Rural partnerships development manager jobs in Newcastle

Job Title:  Head of Finance and Income Operations
Hours:  Full-time, 37.5 hours per week
Contract:  Permanent
Salary:  £45,000 per annum
Location:  Home-based in the UK, with occasional travel for team meetings and events
Role profile: A detailed role profile can be found in the 'supporting documents' for this advert

About the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN)

The Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN) is a farmer-led organisation helping farmers restore the balance between farming and nature. We support farmers by sharing knowledge, resources and case studies that help boost food production, protect wildlife, and build climate resilience.

We influence policy to secure fair rewards for farmers who care for nature, and we connect like-minded farmers across the UK.

Our network is open to all: farmers, the public and partner organisations.

About the Role

We are looking for a Head of Finance and Income Operations to lead NFFN’s finance function and help strengthen the systems, controls and reporting that will support the organisation’s next stage of growth.

This is a senior leadership role at the heart of a small, ambitious and mission-led organisation. You will oversee day-to-day financial management, budgeting, management accounts, restricted funds, funder reporting and income operations. You will also help improve how finance works across NFFN, giving budget holders clearer information and helping the organisation make confident, well-informed decisions.

The role is about more than keeping the numbers moving. We are looking for someone who can help build a stronger finance function, improve internal systems, support funder confidence, and help NFFN manage a more complex mix of grants, donations, restricted funding and revenue-based delivery work.

Depending on your background, this may suit someone with strong charity finance experience, or someone from a finance, grants, funding operations or mission-led commercial background who wants to use their skills in a values-led organisation.

Key responsibilities include:

• leading day-to-day financial management, controls and reporting

• preparing budgets, forecasts, management accounts and financial updates

• supporting budget holders with clear, practical financial information

• improving finance systems, processes, approvals and reporting tools

• overseeing restricted funds, grant conditions, funder reporting and income tracking

• supporting funding applications with budgets, financial information and reporting structures

• helping NFFN manage VAT, full cost recovery and different types of income as the organisation grows

• working with the CEO, CSO, Head of Fundraising, SLT, Board and external advisers

• providing line management to the Head of Fundraising and potential future roles within the finance and income operations function 

This role will suit someone who combines financial rigour with practical judgement. You will need to be comfortable working independently in a remote organisation, explaining finance clearly to non-finance colleagues, and improving systems in a way that is proportionate and realistic for a small non profit organisation.

We know this is a broad role, and we are not expecting one person to have done everything before. We are looking for someone with strong financial experience, good judgement, attention to detail, and a genuine interest in helping NFFN build the financial infrastructure it needs for the future.

This is a fully home-based role, with flexibility in how work is managed and occasional travel for team meetings and events. You will be joining a collaborative, values-led team working to support farmers, nature and a more resilient food system.