Payroll and hr officer jobs in Newcastle

Reporting to: Co-Executive Director

Benefits:

25 days annual leave per annum, plus UK public and bank holidays (pro rata)
Office closure for a week in December and August
Annual leave allocation increases annually by one day (up to a maximum of five days)
10% employer pension contribution
Other standard Foxglove benefits 

About us

Foxglove is a non-profit that exists to make the use of technology fair for all. When Big Tech companies abuse their power, their workers or the planet – and when governments use technology to oppress, exclude or discriminate – we litigate and campaign to fix it.  

Big Tech companies have become so large – gobbling up a huge slice of the global marketplace and an unprecedented treasure hoard of user data – that they’re now more powerful than many states. The harmful effects of this concentration of power are everywhere – threats to our democracy, to our privacy, decimated workers’ rights and platforms rife with disinformation and hate. Big Tech and AI data centres are rapidly expanding, resulting in huge strain on energy and water supplies. Worldwide governments are ploughing ahead with the use of algorithms and mass data systems to cut costs and increase efficiency often resulting in digital tools that entrench unfairness and leave the most vulnerable in society in crisis. All these problems are only getting worse with generative AI. 

Foxglove works to bring the rule of law to the tech and AI giants who have upended our public square, workplaces, and social lives. We have a strong track record. We’ve launched landmark cases seeking structural changes to big tech’s harmful business models, supported 180+ Facebook content moderators fired for trying to form a union to sue Facebook and their outsourcing company, Sama – winning world-first judgements. We're urging competition regulators worldwide to stop Google’s theft of independent news. We’ve filed the UK’s first legal challenge to a data centre permission decision over the government’s failure to properly assess their environmental impact. We’ve forced disclosure of secret contracts between tech giants and the NHS, stopped a racist Home Office visa streaming algorithm, helped make grading fair for UK A level students, forced the government to pause the NHS Data Grab and challenged the Department of Work and Pension’s use of an algorithm unfairly flagging disabled people for benefit fraud investigations.

We are a small but growing team of lawyers, communications experts, and campaigners. Our work is global, and we work in partnership with lawyers, civil society, unions, and people impacted by Big Tech.

The role

As Head of Operations, you will lead all operational functions of Foxglove. You will ensure that our finance, HR, legal compliance, fundraising, systems and internal processes enable the organisation to carry out its mission effectively. You’ll work across Foxglove and closely with leadership, as well as with external partners to build a resilient and well-governed organisation, able to manage growth and complexity while staying mission driven. This role manages one member of staff and multiple consultants.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Financial Management & Accounting

1.Oversee financial operations: budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, expenditure controls, financial reporting, payroll.

2.Ensure compliance with accounting standards, audit requirements and donor / funder financial reporting obligations.

3.Manage relationships with external accountants, auditors, banks, and financial service providers.

4.Ensure appropriate and best practice financial policies and controls are in place. 

5.Ensure financial risk is identified and managed appropriately.

Fundraising & Development

1.Contribute to the organisation’s fundraising strategy in collaboration with the Co-Executive Directors and Head of Strategy.

2.Ensure systems are in place to track and manage grants, philanthropic donations, and other income streams.

3.Support the preparation of funding proposals and reports and ensure accurate and timely reporting to funders.

4.Support relationship management with key donors, foundations and partners.

Operational Systems & Processes

1.Develop and maintain efficient operational processes and systems (e.g. finance, HR, IT, data protection, office management).

2.Ensure proper policies and procedures are in place for procurement, vendor management, travel & expenses, and record-keeping.

3.Oversee the infrastructure that supports remote / hybrid working, ensuring tools and systems support collaboration, security, and productivity.

Compliance, Risk & Governance

1.Lead on organisational compliance: legal, regulatory, health & safety, data protection / GDPR, employment law.

2.Ensure the organisation’s policies and procedures are best practice, legally compliant and up to date.

3.Establish and monitor risk management frameworks and our risk register.

4.Support governance structures (internal reporting, director meetings etc.), ensuring decisions are well informed and documented.

Human Resources & People Operations

1.Oversee recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and staff development.

2.Ensure policies on equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing are embedded in how we work.

3.Foster a positive culture in line with Foxglove’s values.

Team Leadership & Collaboration

1.Lead the operations team, ensuring clarity of roles, responsibilities, performance and support.

2.Work closely with the rest of organisation including the legal teams and advocacy to ensure operations enables, not hinders, impact.

3.Contribute to organisational strategy, helping translate strategic ambitions into operational plans.

Person specification

Below are the essential and desirable criteria for a successful candidate.

Essential

·Minimum of 5-7 years of senior operations / finance / business operations experience, including line management 

·Strong experience of budgeting, forecasting, audit & financial compliance 

·Excellent strategic thinking and planning skills, able to bridge between high-level strategy and operational detail 

·Strong risk-management and governance experience; familiarity with compliance, data protection / GDPR, employment law etc. 

·Highly organised and able to manage multiple priorities; excellent time-management skills 

·Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to present complex operational, financial or legal information clearly 

·Strong collaboration skills; ability to work across teams; good leadership and people management skills

Desirable 

·Qualified accountant (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent), with proven experience in financial oversight and reporting

·Experience of operating in non-profit / mission-driven / legal organisations 

·Legal or compliance experience

·Experience of international operations, dealing with cross-border legal / regulatory issues 

·Experience of change management and scaling teams or systems 

·Understanding of, or interest in, legal, tech justice issues 

·Experience of hybrid / remote team leadership

·Experience with fundraising finances, grants management, donor reports

Length and salary

This is a permanent full-time role with six-month probation period. 

How to apply

Please make your application via the link to Applied provided by 9am on Tuesday 10 February (please disregard Charity Jobs' deadline), answering the application questions and uploading your CV. We will not review applications sent via a job board or to our email. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with first round interviews likely to take place in mid February for selected candidates.

Foxglove does not use AI in its recruitment processes, except to detect applications for AI use. As a tech-justice organisation, we ask the same of our candidates.

Foxglove is growing and we are striving to build a team that is inclusive. We will create a diverse and adaptable environment where we support people to do their best work. We believe an effective and creative team is made up of people from different walks of life. You can read more about how we work and what we offer our staff on our website. 

If you require any reasonable adjustments to complete this process, or have any questions, please get in touch with us.

If you would like to know more about how we process your data as part of the recruitment process you can read our recruitment data use policy on our website.

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.

Dancers’ Career Development (DCD), the national charity that enables and empowers dancers to thrive professionally and personally leading up to and beyond their performance careers, seek a General Manager.

We are seeking an exceptional administrator who has experience in, or is interested in further developing, a broad knowledge of company management.

The main purpose of the General Manager role is to support the Executive Director, with the day-to-day operational management and administration of DCD.

The role will ideally suit a personable individual who enjoys varied responsibilities, working collaboratively within a highly productive, agile and supportive team.

If you are excited by this opportunity, resonate with DCD’s values and are passionate about making a positive difference to dancers’ lives, please get in touch; we would love to hear from you.

Contract: Part-time permanent role (24 hours per week)

Salary: £35,000 per annum, pro-rata

Start date: As early as possible

Location: This is a remote working role, with monthly in-person meetings which take place in London or Birmingham, with occasional additional in-person events and meetings as required by the charity. 

Benefits: 23 days holiday pro-rata plus Bank Holidays (increasing to 28 days with length of service), 5% Employers contribution to pension scheme, Health & Wellbeing package, Professional Development opportunities.

Deadline: Applications must be submitted by 9am, Thursday 22 January 2026

Further Info: Please download the Recruitment Pack from our website for full job spec and how to apply.