Policy research officer jobs in London, greater london

Job title: The Social Change Nest Financial Controller (Client Funds)

Role Purpose:

This role sits at the heart of our financial controls at the Social Change Nest and combines cash management oversight, payment operations and financial compliance. However, this is not a traditional Financial Controller position. You will work with the team to ensure robust financial controls, accurate reconciliations, secure payment processes and transparent reporting for our diverse portfolio of social impact clients. You will also be a key driver of operational improvement, identifying better ways of working as we scale.

About the Social Change Nest

The Social Change Nest (SCN) is a fiscal hosting organisation that removes the financial and administrative barriers preventing grassroots groups and informal movements from accessing funding. Since 2021, we have supported 700+ groups across the UK and internationally, helping them access over £50 million in funding for causes ranging from climate and housing to racial justice and social wellbeing. We also work closely with funders, providing Grant Distribution and Fund Management services, enabling us to support social action with confidence and transparency. We are at the forefront of fiscal hosting in the UK! 

We’re a growing business operating at pace. We’ve established a lot – but as we grow, we’re still working some things out. The right person will thrive in this environment and relish building out a future-facing finance function. You’ll enjoy problem-solving, feel comfortable handling multiple priorities at once, and seek collaborative solutions. You’ll be adaptable, able to shift focus quickly when things change, and ensure strong communication across the team and with clients to keep everything aligned. 

Key Responsibilities:

1. Payment Processes & Systems Management

●Own and optimise the end-to-end payment infrastructure (banking platforms, expense management tools, Open Collective platform and accounting system integrations)

●Design, implement and monitor robust internal controls to prevent fraud, errors or unauthorised disbursements

●Streamline high-volume payment workflows while maintaining strict adherence to SCN policies

2. Bank Reconciliations & Treasury

●Ensure all client bank accounts are reconciled accurately and daily

●Investigate and resolve any variances between bank statements and the internal ledger immediately

●Track client cash positions to ensure sufficient liquidity for planned social project disbursements

3. Financial Reporting & Compliance

●Produce clear, concise financial reports for clients detailing fund movements and remaining balances

●Act as the lead contact for external audits regarding client cash and payment controls. Support the preparation of year end accounts and SCN’s external Audit as it interfaces with Client funds.

●Ensure all cash management and payment processes comply with UK Anti-Money Laundering supervision and relevant HMRC requirements

4. Operational Innovation & Client Service

●Proactively research and implement new financial technologies to enhance speed, security and transparency of client services

●Continuously evaluate existing workflows to eliminate bottlenecks and improve the client experience

●Lead the roll-out of new financial tools or system upgrades, ensuring smooth transition for internal teams and external partners

5. Leadership & Collaboration

●Line manage 1–2 members of the finance team, providing mentorship and support

●Being the point of escalation for the Finance and Delivery teams on more complex finance queries and dealing directly with our clients for financial solutions

●Contribute to finance team planning and lead on delivery of key projects

●Collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders across the organisation

Skills and Experience:

Essential

• Professional accounting qualification: ACA, ACCA or CIMA
• Proven experience in a Financial Controller, Head of Finance or senior audit role with a focus on cash controls and high-volume transactions
• Strong knowledge of financial governance, internal controls and compliance frameworks
• Experience in at least one of the following:

            -managing multi-currency transactions, FX impacts and global banking corridors

            -oversight of restricted funds, ensuring disbursements align with specific grant conditions and reporting requirements

            -implementing AML and KYC protocols and ensuring rigorous due diligence on all fund movements

• IT-literate and confident with leading technological change; advanced Excel skills and track record of implementing operational improvements
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills — able to translate financial information clearly for non-finance stakeholders
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment while maintaining exceptional attention to detail, and being comfortable with shifting priorities and emerging risks
• Ability to lead, manage, and work effectively both as a member of a team and on own initiative.
• Ability to think strategically, supporting the implementation of a financial strategy and suggesting appropriate changes to SCN’s services.

