Policy And Research Assistant Jobs in Oxford, Oxfordshire
We have a brand new homeworking role in our People and Culture team. This is a fantastic opportunity to shape the role and make it your own. You will be the first point of contact in the team. You will have experience of HR administration and continuously improving processes to ensure they are both efficient and effective. An understanding of UK employment legislation is a must. You should have a demonstrable track record of successfully building and maintaining working relationships across an organisation. You should be adept in identifying pragmatic solutions considering the full circumstances of a situation.
We are a small yet busy team. The ability to work at pace whilst maintaining attention to detail is vital, as are good organisational and prioritisation skills
SCIE is a national charity with a clear vision of a society where care and support maximise people's choices. removes social inequality and enables people to live fulfilling, safe and happy lives.
To achieve this we research, evidence, share and support the implementation of best practice. We use this evidence and experience to shape policy and outcomes, and to raise awareness of the importance of social care and social work for creating a fair and equal society. Everything we do is informed by people with experience of care and support.
We are clear that to achieve our purpose we require a workforce of capable, valued and engaged employees.
At SCIE, we are driven by our values:
- Progressive – always learning and developing.
- Inclusive – working together for equality, diversity, and fairness.
- Credible – evidence-based, robust, and reliable.
- Transparent – open and honest.
- Committed – focused on making a difference to people’s lives.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Closing date: 6th May
Please ensure you apply with your CV and a supporting statement on why you believe you would be the most suitable individual for this position.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Are you a part qualified Accountant looking to use your skills and accounting knowledge to help address the biggest health issue in the UK today?
We are looking for an Assistant Financial Accountant to join our friendly Finance team as we continue to build our team of passionate people that rise to any challenge. We are looking for someone who would love to be part our success, as we progress our Finance transformation journey and strengthen the Financial Accounting function for the Society.
In this role, you will be involved in key processes that underpin the sound management of both the financial accounting function and the transactional accounting teams.
Key responsibilities of the role include:
- Playing a key role in the delivery of the month end process, including preparation and posting of certain journals.
- Preparing accurate and transparent balance sheet reconciliations.
- Assisting with deliverables for the statutory accounts and year end audit.
- Liaise and collaborate with Finance Business Partners and Financial Accounting and Transactional teams to ensure that financial policies and procedures are understood and robustly managed.
- Assist with the preparation of other external reporting.
- Participating in ad-hoc finance projects.
- Suggesting and actioning improvement to current processes when recognised.
Alzheimer's Society have recently been named on the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023. We have achieved excellent scores for workplace happiness, pride, and job satisfaction and we're incredibly proud of this achievement.
About you
- Part qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) with prior experience in a financial accounting role.
- Experience of working with ERP finance systems. Knowledge of Unit 4 (Agresso) Finance System (desirable)
- Experience in management accountant.
- Knowledge of financial accounting standards and a good understanding of financial policies, processes and controls
- Can-do attitude with an ability to prioritise work and meet deadlines.
- Resilient individual with a desire to deliver process improvements.
- Flexible and driven to provide outstanding support to your team and wider colleagues.
Person Specification
- Excellent and professional communication skills, both verbal and written.
- Excellent IT skills and extensive experience/knowledge on using Microsoft packages, particularly Excel.
- Work collaboratively and be able to prioritise your workload effectively.
- Strong analytical and interpretation skills.
- Excellent organisational skills and great attention to detail.
- Advocate for Alzheimer’s Society, demonstrating passion and resilience to make a difference.
- Be a self-starter and incredibly motivated.
About Alzheimer's Society
At Alzheimer's Society, we believe passionately that life doesn't end when dementia begins. We are here for anyone affected by dementia, and we do everything we can to keep people with dementia connected to their lives and the people who matter most.
Everything we do is shaped by people affected by dementia. Their knowledge and experience are critical to bringing about real-world solutions. From choosing the most promising research through to telling their stories to raise awareness; they are the heart of this organisation.
About us:
The Humane League UK is a charity ending the abuse of animals raised for food by influencing the policies of the world's biggest companies, demanding legislation, and empowering others to take action.
We're a mission-driven, energetic team focused on problem-solving and effective teamwork, and have grown significantly over the last few years.
Thanks to our effectiveness, The Humane League has been named Top Charity by the independent evaluator Animal Charity Evaluators for every rating period since 2012.
