Senior financial controller jobs in west byfleet, surrey

Chief Finance Officer

We are looking for a Chief Finance Officer to lead the strategic direction and operational excellence of the organisation’s financial functions.

Join a leading charity provider of mental health services in England. Every year, the organisation supports thousands of people through its network of groups, services and helplines. The vision is for equality, fair treatment and maximum quality of life for everyone affected by mental illness. Help reach that goal by applying today.

If you are passionate about making a meaningful difference through strong financial stewardship, then we want to hear from you!

Position: Chief Finance Officer

Location: London/Hybrid

Hours: Full time, flexible working available

Salary: £85,453 to £102,956 based on experience

Contract: Permanent

Closing Date: 5pm, 4 August 2025

Interviews: Interviews will be held in two stages: the first stage with the Executive Team and second stage with the Chief Executive and representatives from the Board of Trustees. Interviews will take place weeks commencing 1 and 8 September 2025.

Candidates may be asked to complete psychometric assessments as part of the recruitment process.

The Role

As the Chief Finance Officer, you will lead the strategic direction and operational excellence of the organisation’s financial functions, with overarching responsibility for financial control, reporting, planning and analysis, and finance operations. You will ensure robust financial stewardship, support data-driven decision-making, and enable long-term sustainability and growth through strong financial leadership and insight.

This role is a key member of that team, working alongside the Deputy Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer, Chief People Officer, and Chief Business Improvement and Technology Officer. Together, you will shape the organisation’s strategy, culture, and delivery.

If you are excited by the opportunity to lead the effective management of the charity’s finances whilst helping to grow the important work of the organisation and to be part of a collaborative leadership team, then we would love to hear from you.

About You

You will be passionate about making a meaningful difference through strong financial stewardship and have substantial senior finance leadership experience, ideally within a charitable, social care, health, or values-led organisation.

You will have/be:

• Qualified accountant (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA) with a strong understanding of charity finance and Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) requirements.
• Proven success in strategic financial planning, budgeting, and risk management in a complex, multi-stakeholder setting.
• Demonstrated ability to manage audits, lead financial reporting, and ensure regulatory compliance.
• Experience supporting income diversification, including contract-based services, fundraising, and trading subsidiaries.
• Strong track record of building and leading high-performing finance teams, including business partnering and cross-functional collaboration.

About the Organisation

Work for an organisation that research shows is one of the most trusted major voluntary sector brands.  In a rapidly changing world, the charity brings together delivery of care and support services, policy influencing, and campaigning – with people living with mental illness at the heart of what they do.  The charity supports tens of thousands of people every year to get through crises, live independently and feel that they do not have to face mental illness alone. For over 50 years, the charity has campaigned for the rights of people severely affected by mental illness whilst working tirelessly to ensure that the people they support have a voice at all levels of the mental health system.

Benefits include:

• Employer funded pension
• Flexible working
• Life assurance
• Eye care vouchers
• Training opportunities
• 25 days annual leave, rising to 30 plus Bank Holidays
• Rewards, benefits and recognition platform
• Employee assistance programme
• Your birthday off
• Plus many more great benefits…

“It feels very rewarding to be part of such a meaningful organisation where everyone is valued and has the opportunity to make a difference” Current staff member

We actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (or questioning), Intersex and (asexual) (LGBTQIA+), people with a disability, and people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

You may also have experience in areas such as CFO, Head of Finance, Director of Finance, Head of Finance and Operations, Chief Finance Officer, Deputy CFO, Deputy Head of Finance, Deputy Director of Finance, Deputy Head of Finance and Operations, Deputy Chief Finance Officer. #INDNFP

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

We are seeking a part-time Finance Manager for Energy Sparks, a charity working towards a sustainable future in which the school community is at the heart of measurable action to tackle climate change. Energy Sparks equips children and young people with the knowledge, skills, and tools to take practical action in their school and wider community to reduce carbon emissions. We enable school leaders, staff and communities to better understand and reduce their school’s energy consumption and introduce wider measures to reduce their carbon footprint. 