Desirable

• Experience in the non-profit, charity or client-services sector
• Experience in a fast-growing or start-up environment
• Understanding of power dynamics and community engagement
• Experience with innovative approaches to governance

 Location: London/Hybrid preferred – 2-3 days /week in the office

Reporting To: Finance Director

Contract: Full time, Permanent (flexible working considered)

Salary: £58,000-£60,000

Date Closes: Thursday 11th June

Right to Work in the UK required, no sponsorship available. 

This role will support the development and delivery of our services and resources for young people born with a cleft lip and/or palate. Working closely with the Engagement & Services team to help us achieve our mission. 

The Youth Engagement Coordinator will sit within the Engagement & Services Team. They will join a friendly and supportive team of seven colleagues who, together, are responsible for the delivery of CLAPA’s adult, family, children and young people and involvement services. The post holder will develop and deliver services for eight- to seventeen-year-olds, which will enable the young cleft community to connect, share experiences and access guidance and emotional support. Shaping what support looks like, creating positive impact and strengthening reach, this new role for CLAPA will make a real difference to the lives of children and young people born with a cleft.

If you think you have the talent, passion and experience to help us ensure we can always meet the needs of the community we serve, we want to hear from you.

Interview Date: Thursday 11th June 2026 & Friday 12th June 2026

Are you looking for a rewarding role working for an intersectional feminist organisation? If so, we have an incredible opportunity for you to join our team as an Philanthropy Lead at Solace Women's Aid.  

You will be joining a team of committed and inspiring individuals whose dedication has saved the lives of thousands of women, men and children in the capital. We are looking for friendly and diligent individuals to join our services and help us make a difference.

Our core values reflect our history and were developed in consultation with staff and service users. Feminism and intersectionality are key to our work, and we are committed to the principles of being survivor-led, trauma-informed, empowering, diverse, anti-racist and anti-discriminatory.

About the Service
Solace is embarking on a new five-year fundraising strategy, with ambitious plans to double fundraised income to £3m by 2031. This voluntary income plays a pivotal role in the financial wellbeing of the charity, enabling us to do more to support the thousands of women and children who come to us each year as a result of violence against women and girls.

Fundraising at Solace works closely with colleagues responsible for winning and managing statutory funding contracts, and is situated within the Business Development Directorate, alongside our award-winning Communications, Partnerships & Public Affairs teams. You will collaborate with colleagues within Fundraising, including Corporate, Individual Giving and Community, as well as across the organisation including senior leadership and Solace’s wider support and volunteer networks such as trustees and its lived-experience-led Shadow Board.

About the Role

Philanthropy has been identified as a key opportunity and will play a central part in future income growth. In this newly created role, you will lead the establishment and growth of philanthropy fundraising for Solace. Responsible for building and managing relationships with high-net-worth individuals, advisors, senior volunteers and trusts and foundations, you will use your entrepreneurship and excellent communication and influencing skills to secure and steward committed, high-value, mutually rewarding funding partnerships for Solace.

About You

You will be someone who is committed to the Solace values and is an experienced philanthropy fundraising expert who will embed best practice, and grow and nurture the relationships that drive sustainable income growth. As well as managing a portfolio of donors and prospects with major gift potential, you will work closely with colleagues and allies to build a culture of philanthropy.

What we can offer you

We provide a comprehensive benefits package to all our employees, including:

• Flexible working
• Focus on learning and development (internal career progression and training)
• Generous holiday entitlement
• Employer pension contribution
• Family-friendly leave and enhanced maternity pay
• Access to Inclusion Networks
• Daily clinical debriefing
• Employee Assistance Programme providing free 24/7 support and advice
• Employee Benefits Platform offering staff discounts, benefits and savings
• Flow & Restore yoga classes
• Meditation sessions
• Cycle to Work Scheme

How to apply

When applying for this role, kindly highlight in your Supporting Statement how your values, knowledge, transferrable skills, and experience align with each point within the following sections of the Job Profile Document:

• Values, Behaviours & Competencies
• Knowledge, Experience and Skills

Solace Women's Aid values diversity, promotes equity, and challenges discrimination. We encourage and welcome applications from candidates of diverse cultures, abilities, perspectives, and lived experiences. We have policies and processes in place to ensure that all employees are offered an equal opportunity in recruitment and selection, promotion, training, pay, and benefits. Our Inclusion Networks support staff with protected characteristics and offer inclusive spaces to connect.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and committed to an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. We anticipate and provide reasonable adjustments as needed and support employees who acquire a disability or long-term health condition, enabling them to stay in work.

This service is run by women for women and is therefore restricted to female applicants under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9, and Part 1. Section 7(2) e of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 apply. The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

As part of safer recruitment practices, we carry out pre-employment checks including references, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and right to work in the UK checks.

No agencies.

You will provide clinical direction and maintain oversight of elop’s counselling services, bringing understanding and experience of delivering trauma-informed approaches to support the emotional health and psychological wellbeing of LGBTQ+ people.

You will oversee and contribute to clinical operational responsibilities, service coordination and delivery, ensuring a professional, safe, smooth running, efficient and well managed service is maintained.   You will work alongside the senior leadership team across both strategic and clinical operational levels ensuring lead responsibilities for our counselling teams and services. Working collaboratively with the senior leadership team, implementing clinical delivery decisions, ensuring the counselling service effectively maintains ethical and professional standards of practice and communication across key staff, other agencies and service users. 

You will proactively contribute to building a robust and compelling evidence base that continues to demonstrate impact, improved wellbeing, and increased resilience, and have a key role in monitoring, evaluation, and supporting the wider counselling team with reporting and using data to drive operations, and evidence-based best practice. 

Your role will also include overseeing referrals and allocation of clients; undertaking client assessments; providing role-management, and clinical support and supervision to trainee and sessional counsellors; line-management of key service personnel; some clinical support work with more complex or acute needs clients; recruiting, inducting and training key staff and volunteers; and liaising with the clinical supervision team. 

Full Time: 37 hours per week

There will be one regular evening/ week, and occasional other evening and weekend working required. 

Salary: £34,000 inclusive London Weighting

Closing deadline for submission of application: 10.00am Monday 1 June 2026

Initial Interviews: taking place Wednesday 10 June between 9.00am – 3.00pm

N.B. at this current time all elop services are operating via a mix of in-person and remotely via online platforms, whilst we await completion of building works and relocation to new premises.

WORKING WITH US

The founder and sponsor of the Harris Federation, Lord Harris of Peckham, opened our first school in 1990. We have, over the past thirty years, implemented ideas and initiatives that have transformed the opportunities of pupils from working class and disadvantaged backgrounds. Harris academies are widely recognised as a force for social mobility. We are immensely proud of the role that our alumni are now beginning to play in the world and of what we believe our current generation of pupils will go on to achieve.

We now have over 50 schools educating more than 40,000 young people across London and Essex, and employ over 5,000 staff across our academies and head office. With the majority of our academies located in areas of high socioeconomic disadvantage, a high-quality education is key to the futures of the pupils we serve.

As a provider of employment and education, we value the diversity of our staff and students, and all our staff are equally valued and respected. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment for our students and staff.

Our work will impact many generations to come, and our staff come from all backgrounds and walks of life, coming together to inspire young minds. We promote an inclusive culture that embraces the valuable and enriching contribution that all of our community make. We continue to be proactive in uplifting and supporting all voices at Harris.

To discover more about our culture, ethos and what it is like to work here, visit the page.

ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY

We are looking for an Attendance and Wellbeing Practitioner to join the Harris Federation on a fixed-term basis from September 2026 to August 2029.

This role is part of an exciting project taking place in our Croydon secondary academies to improve school attendance by addressing barriers caused by poor mental health. The role involves working collaboratively with school attendance teams and external agencies to identify students at risk of persistent absence, using data-driven approaches and evidence-based interventions.