THL UK is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to furthering equity and inclusion, and we value diversity. We seek people from a wide range of backgrounds who will bring a fresh perspective to the team, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes us stronger.
We make employment decisions by matching our organisational needs with the skills and experience of candidates, irrespective of race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, neurodiversity, age, or veteran status.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer, demonstrating our commitment to recruiting, retaining, and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, based on their skills and talent.
You can read more about how The Humane League UK is working on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion on our website.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility, please contact us via our website and we will be happy to discuss, via email or telephone, reasonable adjustments that you may require throughout the process.
The position:
We are seeking a creative, collaborative and effective fundraiser to drive long-lasting improvements for millions of farmed animals.
This is an exciting time to join a growing organisation, with ambitious plans to become more self-sufficient and financially stable for the long-term. You can be part of our Development Team helping to make this happen.
You’ll manage a portfolio of donors, have the opportunity to develop new relationships and shape our income now, and for the future.
By raising valuable funds and securing major gifts from high net worth individuals, you can make sure that our work continues to have long-lasting impacts - ending cages for egg-laying hens, convincing corporates to commit to improving chicken welfare in their supply chains, challenging the Government over the use of fast-growing breeds of chicken, and working to secure the first legislation to protect farmed fishes.
Through your work you will also have the opportunity to educate and inform our supporters, connecting them to our cause and creating greater awareness about the suffering of farmed animals.
We will be holding a webinar on Thursday 16th May at 7pm BST for you to find out more about the role and to ask any questions you may have. The webinar will be hosted by Gavin Chappell-Bates, Head of Development and Klara Schmidt, Digital Fundraiser. If you’re interested, please register via the link on our website which can be found by following the Apply via website button.
A recording of the webinar will be available within 48 hours after the end of the event.
Hours:
This is a full time position of 37.5 hours per week over Monday to Friday.
From 1st July 2024 we are piloting a four day working week across the whole of the UK organisation. This pilot is planned to run for 12 months, at which point a decision will be made by our Board of Trustees as to whether this will become permanent. Success of the trial relies on the organisation being able to achieve the same or improved level of impact in four working days as five, with staff experiencing either the same or improved levels of wellbeing.
During the four day week pilot, working hours for this position will be reduced to 30 hours per week, spanning Monday to Thursday, with no reduction in salary. This will be a temporary change to the contractual terms with the successful candidate. The appointed person must be prepared to increase their working hours to 37.5 hours per week if a return to a five-day working week is decided.
Who you are:
We are looking for someone who can, through compelling and inspiring writing and communication, engage donors and potential funders in a variety of different formats, whether that’s email updates, thanking them for their support, or drafting a funding proposal. Ultimately, you will need to be able to bring them closer to our work, so that they can understand their individual contribution and the impact their donations can have, and are more likely to take action as a result.
You will also need to be able to build strong relationships, with the ability to understand the motivations of our donors, demonstrate the impact of our work, spot opportunities to engage them, and ask for their financial support at the right time.
Many of our donors come from the Effective Altruism (EA) community, so having an understanding of this community and how to engage it will be helpful. You will help to grow our supporters within the space, raising our profile and spotting opportunities to develop relationships with prospective new donors and funders.
Home-based, you will enjoy collaborating and working independently. As a self-starter, you are able to work autonomously and use your initiative to solve problems and see projects through from start-to-end. You’ll thrive on a varied and interesting mix of tasks and projects.
You’ll keep good records and understand the importance of clean and up to date supporter and donation data in creating efficient systems and processes.
We foster an environment of feedback, development and learning at THL UK. You’ll be someone that values receiving feedback, is able to assess your own performance, and has a desire to want to learn, develop and improve as an individual.
Prior experience of major donor fundraising is beneficial, whilst knowledge and understanding of trusts and grants fundraising would also be helpful. However, we are also keen to hear from you if you have relevant transferable skills and are looking to transition into this exciting area.
We’re looking for the right person, committed to the work we do at THL UK, with values that align with our own, and with the right skills and attitude - an exceptional and confident relationship builder and strong communicator.
We will provide relevant learning and development opportunities, tailored to your experience and personal needs, which could include in-house training, external training and fundraising events and conferences.
Be part of our mission to end the abuse of animals raised for food.
