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Permanent, full-time (37.5 hours per week)
Remote working with some UK and international travel
We are looking for an ambitious, experienced and passionate Chief Financial & Operations Officer (CFOO) to join The Lifescape Project, leading the evolution, management and delivery of our financial and operational capacities as the organisation grows.
Our impact as a charity depends on excellent financial management and the efficient provision of supporting operational structures, policies and ways of working. As the organisation grows and diversifies, we need a dedicated Chief Financial and Operations Officer to lead the management and development of these critical functions in close liaison with the CEO. The CFOO will be second in command to the CEO and a key member of the Management Team.
About us and the role
We are a small and quickly growing UK-registered charity whose mission is to protect and restore wild, natural landscapes. We use the skills and expertise of our multi-disciplinary team (spanning science, law, economics, technology and culture) to develop projects that pursue this mission.
We use the approach of combining disciplines to design and deliver our work because the biodiversity crisis is driven and impacted by social, economic, legal and other complex factors. It is increasingly recognised that the urgent transformative change needed for a sustainable future on our planet is most effectively achieved through this approach. The Lifescape Project has a unique ability to apply these diverse areas of expertise to our mission whilst maintaining the agility of a smaller organisation in delivering our work.
Working in pursuit of our 2020-2026 strategy, the Lifescape Project has seen rapid growth in its impact, team and revenue since commencing work in 2020. Our annual revenue has increased from £265,000 in FY 2020/2021 to £1.2m in FY 2024/2025, with further growth expected in the current FY. Our team has grown from just one to a team which will number 20 at the time of the successful CFOO candidate joining. This growth to date and planned future growth requires constant evolution of our financial and operational infrastructure and an experienced hand to guide this process, which is the core purpose of the CFOO role we are seeking to appoint.
We are excited to be hiring for this role, which will be transformational for the organisation, allowing us to develop our approach to financial and operational matters and support the continued growth of our team and impact. The role will act as second in command and will deputise for the CEO when absent. We are therefore looking for a highly capable and experienced finance and operations leader with the vision to ensure that we continue to grow in a sustainable, effective and efficient way.
We currently have a full-time manager and officer in our Finance and Operations team (F&O Team), which the CFOO will be joining to oversee, develop and guide all relevant functions. With the small size of the team at this time, the CFOO will be expected to jump into the detail in some areas. In the short term this will include delivering some of the more complex areas of the F&O team’s work, such as the audit process, multi-year financial planning and legal compliance, with support from other team members and external advisers as appropriate. If we continue to succeed in delivering our growth strategy, the role will progress over the medium term with increasing team size/supervisory duties and reducing involvement in immediate implementation. Remuneration would also increase in line with growth and assuming strong performance in the role.
For further information, please download the job pack below. Candidates must review the entire job pack before applying.
To apply, please email a cover letter and CV (each a maximum of 2 pages).
Closing date: 9.00pm on 29th January 2026, however we will be reviewing applications as they come in and reserve our discretion to extend the deadline if necessary.
First interview: First round interviews are expected to take place virtually on Microsoft Teams between 3rd-6th February.
Second interview: Second round interviews are expected to take place between 23rd-27th February.
Assessed task: There will be an assessed task which candidates will be asked to complete, either before the first round or second round interview.
Start date: The role will commence as soon as possible from 1st April 2026, subject to the successful candidate’s availability.
To apply, please email a cover letter and CV (each a maximum of 2 pages). Candidates must review the entire job pack before applying.
Thank you!
At the Community Fund we are committed to making a bigger difference in the years ahead. That’s why being 'impact-focussed’ is one of our core values. We want to transform how we use insight in our organisation so that we can: identify the communities that most need our funding, demonstrate the difference we make and take an equity-based approach. Our 2030 strategy ‘It starts with community’ sets stretching goals and puts impact at the heart of what we do.
We’re recruiting for a Process Improvement Lead in our Evidence and Impact team.
In this role you will help make sure that the Evidence and Impact team is working effectively so that we deliver a brilliant service for community organisations, colleagues and external partners.
You will proactively identify improvement opportunities within our UK-wide team. Putting the voice of the users at the forefront of your work, you will help our team fully understand the needs of customers. You will coach and challenge us to continuously improve by assembling multi-discipline groups to undertake root cause analysis, gather user experience and design new processes. The processes you build will support stronger cross-team working, reduce duplication and deliver time savings and efficiencies for colleagues at all levels. They will also help us make better use of established and new technologies to improve how we work.
As an active member of the Evidence and Impact leadership, you will help build a continuous improvement culture across our whole team. Mentoring and supporting others will be a critical part of the role, as you support colleagues to grow their own skills and build experience in continuous improvement.
We’re looking for someone whose enthusiasm and energy can help our team reach new heights. You will bring extensive experience of delivering meaningful long term changes through continuous improvement projects. You will be able to pair this with a solid understanding of methods such as six sigma, kata or vanguard and excel at applying them to a service context.
Finally, you’ll be comfortable working across a complex organisational landscape, ideally with experience of delivering in a UK context, and you will relish taking on process challenges that span multiple departments. You will bring the skills and experience to translate our overall strategy into efficient processes that deliver real benefits for communities and our own team members.
Interview details:
- Date: 26th and 27th January 2026
- Format: Virtual
- Location: UK Wide
Location: We have a hybrid approach to working. Work pattern and location will be agreed with the successful candidate. The role can be based at any of our UK offices: Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, and Newtown.
We will be hosting a briefing session on: Tuesday 6thJanuary 2026, 11:00 – 11:45am. To register or ask any questions please email the recruitment team.
How to apply:
Upload your CV in word format and write a supporting statement (1000 words) with the following criteria, we will use this to score your application.
Essential
- Strong knowledge of business improvement methodologies such as lean six sigma, Kata or systems thinking/analysis.
- Experience of coaching and supporting colleagues at all levels of seniority to help develop a continuous improvement culture.
- Demonstrable experience of leading service or enabling functions to improve their processes, with measurable results.
- Excellent facilitation skills and the ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams to break down problems and understand root causes from the user/customer perspective.
- Strong knowledge of project management principles and the interaction between PMO requirements and continuous improvement.
- Ability to communicate effectively across all levels of the business.
- Ability to understand and breakdown complex issues and communicate to a variety of stakeholders.
Desirable
- A willingness to understand the external functional standards for the work of the Evidence and Impact team.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Communities in the UK come in all shapes and sizes. National Lottery funding is for everyone – therefore, we are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and we work hard to ensure our funding reaches where it is needed.
We also believe our people should represent the communities, organisations and individuals we work with. That’s why The National Lottery Community Fund is committed to being an inclusive employer and a great place to work. We recognise and celebrate the fact that our people come from diverse backgrounds. We positively welcome applications from people from ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities or longstanding health conditions, people who are LGBTQ+, and people from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds, as well as people of all ages.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we take a proactive approach in making reasonable adjustments, if needed, throughout the recruitment process and during employment. (This can be related to a physical and mental health condition.)
Non Charity Employer
501 - 1000
It starts with community.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.