Programmes operations manager jobs in belfast

The National Youth Agency is looking for a new Chief Operating Officer to join our Executive Leadership Team.

Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-time - 37 hours per week
Salary: £85,000 per annum
Remote: This role is homebased (within the UK) with occasional to meetings, events and conferences.

What we do

As the national body for youth work, the NYA has a dual function. We are the professional statutory and regulatory body (PSRB) responsible for qualifications, quality standards, and safeguarding for youth work and services in England. In line with our charity mission and aims, we also champion youth work through research, advocacy, campaigns, and programmes.

We work in partnership and believe in collaborative leadership, listening to youth workers and the youth work sector so that we can understand their needs and respond to the challenges they face. We are ambitious for youth work and for young people and integrate youth voice and influence across our work

About the Role

Responsibilities will include:

• The COO leads the day-to-day functioning of the organisation to ensure smooth, efficient, and effective delivery of services. This is vital for maintaining operational stability and achieving strategic outcomes.
• They design and execute strategies that align with the organisation’s mission and long-term goals ensuring resources are used effectively and priorities are clear.
• They promote a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement through supporting employee engagement, productivity, and organisational success.
• The COO collaborates closely with the CEO/CFO and other senior leaders to drive strategic initiatives and business growth, ensuring unified leadership and coherent decision-making.
• They partner with the CFO to manage budgets, forecasts, and resource allocation. Financial oversight ensures sustainability and supports informed investment in strategic priorities.
• Strengthen governance and risk management frameworks, aligned to regulatory expectations and best practice while proactively managing reputational and operational risks.
• The COO cultivates strong relationships with partners, clients, and stakeholders to enhance service delivery and reputation. These relationships are key to influence, collaboration, and impact.
• They lead efforts to improve processes and adopt best practices across the charity to enhance efficiency and keeps the organisation competitive and responsive.
• They ensure that daily activities support the charities long-term objectives.
• The COO mentors other directors and departmental heads and fosters leadership capabilities across teams.
• They establish and track KPIs to identify inefficiencies and guide improvements through data-driven decision-making to enhance accountability and results.
• They evaluate and refine workflows to boost productivity developing efficient processes to reduce waste and improve service quality.
• They act as a bridge between departments and the CEO to ensure cohesive execution of strategic plans preventing silos and promoting organisational synergy.
• The COO serves as a senior figure in national and cross-sector forums, conferences, and strategic partnerships to strengthens the organisation’s voice and influence.
• They demonstrate commitment to Equality, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in both internal culture and external programmes to foster a fair and inclusive organisation.
• They work with the CEO, CFO and Director of Growth to identify and pursue new revenue streams and strategic partnerships. This expands the organisation’s reach and sustainability.
• They engage in public speaking, media interactions, and external representation demonstrating clear communication, credibility, and stakeholder engagement.
• They develop and embed evaluation frameworks to assess progress against strategic goals. The measuring of our impact ensures accountability and informs future planning.
• They promote the organisation’s brand at events and through networking.

The COO takes on other responsibilities as needed to support the organisation’s mission.

About You

Essential competencies of the Chief Operating Officer:

• Extensive experience in senior leadership with a proven track record in operations, financial and risk management, and delivering high-performing teams, ideally in the charity sector.
• Strong understanding of business functions such as HR, Finance, Marketing, etc.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to think strategically and execute effectively.
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities. Commercially astute, process-driven, and highly pragmatic in approach.
• Experience in driving performance and fostering a collaborative culture.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field; MBA preferred

Why Work for NYA?

• NYA operates as a people-first organisation, prioritising the well-being and needs of its employees.
• NYA offers an exceptional flexible working approach which encourages our team to balance professional responsibilities with their personal life.
• A remote based team, spread across England, fostering inclusivity and diverse talent. Despite geographical distances between team members, NYA maintains a highly motivated and connected team through the optimisation of digital tools.
• NYA is committed to supporting the continual personal and professional development of our team and helping them achieve their ambitions.
• We provide 25 days leave plus 8 days, life assurance scheme, 5% employer pension contribution and a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme via Spectrum.life with unlimited specialist support available to all NYA employees.