Primary Duties:
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Thanking and stewarding some of our key major donors - acting as a direct point of contact for their queries and questions, keeping them updated with our work, thanking them for their support and donations, building strong, long-term relationships, and developing them as prospects or donors to elicit further gifts, through regular email, telephone and face-to-face contact, thank you cards, networking, written updates, online and face-to-face meetings, and other feedback as appropriate.
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Creating and submitting funding asks to secure funding and achieve your own fundraising targets and those of the wider organisation, with a focus on securing multi-year funding. This will include creating cases for support and funding briefs for specific projects, working with the Programs Team to pull together all relevant information, as well as completing bespoke funding proposals. You will also need to be able to identify opportunities, know when is the right time to make an ask and what type of ask it should be, whether a one-off gift, multi-year funding, unrestricted or for a specific project, or match funding to help leverage a specific campaign or appeal.
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Coordinating our funding pipeline - managing and monitoring what stages our major givers are at in their cultivation journey, tracking details of funding applications/asks made, managing deadlines for applications and monitoring reports, tracking and reconciling donations and providing receipts, securing relevant funding agreements, and capturing the motivations, giving history and details of interactions of our donors.
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Leading on the development of our quarterly newsletter - a document designed as a key engagement tool specifically for our major gifts audience, to keep them up to date on our latest news, victories and forthcoming plans.
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Mapping out and developing our major donor programme for the next twelve months and beyond - planning a calendar of content and touch points to further cultivate and steward our key donors, such as exclusive webinars, networking meet-ups or larger fundraising events.
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Coordinating the major donor version of our annual supporter survey - collaborating with colleagues to align this to our general supporter survey, targeting questions with a major donor audience in mind, collating and analysing responses, and using them to inform and develop our major donor programme.
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Hosting donors at events - inviting them to protests and other events, such as our legal challenge against the use of Frankenchickens, and making sure they are well looked after.
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Prospect research - identifying, researching and assessing potential new major gifts prospects, and then developing cultivation plans for further engagement.
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Supporting the Head of Development with our trust and grant fundraising. This could include collaborating with consultants to complete prospect research and applications, creating and submitting low-level funding bids, and working with colleagues from across the organisation, to coordinate the submission of monitoring reports for our funders.
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Helping drive understanding of and engagement with fundraising across the organisation, with staff, volunteers and trustees - giving presentations, leading workshops with other departments, engaging staff, volunteers and trustees in the thanking process (i.e. getting them to send thank you cards to donors), and regularly updating the wider team on fundraising progress.
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Supporting other fundraising campaigns and initiatives, such as our end of year appeal, working with your colleagues in the Development Team to help find match funders from our pool of our major givers.
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Attending relevant events and conferences, to meet and cultivate prospective new funders and steward existing donors, develop learning and understanding, network with your fundraising peers, keep up to date with the fundraising sector and look for opportunities to raise our profile amongst funders and donors within the EA community.
In addition:
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Participating in team meetings including note-taking and facilitation.
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Attending in-person team workshops several times a year.
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Helping us make THL UK an inclusive workplace where employees and supporters are proud to be members of the movement.
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Demonstrating commitment to creating a stronger and more effective animal protection movement through inclusion and belonging, recognising the need for all of us to do better for social justice on a personal and organisational level.
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Helping us galvanise further support by lending your organisational skills to fundraising events and supporting our Managing Director and Head of Development by planning meetings and events.
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Performing any other duties assigned by the Head of Development.
For full details of the role, including the key competencies we see as the the most important requirements for being successful in this position, please visit our website by following the 'Apply via Website' button.
Good to know:
You will have access to:
- A fully remote work environment and team (all equipment is provided)
- A 4 day working week (note: this is a year long pilot until July 2025 when its continuation will be assessed)
- A pro rata share of 25 days leave plus Public Holidays (reduced proportionately during four day week trial)
- Flexible working hours
- A workplace pension
- An annual learning and development budget
- Support for mental and physical wellbeing
- £25 per month reimbursement towards home working costs
At The Humane League UK, animal welfare is at the forefront of our everyday work and as such, many of our employees are vegan by personal choice. All of our events and workshops offer only plant-based meals. We welcome all mission-aligned candidates to apply, no matter where you are in your journey to end the abuse of animals raised for food.
We are looking to speak to a wide range of candidates with diverse backgrounds - #NonGraduatesWelcome
Our employees all work remotely but still enjoy a supportive, collaborative environment.