This is an exciting, new role in our growing team and provides a great opportunity to apply your financial accounting and management skills to help our charity flourish. As the only finance employee within a small organisation, this role will be a blend of weekly bookkeeping tasks alongside the preparation of management accounts and strategic oversight of Energy Sparks’ finances. The successful postholder will embrace the varied responsibilities. 

• Salary: £40,000-£42,000 pro rata dependent on experience

• Role initially offered 0.2 FTE. This can be worked 7.5 hours per week across the year or 8.75 hours per week term time only, with the opportunity for future growth, subject to income. Hours can be worked flexibly from Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

• Home working with occasional team meetings in Bath (typically 1 visit per year, although for local employees there may be the opportunity to meet more often)

• Post holder must already have the legal right to work in the UK. 

Application deadline: 11:59pm Thursday 24th July 2025

To start September 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

About us

Energy Sparks is an online energy management tool and energy education programme specifically designed to help schools reduce their electricity and gas usage through the analysis of smart meter data. Energy Sparks helps pupils and the wider school community to reduce their school’s carbon emissions, and make a real contribution to addressing the 'climate emergency'. Energy Sparks started in 2017 in Bath, and is now working with over 1000 schools across the UK. 

Current annual income is £500,000 to £600,000 with expected growth in the 2025/2026 financial year. To date, the responsibilities in this job description have been delivered by the CEO. All staff work remotely with the core staff team based in the Bath area.

Key Responsibilities

Note: Energy Sparks currently uses the Xero accounting package to deliver most of the tasks below. 

1. Financial Reporting 

• Prepare monthly/quarterly management accounts, ensuring accurate reporting of income and expenditure.

• Provide financial reports to the CEO and Board of Trustees 

• Track restricted vs unrestricted funds and ensure proper allocation and reporting.

• Prepare the annual financial statements (in line with charity SORP).

2. Transaction recording and bank and payment reconciliation 

• Reconcile bank accounts weekly, including card payments

• Match incoming payments to invoices or grants

• Authorise and categorise supplier invoices

• Maintain accurate coding of income and spend to specific funders or grants (restricted/unrestricted funds), including apportioning staff salaries with manual journals

3. Accounts Payable and Receivable

• Process supplier payments

• Monitor supplier invoice due dates and ensure timely payment

• Issue sales invoices to schools, Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) and other partners

• Monitor accounts receivable and flag and chase overdue invoices with schools, MATs or partners.

• Monitor Energy Sparks account renewals and work with the wider team to issue renewal notifications.

4. Payroll 

• Check and post monthly payroll on Xero

• Post HMRC payments (PAYE/NIC)

• Process and post pension contributions

5. VAT

• Record input VAT on supplier payments including reverse charge VAT

• Correctly charge VAT on sales invoices

• Prepare quarterly VAT returns including accurate business/non-business apportionment for input VAT recovery

6. Record-Keeping

• Maintain digital records of receipts, invoices, and approvals

• Ensure proper documentation for charity finance compliance

7. Internal Controls & Risk Management

• Comply with Energy Sparks’ internal financial controls and policies to manage risk.

• Monitor cash flow and reserves and recommend adjustments for financial sustainability.

8. Strategic Financial Leadership

• Provide strategic financial insights to help inform decisions about growth and expansion.

• Assist with long-term planning, forecasting, and cost analysis for sustainability.

• Support organisational change, ensuring financial stability and compliance as the charity grows.

• Suggest improvements to financial processes, including optimising our use of accounting software to increase efficiency.

This will be a varied role within a small staff team and an ability to embrace a diversity of tasks is essential. There are currently no line management responsibilities for this post.
 