How to Apply:

To apply, please submit the following via our online application platform by 11:59pm on Monday 29th September 2025:

A detailed CV setting out your career history, with responsibilities and achievements in line with the person specification in the About You section.
A covering letter highlighting your suitability for the role and how you meet the requirements in the About You section.
We will request data for our EEDI monitoring purposes, providing this is optional.

Please note: The covering letter is an essential part of the application process and will be assessed as part of your full application. We use AI detector software, so cover letters or CV’s with over 80% AI generated content will be disregarded. We understand that AI tools can offer support to candidates who have learning differences, which is why we will accept applications with some AI assistance. CV’s will not be accepted without a cover letter.

The National Youth Agency is an equal opportunities employer.

At NYA our inclusive culture means that we embrace individual differences and understand that we need a diverse team to achieve our organisations mission.

We wish to recruit candidates from all backgrounds to ensure our team reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve. We encourage applications from anyone regardless of disability, ethnicity, heritage, gender, sexuality, religion, socio-economic background and political beliefs but we particularly welcome applications from global majority candidates and those from other minoritised ethnic groups in the UK as they are currently underrepresented in our team.

Youth Work changes lives

Which is why we’re committed to ensuring that as many young people as possible get to benefit from it.As the national body for youth work in England, the National Youth Agency (NYA) exists to champion its transformative power. We believe all young people should have the opportunity to benefit from the life-changing impact of extraordinary youth workers and trained volunteers.

We help to grow youth work provision in ways that keep it effective, relevant, safe and engaging, to help millions of young people reach their potential and thrive. We do this by providing guidance, support, advice, training and staff development opportunities for youth workers and youth work organisations. At the heart of everything we do are young people themselves. We work hard to ensure their voices are integrated into all our work, to develop provision that truly meets their needs.

REF-223747

Business Analyst - Finance Systems Replacement
Reference: SEP20250742
Location: Flexible in England. This role will be primarily home based but with regular travel (at least fortnightly) to RSPB HQ at The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, SG19 2DL. We anticipate that the successful applicant will be based within one hour's travel time from The Lodge
Contract: Fixed-Term, 18 months
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week
Salary: £33,027.00 - £35,259.00 Per Annum
Benefits: Holidays, Pension and Life Assurance

The RSPB is seeking a Business Analyst to support the Finance Systems Replacement project, a Board priority and a major digital change project. The Finance Systems Replacement project seeks to replace several systems that are over 20 years old.

The RSPB is one of the UK’s most respected conservation charities for the conservation of birds and nature. We bring people together who love birds and other wildlife, and who want to take action to restore the health and diversity of the natural world. As an RSPB employee, you will be helping to save nature every time you come to work. There’s never been a more important time to protect our wildlife and wild places.

This role will ensure that Finance requirements are translated and configured correctly in our new finance system. You will work closely with our Transactional Accounting, Financial Accounting and Finance Business Partner Teams to gather requirements and understand current ways of working. Through Technical Workshops with our new provider, you will assist in translating requirements and documenting our new ways of working. You will assist in capturing requirements for the data migration and ensuring accuracy of the data migrated.

To capture these requirements and work effectively with the Finance and DT Teams regular travel will be required to The Lodge. This will be initially fortnightly on Thursdays but may increase based on workshop deliverables. The role will be mainly home based with regular Teams catch-ups with the wider Project Team.

You will help teams to:

• Analyse and understand the business processes, problems or opportunities.
• Undertake research and analysis to understand how a business or business area works, considering the people, organisation, processes, information, data and technology.
• Identify areas for improvement, explore feasible options, analyse the effects of change and define success measures.
• Identify and elaborate user and business needs to enable effective design, development and testing of services and business change.
• Make decisions related to prioritisation and minimum viable product by using analysis led insights.
• Ensure new products and services meet business and user needs, and are aligned with organisational goals as well as liaising with the technical and non- technical teams within the business.
• Understand any business and policy constraints that need to be considered, and assess the implications.