For our salaries to be fair, transparent and equitable we want to provide a system that delivers a competitive salary in the market and could eliminate potential biases in compensation (such as the gender pay gap). For more information about the Major Gifts Fundraiser salary please the attached document.
All applicants need to be:
- Fluent in written and spoken English.
- Live and have the right to work in the UK (we are unable to consider applications from those without the right to work in the UK).
- Committed to our mission to end the abuse of animals raised for food.
The Process:
All applicants will be contacted within one week of the closing date to let you know if you have been successful in reaching the next stage.
Our full interview process comprises of the following stages:
- A skills test to give us an opportunity to see your skills in action (completed remotely).
- Join an online interview (via video call) so we can learn more about each other.
- Final Interview (via video call as above)
For full details of our recruitment process please see the attached document.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as the applications come in. Don’t miss your opportunity, apply now!
About Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN)
Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN) works to reduce undernutrition globally. We enhance the effectiveness of nutrition policy and programming by improving knowledge, stimulating learning and building evidence. We are passionate about being network-driven, independent and evidence-based.
Our vision is that every individual caught up in a nutritional emergency, or suffering from malnutrition anywhere in the world, gets the most effective help possible.
We undertake knowledge management, research and advocacy to support national governments, civil society, UN agencies, donors and academic organisations, and communities of practitioners. Through our work and collaborations, we support agencies and individuals to implement evidence-based nutrition programming, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries and in fragile and conflict-affected states.
ENN is governed by a Board of Trustees and has its head office in Oxfordshire, UK. ENN is financially supported by foundations and trusts, bilateral donors, international non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies. For more information about ENN see our website.
What we do
Our Strategy aims to enhance the effectiveness of nutrition policy and programming by improving knowledge, stimulating learning, building evidence and providing support and encouragement to practitioners and decision-makers involved in nutrition and related interventions.
ENN’s portfolio includes projects specialising in Infant Feeding in Emergencies, Wasting and Stunting, Adolescent Nutrition and Management of small & nutritionally At-risk Infants under six months & their Mothers (MAMI), as well as our highly regarded international publication, Field Exchange (FEX).
At present our annual turnover is around £1.6m (c.$2.1m) with much of our funding coming from government (institutional) donor grants including USG (BHA) and the Government of Ireland, and charitable foundations (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Waterloo Foundation), and other sources including support from UN agencies and INGOs. ENN receives income in multiple currencies and has spending commitments in both GBP and other currencies. ENN’s accounts are prepared in GBP and filed in the UK with both the Charity Commission and with Companies House in accordance with UK charity requirements.
As a registered charity, ENN has no liability for corporation tax and ENN is not registered for UK VAT.
ENN’s financial year runs from 01/01 – 31/12 and we operate an iplicit accounts management system. Annually, ENN issues a report on activities and outcomes and audited financial statements. These documents are publicly available on our website under annual reports and accounts.
Our People
ENN’s team is made up of a range of technical experts in nutrition, with decades of collective experience, and a small, experienced operational team. ENN is highly committed to diversity and inclusion, to enabling and promoting flexible working for our staff, and to supporting continued professional development.
We are proud that in our 2022 Employee Engagement Survey over 95 percent of our staff said they enjoy their work and that ENN is a flexible employer.
The Role
This is an exciting opportunity to join the ENN team as our Management Accountant - Grants. The role provides the opportunity to work across the spectrum of ENN’s projects, as part of the operations team. You will be based in our headquarters in Oxfordshire and will work closely with ENN’s Finance Manager and Projects Team.
About You
Bringing your experience of third sector accounting to ENN, you will be able to communicate well with both finance and non-finance stakeholders. You will be comfortable supporting complex projects, tailoring financial management information and reports to enable decision making and assuring donor compliance and reporting requirements are met consistently.
Terms and Conditions
- Hours of work: Part time, 60% of full-time hours (22.5 hours per week – pattern to be agreed)
- Type of contract: Permanent
- Location: This is an office-based position at ENN’s Head Office in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, OX5. Some hybrid working may also be offered. Currently our Operations Teamwork from the office Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and we require this role to be in the office on these days.
- Benefits: Contribution to Dental, Life cover, Employee Assistance Programme, Wellbeing contribution
- Holidays: 25 days plus UK bank holidays increasing by one day p.a. after two complete years of service to a maximum of 27 days p.a. (pro rata)
- Paid office closure days between Christmas and New Year
- Pension: Auto-Enrolment to ENN scheme with a generous Employer contribution of 5%
- Salary: Circa. £41,000 per annum (full-time equivalent), depending on experience.