Person Specification

Experience & Knowledge

1. Significant experience in a senior finance role, ideally in the charity sector.

2. Strong knowledge of charity financial compliance, SORP, and statutory reporting

3. Experience of fund management and management accounts

4. Experience of preparing VAT returns and business/non-business apportionment 

5. Proficiency in Xero or similar accounting software, including manual journals

6. Confident running a Payroll function using Xero or other accounting software

7. Skilled in financial planning, reporting, and budgeting

8. Advanced use of Excel and Google Sheets.

9. Experience preparing for audits and liaising with external auditors/independent examiners

10. Strong communication skills with the ability to engage effectively with staff, funders, trustees, schools, Multi-Academy Trusts and suppliers. Happy to pick up the phone and chase schools or MATs for invoice payments!

11. A self-starter mentality with the ability to work independently as well as within a team.

12. Excellent organisation, efficiency, and attention to detail.

13. Strong problem-solving abilities and a solution-focused approach.

Nice to have

1. Strong interest in sustainability

Benefits

1. £40,000 to £42,000 pro rata dependent on experience 

2. 12% employer pension contribution

3. 38 days paid annual leave pro rata including bank holidays

4. 0.2 FTE. This can be worked 7.5 hours per week across the year or 8.75 hours per week term time only, with the opportunity for future growth subject to income. Hours can be worked flexibly from Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

5. The opportunity to make a difference in reducing carbon emissions and helping young people to live sustainable lives.

Application deadline: 11:59pm Thursday 24th July 2025

To be considered for this role, all applicants must currently have the right to work in the UK.

Energy Sparks is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications regardless of race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation or age.

Who we are

Chefs in Schools is a young, ambitious charity that’s rapidly growing. Our mission is to improve kids' health, through improving school food & food education. Working in areas of high deprivation, we support and train schools and their kitchen teams to serve the best, freshest and tastiest food possible, alongside meaningful food education. We share our learning and resources freely, aiming to inspire and enable others to follow our lead.

We’re backed by some of the biggest names in food and have ambitious targets to ensure every child has access to incredible school food and food education, setting them up for life with the skills and knowledge to feed themselves well.

About you and the role

This is a pivotal role, at a pivotal moment for us. We are entering a critical growth phase, which includes rapidly expanding our own operations and managing significant external partnership. As Head of Finance & Systems, you will be accountable for ensuring we have the right systems and structures in place to grow at pace without detriment to good governance.

The purpose of this role is to lead on our finance strategy, and ensure all of our systems, reporting and processes are helping to drive forward the charity and deliver on our objectives at scale. You will work closely with the Chief Executive and Directors to ensure that financial planning is effective and supported by accurate data analysis. You will report directly to Trustees as required and ensure that the highest standards of transparency and probity are maintained. 

You will be joining the team during a period of growth in the size and complexity of our delivery. We currently have 24 employees and anticipate growing significantly in the next twelve months. You will have a crucial role in shaping our systems and processes to ensure we can scale effectively, both our existing programmes and a new membership-based programme that is in development. We’re looking for an experienced finance professional with an interest in effectively using technology and systems to drive efficiency, without compromising on accuracy or compliance. 

You will oversee all financial administration, ensuring this is carried out proficiently and in line with all legal and regulatory requirements, including ultimate responsibility for ensuring that all statutory filings are made accurately and on time. Your role will also encompass ensuring that we operate within legal & regulatory frameworks and stay up to date with changes in relevant legislation.

The responsibilities, skills and experience listed below are intended to give you an idea of what we need for this role. If you don’t meet every requirement, but feel as though you would be able to work with us to deliver the majority of them, we would urge you to apply anyway. We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and for us the most important ‘experience’ is passion for our mission. You may be just the right candidate for this, or other roles.  

We want to get to know you at the interview and understand we can do this best if you’re at ease. We’re an inclusive employer and work hard to create a welcoming working environment for everyone, including appointing a neurodiversity champion to help us identify how we can make our work environment work for everyone. If you need adjustments to the interview process please let us know.

As we work with children & young people, an offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and DBS clearance, in line with our safeguarding policy.  

