefits from:

• Personal training budget to invest as you’d like, as well as access to more in-person and online training through our membership of London Youth and the Charity Learning Consortium
• Access to individual coaching to support professional development with qualified coaches, through our corporate partners
• Quarterly official team socials and ad hoc team social activities, recent highlights have included a team Iftar, pottery painting, a Monopoly Deal and Pizza Night and team crafting lunchtime
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme with Health Assured
• Enhanced Maternity and Shared Parental Leave, after a year’s service
• A dog-friendly office 
• The option to work up to two weeks a year ‘super remote’ (from anywhere)
• A values and mission driven team (find out more about our values here) and the opportunity to be part of shaping a rapidly growing organisation

Please apply via our website no later than 9am on 19 August 2026.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a House Coordinator to join our Nursing and Quality Team. This role will require the successful candidate to be responsible for the day-to-day problem solving, acting as the central point of contact, and supporting the House Managers to ensure the smooth operation of the Houses. 

Staff benefits include, shuttle bus, and more… Read more below

Role Requirements

As the House Coordinator, you will have direct contact with children and their families, often during challenging times. This role therefore requires a level of empathy and the ability to communicate effectively in emotionally charged situations, which is not typically expected of other administrative roles within the organisation.

With experience of working in a complex environment, across a large and diverse workforce, you will be exceptionally organised with a high-level of attention to detail. You will naturally possess excellent inter-personal skills, and an ability to consult and positively engage with key stakeholders across the organisation.

For more detail, please see the Duties and Responsibilities in the candidate briefing pack.

Interview Date: Week commencing 24th August 2026

  PLEASE READ CAREFULLY – ‘How to Apply’

PLEASE NOTE: The Children's Trust Application Form MUST be completed and submitted, for your application to be considered. As part of the shortlisting process, gaps in employment will be examined and further explored during the interview process. 

AI Statement

We recognise the value of AI tools, particularly in supporting individuals who may benefit from assistance with writing. However, applications created mainly by AI can often appear generic and may not fully reflect an applicant’s, skills, knowledge, and experience.

We’d really like to hear from you so please use your own words and personal experiences when completing the application form to give us the best chance of understanding what you can bring to the role.

Strictly no agencies, please.

As we often receive high levels of applicants for our roles, we regret that we will only be able to contact those applicants who are shortlisted for interviews. Therefore, if you have not heard from us within 2 weeks of the closing date, please assume you have not been shortlisted for an interview on this occasion.

  About Us

The Children’s Trust is the UK’s leading charity for children with acquired brain injury, providing expert rehabilitation, education, therapy, and care at our national specialist centre in Tadworth, and to children and their families across the UK, via our Brain Injury Community Service.

Boasting a beautiful 24-acre site in Surrey, we are located just outside of London, close to the M25 (accessible via Junction 8, A217 to Tadworth) and easily accessible via National Rail, by way of: Clapham Junction, Sutton, and Epsom.

Staff Benefits

The work we do is highly rewarding, and in addition to an attractive salary, we offer a valuable range of benefits, including our staff flexible benefits platform, on-site nursery, free eye tests, enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay, time out days for those experiencing menopause symptoms and time off for gender reassignment.

We also offer additional annual leave days for those with long service, with entitlements ranging from 35 to 41 days (including bank holidays) depending on your length of service.

Other benefits include free on-site parking; a staff shuttle service from Epsom and Sutton train stations to Tadworth Court, Car Scheme (subject to eligibility), subsidised cafeteria, on-site staff accommodation (subject to availability), the ability to retain your NHS pension (where applicable), Teacher’s pension (where applicable) or the opportunity to join an alternative scheme, and the opportunity to develop your career in a supportive and collaborative environment.

As a charity organisation independent of the NHS, we do not follow Agenda for Change terms and conditions. Consequently, we are unable to take into account NHS incremental dates or continuous service for salary, annual leave, or related entitlements such as absence pay at the point of recruitment.

Rehabilitation of Offenders

Many roles at The Children’s Trust are exempt from the provisions of Section 4 (2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, by virtue of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013 and 2020) and as such, are subject to an Enhanced DBS check.  Successful applicants will be required to complete an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check, which will disclose all unspent convictions and adult cautions and any spent convictions or adult cautions that would not be protected.  The exceptions to this are our retail roles within The Children’s Trust shops, which are subject to Basic DBS checks which will disclose unspent convictions or adult cautions.