Essential skills, knowledge and experience:

• Competent IT user (e.g. MS packages, Outlook etc).
• Attention to detail and ability to understand accounting systems.
• An ability to produce clear written communications and good interpersonal skills.
• An ability to persuade and influence a wide range of people, both internally and externally.
• Excellent problem solving skills and ability to find creative solutions.
• Able to work under pressure and adapt to changing circumstances.
• Experience of working to a standard project management approach (eg RSPB Project Management Framework, Prince II).
• Experience of analysing complex business processes and recommendation of areas of improvement.
• Good workshop/meetings facilitations skills as well as experience in requirements gathering, analysis and documentation.
• Experience of providing effective support and assistance to project team as well as to testers, by helping in developing test scripts and help in preparing and conducting UAT.

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

• Experience of working with external stakeholders such as agencies and contractors.
• Demonstrable experience of developing and working in hybrid teams to achieve shared outcomes.
• Experience of delivering complex projects.
• Part qualified Accountant - CIMA, ACCA, or at least 5 years' experience in an Assistant Accountant Role.
• Experience of acting as a liaison between the business and technical areas during the design and development phases to ensure requirements are understood by all and all risks mitigated appropriately.
• Demonstration of good knowledge of usability methodology and framework for system development and a good understanding of the full software development lifecycle (SDLC).

Closing date: 23:59, Fri, 26th Sep 2025

We are looking to conduct interviews for this position from 1 October 2025.

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

This role is not eligible for UK Visa Sponsorship - the successful applicant will need to have a pre-existing Right to Work in the UK in order to be offered an employment contract.

We are committed to developing an inclusive and diverse RSPB, in which everyone feels supported, valued, and able to be their full selves. To achieve our vision of creating a world richer in nature, we need more people, and more diverse people, on nature’s side. People of colour and disabled people are currently underrepresented across the environment, climate, sustainability, and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we are particularly interested in receiving your application.

No agencies please.

Financial Controller

We are seeking a qualified or part-qualified accountant for an exciting Financial Controller position with a growing international charity working at the intersection of cultural heritage and community development.

Position: Financial Controller
Location: Remote (UK-based) – may require occasional international travel
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-time
Salary: £50,000 - £60,000 per annum, depending on experience
 

Closing Date: 21st September 2025 at 11.59pm

About the Role

Reporting to the Group Finance Director, this is a varied and hands-on role leading on the consolidation of accounts and supporting the organisation’s finance operations across multiple countries. You will play a key role in ensuring financial transparency, compliance, and robust reporting, working closely with both the central finance team and in-country colleagues.

As part of a close-knit and collaborative team, the Financial Controller will need a flexible, practical approach and a willingness to partner with stakeholders across different cultures and geographies.

Key responsibilities include:

• Financial Planning and Budgeting
• Book-keeping and Accounting
• Preparation of Monthly Consolidated Accounts
• Annual Statutory Audit and Compliance
• Grants and Funding Management
• Payroll & Employee Benefits
• Bank and Cash Management
• Group Accounting Oversight

About You

The successful candidate will be a resourceful, detail-oriented problem solver with excellent communication and collaboration skills. You will have strong technical accounting knowledge, experience working with international NGOs, and the ability to manage complex, multi-currency, multi-entity finances.