Key responsibilities:

• Developing a comprehensive financial strategy that supports the delivery of the charity’s objectives and activities

• Developing our systems strategy, including reviewing suitability of our current systems (Quickbooks for accountancy, Beacon CRM, PLEO for expenses management, Survey Monkey for data collection etc. ) and ensuring optimal use of systems, maximising automation, and using AI where appropriate.

• Constantly seeking to develop and improve the organisation’s financial systems, policies and procedures to promote dynamic, best practice and up-to-date application of tools, systems and approaches

• Leading and developing the Finance and Office Manager and ensuring effective support from the external book-keeping team.

• Lead on creation of the annual budget, working closely with Directors.

• Advising the Chief Executive, team and Trustees, ensuring that benefits and risks of decisions are fully considered and fit with the overall financial strategy

• Oversee sound financial administration, management and governance across the organisation, ensuring robust financial controls in place and operating effectively.

• Provide leadership and guidance to all things finance related, providing mentoring and support to the team, and coaching on financial awareness. 

• Accountability for monitoring that the organisation’s services are, and will, run to budget, supporting budget holders and reporting promptly on risks 

• Have ultimate oversight of the external audit and production of the statutory accounts, supported in delivery of this by the Finance & Office Manager

• Oversee production of management accounts and bespoke financial reports, including accurate forecasting, incisive analysis and accessible narrative commentary, ensuring decision-makers have the information they need. 

• Forecasting cash flow and managing the treasury position.

• Support the Partnerships & Impact team and Programme Managers with financial inputs to funding proposals and ensure restricted funds are used in compliance with grant conditions.

• Oversight of finance, governance and basic HR administration, supporting the Finance and Office Manager with high profile or complex queries, seeking specialist advice on financial or compliance matters as required

• Ensuring GDPR compliance across the organisation

• Leading an effective risk management process.

• Ensuring the organisation’s compliance with charity law, in accordance with the Charity Commission in England & Wales and all financial reporting requirements.

Skills & experience:

• You have interest and belief in our mission, to improve kids’ health through improving food and food education in schools

• You have full or partial qualification through an accredited accountancy body 

• You have experience in a senior finance role (e.g., Director, Head of) in any sector, and some experience within a finance function in the 3rd sector (in particular familiarity with Charities SORP and experience of administering restricted funds).

• You have experience of audit

• You enjoy a mix of leadership and rolling up sleeves to get hands on 

• You take a pragmatic and dynamic approach to robust financial management

• You can turn complex and dry data, into clear and engaging narrative 

• You have project managed the implementation of new systems (accountancy / CRM / data) and have a good awareness of new technologies

• You are organised, methodical, strong on detail, and able to map out deadlines and plan ahead 

• You are skilled in leading a team and building rapport with people, and strike a balance between being supportive and challenging 

Benefits

You would be joining a friendly, supportive team who works hard but believe in a healthy work/life balance. We were voted one of CODE Hospitality’s happiest places to work in 2024. We seek a diverse range of perspectives, skills, experience and knowledge. Joining a small, collaborative team means you’ll be able to contribute to and draw on various projects and strategic insights.

We offer 33 days of holiday per year including bank holidays, 3 additional office closure days over the Christmas period as well as wellbeing days over the summer school holidays.  We also have a Cycle to Work scheme, hybrid working, enhanced parental leave, and free access to the CODE app for discounted restaurants & hospitality venues. We are committed to developing our team and will support you with relevant training opportunities including £250 towards elective training and development of your choice.

We also offer Bupa Dental Insurance, Income Protection Insurance, as well as access to the Aviva Smart Health Platform which offers health benefits including free rapid access online GP appointments, free counselling and wellbeing support.

Application process

In line with our commitment to ensuring a fair and unbiased recruitment process, we invite candidates to answer a series of questions related to their day-to-day job. Please follow this link to answer the questions and submit your application along with your CV.

We recommend that you develop your answers offline and copy them in when you’re ready to ensure you don’t lose your work if interrupted.