Equal Opportunity Employer

To help us achieve our ambition to give children and young people with brain injury and neurodisability the opportunity to live the best life possible, we want to accurately reflect the UK’s diverse population. We want equity, diversity, and inclusion to be at the heart of everything we do, and our people, services, and culture to reflect the diverse needs of all. Through our diversity and inclusion strategy, we have made a commitment to increase the diversity of our charity and create an inclusive culture. We have networks across the organisation working to ensure that these aims are met - including an LGBTQIA2S+ group, Ethnic Diversity Group, and Spark – our broad EDI group. Read more about our EDI work here. We welcome applications from all who share our ambition regardless of background. We will strive to ensure that any reasonable adjustments are made in respect of interview and working arrangements.

Online Searches

In accordance with statutory safeguarding and child protection guidance, online searches will be conducted for shortlisted candidates before interview. The online searches will be conducted by a person who is independent of the interview and selection process and will focus on relevant information returned via searches of the candidate’s name (and variations thereof). Social media searches will be limited to professional platforms such as LinkedIn. Any concerns relating to suitability for work with children and young people will be forwarded to the interview panel, for discussion during the interview.

Location: Remote (Based in England, Scotland & Wales with some travel required).

Salary: £35,000 - £40,000 pro rata (£21,000 - £24,000 3 days or £28,000 - £32,000 4 days)

Hours of work: Full time OR part-time 3 or 4 days a week (21 or 28 hours)

Contract type: Permanent

Why work for Kids Matter?

• Generous annual leave – 25 days (plus bank holidays) per year pro rata, with time off between Christmas and New Year's additional to this allowance.
• Remote working contribution – receive £26/month pro rata towards the costs of working from home and/or using a co-working space.
• Access to coaching sessions, training opportunities and our Employee Assistance Programme (a confidential support service for staff).
• Flexible working across weekdays to suit your schedule.

About us

Kids Matter is one of the UK’s fastest growing children’s charities.

Our vision is to see every child in need raised in a strong family. Our mission is to reduce the impact of poverty on children through community-based parenting programmes.

Research shows that group-based early intervention parenting groups are the most effective way to support children in need. We train peer facilitators in local churches - the largest voluntary body in the country - to run our affordable, accessible and highly effective parenting programmes, written by Clinical Psychologists. They come alongside parents and carers, building long-lasting community in addition to encouraging confidence and learning positive parenting skills.

We value difference and diversity, and we want our workplace to be built on shared values of equality and mutual trust, with team members representing the wide range of backgrounds and experiences that exist within the UK. We therefore actively encourage applications from people of diverse backgrounds and varied experiences, particularly those who are African, Afro-Caribbean, Asian or part of other minority ethnic communities, who have lived experience of the impact of low-income/low-support circumstances, and who are living with a disability or identify as being neurodivergent.

About the role

The Grant Manager role involves:

• Writing clear and compelling grant applications that communicate Kids Matter’s vision and impact
• Building and nurturing strong, professional relationships with grant funders through regular updates, meetings, and invitations to engage with our work.
• Working with the Head of Fundraising & Communications to forecast income and contribute to long term fundraising planning
• Working closely with programme, finance, and research and impact teams to gather accurate data, budgets, and stories

About you

Are you experienced in Grant Writing? Do you have strong relational skills? Are you a Christian with an active faith in Jesus? Do you have a passion for Kids Matter’s vision of seeing every child in need raised in a strong family?

Then we would love to hear from you!

How to apply

You can apply for the Grant Manager position by clicking ‘Apply via Website’ and completing a copy of our online application form.

The deadline for applications is 24th August 2026. All successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified by email.

We also ask for all applicants to submit an Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form, which will be sent to you to complete following the submission of your application. This form will be used for anonymous analysis to ensure our overall recruitment procedures are fair and transparent. It will never be viewed or used as part of the selection process. It is optional to submit this form.

If you would like any application/interview support or you need any reasonable adjustments throughout the application process, or if you would like an informal phone call to ask questions or discuss the role, please contact Katie Washington (HR & Systems Manager).

Please see the job pack for more details on the role and application process.