- Applicants must be entitled to work in the UK at the time of application and must indicate this in their application
Key responsibilities
Grant compliance and reporting
- Financial compliance of grant spend in line with donor agreements ensuring no disallowable costs and that all allowable costs are reflected in the accounts correctly.
- Provide back up for grant financial reporting in the format required by donors for the projects team to review, collate and submit with the full donor reporting pack.
- Raise sales invoice to the donor with all back up attached and provide acknowledgement of funds letters upon receipt of cash in the bank.
- Work closely with the Finance Assistant and Projects team to ensure invoices are correctly coded to the right donor and project and complete month end reconciliations
- Input budget and quarterly reforecasts into the finance system (iplicit) and track grant performance against budgets on a regular basis providing variance analysis.
- Review and assimilate grant financial information for the Finance Manager and/or Project team as required which ultimately will be used as input in management reporting for various stakeholders (Technical budget holders, Management Team and Trustees).
- Support the organisation’s income generation ambitions, through the provision of advice, guidance and assistance, and in assisting with funding bids and budgeting and undertaking new funder/partner financial viability assessments as required.
- Maintain and update donor restricted fund balances/movements for year-end statutory reporting.
- Maintain project financial files and records for statutory audit and donor audit purposes.
Management accounting
- Prepare monthly income deferrals and income accruals and maintain month end trial balance reconciliations for management accounts.
- Capture any committed project costs to accrue.
- Apportion any interest earned from grant cash in the bank in line with donor contract terms.
- Work collaboratively with the Finance Manager on cash flow forecasting with regards to expected donor payments.
- As required by finance or the projects team, and working with iplicit, write reports in the finance system that would provide insightful and useful management information. For example, for grant monitoring and evaluation, trend analysis and assessing KPI’s etc
- Support the Finance Manager in capacity building and providing financial training to finance and non-finance staff.
- Provide ad hoc support to the Finance Manager with regards to specific financial projects, as required.
- Bank signatory for creditor payments in line with ENN’s Delegation of Authority Policy.
- Provide cover for the Finance Manager when necessary.
Reporting line
- Reports to the Finance Manager
Person Specification
Essential requirements
- Professional accountancy qualification (e.g. AAT, ACA, ACCA, CIMA, would consider part qualified or qualified by experience)
- Experience of charity-specific accounting and grant reporting requirements
- Experience working with grant funded projects and ability to navigate and communicate compliance requirements
- Experience in developing, monitoring, and reporting against budgets
- Able to present and visualise data in different ways for different audiences
- Ability to manage a diverse and busy workload, prioritising effectively, and able to work both autonomously and as a member of a dispersed and diverse team
- Flexibility and willingness to take on new areas of work and responsibilities
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, works well with other team members and business partners (both internal and external), including those without a specific financial background.
- Adept at identifying efficiencies and best practice to strengthen ways of working to benefit ENN finance and projects teams
- Motivated, takes initiative, innovates and delivers to deadlines. A self-starter, able to diagnose situations and constraints, comfortable when to progress independently and when to escalate
- Excellent attention to detail
- Proficient user of Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and commercial financial software
- Good cross-cultural awareness
- Ability to demonstrate discretion and diplomacy
- Fluent in English
Desirable
- Experience of using iplicit accounting software
- Specific experience in dealing with institutional donors would be an advantage
- Experience in managing income and expenditure in multiple currencies
- Experience of evaluations: analysing, collating, reconciling and reviewing data related to grant and programme effectiveness
- Experience in developing funding opportunities with a variety of donors
- Data security and GDPR awareness
Eligibility to work
Must be entitled to work in the UK at the time of application. No relocation package is offered for this role.
Application Process
Please submit a Cover Letter (no more than 1 page) and CV no later than Monday 6th May 2024. Early applications are advised as we reserve the right to conclude the process before the closing date if a suitable candidate is identified. Please include your preferred working hours and pattern details in your application.
ENN is committed to diversity and inclusion, and to building a culture where every staff member and volunteer is recognised and valued as an individual. We actively encourage applications from a broad range of experiences and backgrounds.
Emergency Nutrition Network works to reduce undernutrition globally.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.