Your answers will go through our sifting process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers. A long list of candidates will then additionally have their CVs reviewed. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a 30 mins online interview. Successful candidates will be invited to attend a second, in-person interview at our office in Brixton, London.

Expected duration of this application process: 7 weeks

First interviews will be held on Thurs 14th Aug.

Second interviews will be held on Weds 20th Aug. 

This is an exciting opportunity to lead our Alumni Engagement team who provide support to an alumni base of almost 40,000 contactable alumni of the Sutton Trust programmes. These are generally young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds who move into highly competitive universities, courses and careers. The alumni community has grown rapidly over the past 3 years and now expects around 6-7000 new alumni to join each September. Engagement covers supporting their transition to university and into the workplace through communications, events and programmes. It also spans alumni volunteering, our Alumni Leadership Board, and working with our Development team towards alumni giving.

The role is dynamic and diverse, requiring you to be able to think strategically whilst devising and delivering on operational delivery plans, and we are looking for a confident and experienced team leader during a period of maternity leave.

This role is part of the Programmes Leadership Team and will work closely with the Director of Programmes, Head of Employability Programmes and Head of University Access & Digital on shaping the strategic direction of the team and its programmatic work. The role will also connect closely to the work of the Development Team as we look to devise and implement a segmented alumni giving scheme, as well as the Communications and Policy team, and may evolve to take on new projects over time.

Main duties

• Strategic leadership to alumni engagement, including:
  • Embedding alumni relations and programming across the organisation, ensuring alumni are considered or involved in all areas of the Trust’s work
  • Managing budget and project timelines to ensure projects are delivered effectively
  • Working with the wider programmes team to ensure a smooth transition for Sutton Trust beneficiaries between programmes and the alumni community

• Alumni Engagement and Volunteering:
  • Refining and communicating the alumni strategy across the Trust and to donors and external stakeholders
  • Growing the Sutton Trust alumni network and developing a long-term strategy for alumni engagement, including communications and events, identifying key areas of focus and setting out benchmarks and KPIs
  • Overseeing a suite of volunteering opportunities for alumni to give back to, and represent the Trust in (for example on programmes, with our funder base, in our research and policy work, or to benefit the alumni community)
  • Managing the online alumni platform (STA) and its integration with other platforms .
  • Overseeing the recruitment to and engagement of the Alumni Leadership Board and new Changemaker/Ambassador programme to build on our advocacy work, and ensuring effective engagement with the work of the Trust and the wider alumni community
  • Ensuring that the above complements a long-term plan which would enable alumni to fundraise for the Trust or make donations in support of the Trust

• Programme management and Alumni Support:
  • Support delivery of access to the workplace and employability programming for alumni alongside the Head of Employability Programmes
  • Overseeing the delivery of bursary support programmes (including the Opportunity Bursary funded by JP Morgan) by the Alumni Programmes Manager from recruitment to evaluation and reporting
  • Overseeing the delivery of a series of employer-led events (working with employer-facing colleagues across the Trust) across a range of industry sectors that support student access to workplace opportunities, and the chance to build employability skills (such as networking / interview skills etc)
  • Overseeing the development of content and activities to support young alumni transitioning to HE
  • Overseeing the evaluation and scoping for potential growth for alumni-alumni mentoring with the Alumni Connect programme (piloted in Spring 2025)
  • Ensuring appropriate systems and processes are in place to manage programmes and events for alumni

• Alumni Giving and Relationship Management
  • Working closely with the Development team to provide support for key funding partnerships including those that directly fund/ work with the Alumni team.
  • Working with the Director of Development/ Head of Philanthropy to input into a new strategy to build funding from our alumni
  • Working with the Development team to implement an ongoing segmented fundraising communications plan to build awareness of our need for funding and directing alumni to appropriate giving schemes depending on their life/career stage
  • Identifying potential mid to high level alumni donors and working with the Development team to cultivate
  • Representing the Trust and facilitating introductions via senior alumni for new and potential employer or delivery partners