Key skills and experience required:

• Recognised accounting qualification (ACCA/CIMA) or part-qualified in final stages of completion
• Strong financial analysis and reporting skills, with the ability to produce and present concise financial reports
• Experience of managing and developing teams in dispersed or matrix settings
• Proven experience in the International NGO sector
• Experience producing consolidated statutory accounts under Charity UK SORP and managing multi-site international audits
• Experience with multi-currency and grant accounting
• Excellent understanding of financial processes, procedures, and related systems
• Experience of leading a month-end process, including preparation of management accounts
• Experience using cloud-based accounting systems (QuickBooks and/or Xero preferred)
• Understanding of commercial accounting and Gift Aid

Desirable:

• Experience mentoring colleagues remotely
• Experience working in a fully remote role
• Experience in a similar field (e.g. artisan communities or cultural heritage)

How to Apply
To apply, please send a CV and a statement (no longer than 2 pages) outlining why you are the right person for this role.

About the Organisation

The employer is a British charity founded in 2006 that believes artisanal heritage matters and has the power to transform lives. The charity supports artisans to thrive, revitalise endangered traditions, and connect people across the world through heritage.

The organisation is fast-growing, with offices in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, and the Levant, and employs over 400 staff worldwide. With both charitable and trading operations, they deliver an ambitious, wide-ranging programme of work in complex and sometimes conflict-affected regions.

You may have experience in areas such as: Group Financial Controller, Financial Controller/Senior Manager, Management Accountant, ACCA, ACA, CIMA, Accountant, Chartered Accountant, Divisional Financial Controller, Assistant Group Financial Controller, International NGO Finance Lead.

PLEASE NOTE: This role is being advertised by NFP People on behalf of the organisation.

Community Fundraiser - Home Counties

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Are you ready to take on a new challenge with a leading charity making a real difference in brain tumour research? ​

Brain Tumour Research is seeking an experienced and motivated fundraiser to join our team. As a key part of our fundraising efforts in our high-performing East region, you will have the opportunity to drive income generation through a variety of initiatives, including challenge events, fundraising groups, and corporate partnerships such as charity of the year. You will also be responsible for driving initiatives to increase our profile and supporter base within Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Essex. 

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Key Responsibilities: ​

• ​Generate income across a range of community fundraising initiatives and events, with the opportunity to lead on key projects 
• Steward supporters to help drive the charity’s fundraising activities and growth 
• ​Work with the fundraising team to develop and maintain strong relationships with fundraisers, donors, partners, and key stakeholders ​
• Contribute towards the growth and success of fundraising efforts, ensuring a sustainable income stream for the vital ongoing funding of brain tumour research ​

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Requirements: ​​

• At least one year of fundraising experience, with a proven track record in income generation 
• Strong experience in supporter stewardship  
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage and inspire supporters and partners alike ​
• Passion for Brain Tumour Research and its mission to fund research and ultimately find a cure 

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If you are looking for a fulfilling and impactful role and have the level of experience and skill we are looking for, we welcome your application.

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​We will give preference to those candidates living in the Bucks, Beds and Northants areas of this region.​​​

​We reserve the right to close the application window early and advise candidates to apply in good time to avoid disappointment.​

We are asking for a CV as the first step but applicants may be asked to provide a targeted covering letter as part of the selection process.  Interviews will be conducted during the application window as appropriate, and will consist of a first interview via MS Teams, progressing, if successful to a face to face second interview, held at our offices in Milton Keynes.

Closing Date: 26th September 2025

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We are looking for people who share our passion for finding a cure for brain tumours and who have the skills and experience to make a difference. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, and ages. We believe that diversity enriches our organisation and helps us achieve our mission. We are committed to providing an inclusive and supportive environment where everyone can be themselves and contribute to our vision.

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We are looking for an experienced Finance Director to join our team of nearly 100 staff, ideally before the end of 2025.

This is a full-time, home-based, permanent position. You can be based anywhere in mainland UK or Ireland, with some travel and occasional overnight stays to meeting and conferences mainly in England and Wales.

We offer flexibility around working hours, including the option of a 9 day fortnight - time off in lieu is also available. We offer 25 days holiday pro rata (rising to 28 days) plus statutory public holidays. We are happy to make adjustments for people with disabilities and/or caring responsibilities, and we welcome applications from all communities.