This role is term time only plus three weeks, and the actual salary will be £33,012-£35,000 (41 weeks per year, 37.5 hours per week).

Interviews will take place on 8th June 2026.

MAIN AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

By managing a caseload of students, delivering targeted one-to-one and group support, and working with parents, you will implement strategies that support attendance and wellbeing. You will also contribute to the research and evaluation of the project, in partnership with Maudsley Education Consulting Service (MECS), our partners in this work. Effective communication, safeguarding, and accurate record-keeping are integral to supporting students, families and schools in achieving positive outcomes.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We would like to hear from you if you have:

• A qualification in CYP mental health e.g. Child Wellbeing Practitioner, Education Welfare Practitioner, counsellor
• A degree, or equivalent qualification
• Knowledge of the range of barriers to learning that students face
• Training in child protection and safeguarding procedures
• Experience of working in an inner-city school or educational establishment in a pastoral capacity
• Experience of working with young people in a one to one and/or group capacity on a range of mental health issues
• Experience of working with families
• Experience of working with challenging students and parents, and finding ways in which we can meet their needs more successfully
• Full working knowledge of relevant policies/codes of practice
• Willing to contribute knowledge and experience to the Harris Home Academy Liaison Officers
• Understanding of principles of student development and learning processes
• Ability to advocate for CYP and their families to get support within school and with external agencies
• Ability to plan effective actions for pupils at risk of underachieving due to poor attendance

For a full job description and person specification, please download the Job Pack.

APPLYING FOR THIS POSITION

If you would like to discuss the opportunity further, or if you have any questions, please contact us via email to arrange a conversation.

Before applying please ensure you download the job pack from our careers website, this will help with completing your application. Please note that we only accept applications submitted online before the closing date.

When applying, you will have the option to import your CV or use a LinkedIn profile which will auto populate the online application.

A reminder to check your junk mail for our email communications and add us to your safe senders list to ensure all future email communication is received.

OUR VISION & VALUES

Our vision, from the start, has been to provide the structure and services needed for our schools to amount to more than the sum of their parts, and to free-up our teachers and leaders to focus on one thing and one thing only: the outstanding education of all their pupils. Our young people and communities are at the heart of everything we do. Our core mission has always been to close the educational gap between young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. Our ambition is one where every child in London, no matter their background, has equal access to high quality education, giving them the same opportunities and potential to succeed.

We know there are many challenges facing our young people and the communities we serve, and that’s why we need determined people like you to help us tackle those inequalities. Whilst each of our academies has their own unique cultures and values; as a whole Federation, we have four core values which are central to successfully achieving our vision: Excellence, Collaboration, Support, and Innovation. We are proud of our values because they guide us in how we work allowing us to achieve the best possible outcomes for our young people, communities, and colleagues.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Safeguarding Notice

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, references, an online search, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed.

Equal Opportunities

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates. We value the diversity of our staff and students, and everyone at the Harris Federation is equally valued and respected. We aim to be an inclusive employer that reflects the communities we serve. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU

Harris has a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.

You will also have access to a variety of benefits, support programmes and initiatives including:

• Excellent opportunities for continuous professional development and career progression
• Annual performance and loyalty bonus
• Pension scheme (Teachers' Pension Scheme or Local Government Pension Scheme) with generous employer contribution
• 26 days' annual leave (inclusive of our Christmas Eve closure day) plus bank holidays, rising to 27 days after 2 years' service, or equivalent for staff on term time contracts
• Harris Wellbeing Cash Plan including cover for routine and specialist healthcare
• Employee Assistance Programme for free and confidential advice
• Cycle to work salary sacrifice scheme
• Wide range of shopping, leisure, and travel discounts
• 20% off at Tapi Carpets, exclusive to Harris employees
• Interest-free ICT and season ticket loans

For most non-teaching staff based at our Head Office in East Croydon, we also offer lifestyle friendly working arrangements including flexible start and end times, and hybrid working with two days from home and three days on site.