• Team Management:
  • Leading the alumni team to ensure effective engagement of our alumni community, including line management responsibility, team meetings, pastoral support and appraisals
  • Line managing, motivating and proactively supporting the Alumni Programmes Manager and Senior Alumni Officer in their professional development
  • Working with Director of Programmes and Heads of Programmes on team management, culture and long term planning
  • Working across the organisation on cross-team projects, such as with the employer working group, youth voice, Changemaker pilot, alumni giving, and STO/STA platforms strategy.
  • Member of extended-SLT

• Other duties as necessary from time to time

Person Specification

We welcome applications from individuals who have experience in:

• Professional experience of alumni relations, or managing other similar membership communities, ideally within the education or charity sector.
• Has experience working within or an understanding of the not for profit sector and/or the education sectors;
• Experience of developing strategies, frameworks and operational plans to support alumni relations, programmes and events for young people, or equivalent
• Strong understanding of databases, data processes and experience using a CRM (ideally Salesforce)
• Experience in project management, monitoring and evaluation, managing budgets, financial control and administration
• Building relationships with significant, diverse stakeholder groups
• Experience of managing volunteers and volunteer stewardship
• Excellent verbal and written communication and strong analytical skills
• First-class interpersonal skills - a natural ambassador able to represent the Sutton Trust in a range of settings
• Working collaboratively across teams and within a small team
• Line management and leadership of a small team
• Adapting to new opportunities and trialling new initiatives
• Personable, flexible and discreet; able to fit in to a small team

We are also looking for an individual who:

• Has experience of building philanthropic support through alumni
• Is sympathetic to the aims of the Trust and its mission to address educational disadvantage;
• Has excellent attention to detail;
• Is eligible to work in the UK (see here for information about right to work)

Terms of Appointment

• • Contract: 13-month Fixed-term Maternity cover contract starting November 2025. Our ideal dates are from 1 November 2025 – 30 November 2026, however we can be flexible if needed for the right candidate.
  • Salary: £60,000-£64,000 per annum
  • Working location: Minimum of 2 office days per week
  • Office location: The Sutton Trust, 9th Floor, Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP. Our home working policy gives staff the option to work from home for up to 60% of the time, with approval from their line manager.
  • Hours: The standard working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday and may also be required to attend events / meetings outside of their normal working hours during weekday evenings and occasionally at weekends
  • DBS check will be required

Interviews

Applications should reach us by midnight, Sunday 20th July, with first round interviews held over Zoom on Tuesday, 29th July, and second round interviews held at our London offices on Tuesday, 5th August.

Safeguarding statement

The Sutton Trust believes that a child, young person or vulnerable adult should never experience abuse of any kind. We all have a responsibility to promote the welfare of all children and young people and to keep them safe. Therefore all posts undergo a safer recruitment process, including but not limited to, disclosure of criminal records where necessary and eligibility to work in the UK. We have procedures in place to promote safeguarding and a safe culture at the Trust.

Contextual recruitment

The Trust is committed to ensuring equality of opportunity and that all applicants receive equal consideration for employment. We strongly encourage individuals from all backgrounds, including those underrepresented at present at the Trust, to apply for this role. As such we particularly welcome applications from people with disabilities, Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ and from different socio-economic and educational backgrounds. We are committed to being an inclusive and welcoming place to work and know that greater diversity will lead to even greater results for the young people we support.

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates throughout our recruitment process and during employment.

We also operate contextual recruitment at the Sutton Trust. Our application process gives you the option to include information about your background, such as whether you were eligible for free school meals, whether your parents went to university, or whether you attended a state school. For more examples and information on contextual recruitment, please see our website.