The role is a grade 7 position with a starting salary circa £75,000 plus benefits including 9% employer pension contribution.

The Finance Director (“FD”) works alongside the Chief Executive and Operations Director to manage the finances and governance of The Rivers Trust, a leading conservation charity with three associated trading subsidiaries operating across the UK and Ireland, with a collective annual income approaching £10m.

Given the prospective retirement of the current postholder at the end of 2025, we are seeking a well-qualified and experienced individual to take on this senior leadership role as soon as possible to enable handover to occur.

The role is very varied and wide-ranging, including presenting financial information to the Trustees and senior management on a quarterly basis, reviewing monthly management accounts, leading on annual budgeting, appraising internal project concepts and contracts, statutory compliance administration and liaising with auditors.

The postholder will lead a team of eight in the Finance department and join a very welcoming team of 95 highly engaged and passionate staff at The Rivers Trust.

Main duties and responsibilities:

Working alongside the CEO, the Finance Director will provide commercial, financial and governance management and leadership for The Rivers Trust ("the Charity") and its associated subsidiaries (“The Companies”). The FD will not only be an exceptional accountant, with executive oversight of the finance function, but will be commercially astute and have the confidence to represent robustly the best interests of The Companies. The FD will also be an experienced manager of people.

Key Accountabilities:

1. Act as a business partner to support and constructively challenge the CEO in the general management of the Charity and the Companies, reporting to the board.
2. Lead all aspects of the finance function (including maintaining and developing the financial control environment; robust financial accounting; cashflow management; incisive management information; clear and concise reporting to Board) to ensure that the Charity and the Companies’ assets are secured, risks are managed, and the Board of Trustees, subsidiary boards and committees can make well-informed decisions.
3. Manage relationships with auditors, funders, IT specialists, banks, investment platforms and other external organisations.
4. Provide support to project bids and the development of other commercial opportunities to ensure that bids/opportunities are optimised for the Charity and the Companies as a whole.
5. Provide input to project and programme delivery from time to time, to ensure that performance is maximised for the Charity and the Companies.
6. Attend Board meetings and Business Audit and Risk Committee meetings to guide the Board and the Senior Management Team on financial, commercial and governance issues.
7. Ensure compliance with the requirements of the Charity Commission and Companies House and, from time to time, provide guidance to members of the Rivers Trust movement on good governance practice.
8. Maintain the finance department operational manual for business continuity.
9. Serve as the Company Secretary for the Charity and Companies.

Staff Management:

1. Lead, manage and develop the finance team (who work remotely) and ensure the team understands their respective and collective contribution to achieving the Charity's and the Companies’ objectives.
2. Support the team in their professional development.
3. Ensure the team delivers a high-quality service focused on internal and external customers and funders.

Knowledge, skills, experience, and personal qualities:

Essential

• Significant experience in financial management and senior leadership roles, ideally gained in a range of organisations.
• A strategic thinker, able to see the big-picture, shape long-term direction and balance this with attention to detail.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills combined with creativity and openness to innovate.
• Strong IT and digital skills, with experience of using technology to improve efficiency and automate processes.
• Proven people leadership experience, with a track record of managing, developing, and inspiring teams and creating a supportive, inclusive, and collaborative culture.
• Excellent relationship builder, with the interpersonal skills to influence, collaborate, and provide constructive challenge while maintaining positive relationships across the organisation, including with trustees and senior stakeholders.
• Experience reporting to boards of trustees and/or directors, with the confidence to contribute to board-level discussions as a trusted adviser.
• Strong written and verbal communications skills, able to distil complexity into pertinent, concise and understandable messages tailored to diverse audiences.
• The courage to make and communicate tough decisions and be open about risks and setbacks.
• Resilient and calm under pressure, with the ability to maintain focus and steady leadership in challenging circumstances.
• Impeccable standards of integrity and personal ethics, acting as a role model for the organisation values.
• Knowledge of Sage financial software packages.
• Work to a good standard in Microsoft 365, especially Excel, Word, Outlook and Teams.