The post-holder will maintain a manageable caseload of clients needing support with their welfare rights and benefits. The role is to support the Welfare Rights Advice Project Team with the following:

1. To carry out an initial client assessment, identifying any issues with their benefits and any claims they can make to maximise their income.
2. Provide casework (including challenging decisions) for welfare benefits available to clients with mental health difficulties and their carers: i.e. Personal Independence Payments, Universal Credit, Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit.
3. Provide information and advice as appropriate about issues related to a client’s particular situation.
4. Provide advice and casework for mobility and discretionary schemes and personal grants that could be of benefit to clients.
5. Take referrals directly from service users, carers or staff from other agencies (encouraging use of our online referral form)
6. Signpost and refer clients to agencies that assist with transition from hospital to community living, or to tackle social isolation and improve mental wellbeing.
7. Maintain records in accordance with Hear Us policies and procedures, including the handling of confidential and private documents and keeping written and computer records up to date and secure.
8. Liaise with GPs, CMHT’s and other agencies to obtain supporting documents, by telephone, letter and e-mail.
9. Taking confidential telephone messages from clients and outside agencies.
10. Take part in weekly WRAP team meetings regarding case allocation, and stay up to date with changes in benefits legislation. 
11. Attend regular supervision and yearly appraisals with line manager.
12. Assist WRAP manager to write reports and evaluate the project for funding bids and to support and promote the project.
13. Collect and distribute flyers and leaflets for signposting purposes.
14. Attend Hear Us staff meetings, staff development days, and other Hear Us events (e.g. Hear Us Open Forum) where directed by line manager.
15. Attend identified training and other personal development activities that will support you in this role.
16. Develop and maintain healthy working practices for yourself, with clear personal and professional boundaries.

Learning & Development Manager (LDM) – Cymru Wales, West Midlands & South West 

Home - Based but within commutable distance to Wales, West Midlands & South West

If you’re passionate about helping further the mission of Methodist churches, circuits and districts, then we would like to hear from you. As an experienced professional with a proven track record in learning and development, and management, you will be part of a Learning Network (LN), within the Ministries and Learning team and part of the Connexional Team of The Methodist Church.

The LN comprises 30+ staff working as part of a single team operating across the Methodist Church in Britain. The team is strategically and collaboratively managed by Learning and Development Managers (LDMs), each having responsibility for a number of Learning and Development Officers (LDO) working within a geographical area. We are seeking to recruit an LDM for the Cymru Wales, West Midlands and South West area. There is a requirement to live within this geography that includes the Methodist districts: Wales Synod Cymru, West Midlands (following the merger of the current Birmingham District and the Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury District on 1st September 2025), Southampton, Channel Islands, Bristol, and South West Peninsular.

Responsibilities of the Learning Development Manager include:

• strategic shared leadership of the LN
• leading and managing the LDOs, balancing the needs and expectations of lay and ordained
• developing, implementing and reviewing, alongside other LDMs and the Director of Ministry Learning, the strategic work plan of the LN
• building and maintaining good relationships across the Connexional Team and with individuals and communities across the church and beyond
• encouraging the sharing of individual gifts and experiences across a number of teams and stakeholders
• travel (including overnight stays), weekend and evening work

We are looking for someone who has:

• proven experience of coordinating and managing a dispersed team of staff and volunteers
• significant experience and is passionate about learning and development
• a strong commitment to collaborative and partnership working
• a proven track record of meeting deadlines within a complex and varied workload

Knowledge of the Welsh language would be a valuable asset to this role

Our Culture, Values and Benefits

Thank you for considering joining our inclusive and welcoming team that strives for excellence and values employee wellbeing.

We value and support all those who join our team through a positive work-life balance augmented by generous annual leave (plus an extra 3 days over Christmas/New Year), TOIL, flexi-leave and an on-site Wellbeing Adviser service. We offer a generous occupational pension scheme, where the Methodist Church will pay double the employee contribution up to a maximum of 16% employer contribution.

The Methodist Church is an inclusive and supportive employer. We are actively committed to encouraging applications from people of all backgrounds. We welcome applications from people of Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic groups.

For ministers in Full Connexion the standard terms of service apply.

Closing date: 23:59 on 21/07/2025

Interviews to take place on: 08/08/2025 in London in person.

N.B. 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.