Desirable

• Experience of working in the charitable sector.
• Experience of being a Company Secretary.
• Understanding of the environmental sector or a passion for making a positive impact.
• Familiarity in using Sharepoint, Sage and Slack.
• Knowledge of Partial Exemption VAT rules.
• A basic understanding of Irish tax law, Irish and UK payroll taxes and corporate governance.

Qualifications/ Education

• Qualified Accountant, preferably ICAEW or ACCA.

Additional information

Everyone who works for us is expected to contribute to a respectful and inclusive working culture and follow our policies and procedures including Health & Safety, EDI, Cybersecurity and GDPR.

Please note we can only accept applications made through this site, and not sent by email or other methods.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. We warmly welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. If you would benefit from any adjustments to support you through the process, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.

To apply please send your CV and a covering letter.

Closing date: Wednesday 24th September 2025

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a strong pool of applications, so we encourage early submission

Finance Assistant

We are seeking an experienced Finance Assistant with strong bookkeeping skills to join the central finance team of a growing international charity working at the intersection of cultural heritage and community development.

Position: Finance Assistant
Location: Remote (UK-based)
Contract: Fixed-term, 6 months (with possibility of extension)
Hours: Part-time (0.4 FTE / 15 hours per week – must be available on Mondays)
Salary:Circa £30,000 per annum, depending on experience

Closing Date:21st September 2025 at 11.59pm

About the Role

Working as part of the charity’s central finance team, the Finance Assistant will help ensure the integrity of financial records and play a key role in maintaining accurate and timely bookkeeping for the UK.

You will be responsible for recording and reconciling transactions, processing invoices and payments, maintaining ledgers, and assisting with audit schedules. This is a highly detail-oriented role, requiring excellent accuracy, organisation, and the ability to work independently in a fully remote environment.

Key responsibilities include:

• Recording USD and GBP bank, MoneyCorp, and PayPal entries in QuickBooks
• Monthly reconciliation of all UK bank, MoneyCorp, and PayPal accounts
• Reviewing and processing supplier invoices and expense claims, including setting up payments
• Setting up multi-currency payments for international offices and maintaining creditors ledgers
• Maintaining UK debtors and creditors ledgers
• Recording and reconciling corporate credit card transactions
• Reconciling specified balance sheet accounts monthly
• Assisting with audit schedules and financial reporting

About You

The ideal candidate will be methodical, accurate, and proactive, with significant bookkeeping experience and strong QuickBooks skills. You will be comfortable working remotely, with excellent communication and organisational skills, and the ability to manage your workload effectively.

Key skills and experience required:

• Significant bookkeeping experience with excellent understanding of double entry
• Strong experience using QuickBooks
• Understanding of multi-currency accounting
• Methodical approach with outstanding attention to detail and high accuracy
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Strong organisational skills, able to work independently in a remote environment

Desirable:

• Understanding of charity finance regulations and practices
• Cross-cultural understanding and experience working with dispersed teams

How to Apply
To apply, please send a CV and a statement (no longer than 2 pages) outlining why you are the right person for this role.

About the Organisation

The employer is a British charity founded in 2006 that believes artisanal heritage matters and has the power to transform lives. The charity supports artisans to thrive, revitalise endangered traditions, and connect people across the world through heritage.

The organisation is fast-growing, with offices in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, and the Levant, and employs over 400 staff worldwide. With both charitable and trading operations, they deliver an ambitious, wide-ranging programme of work in complex and sometimes conflict-affected regions.

You may have experience in areas such as: Finance Officer, Bookkeeper, Assistant Accountant, Accounts Assistant, Finance Administrator, Accounts Payable/Receivable Clerk.

PLEASE NOTE: This role is being advertised by NFP People on behalf of the organisation.