Senior legal advisor jobs in Oxford, oxfordshire
Permanent, full-time (37.5 hours per week)
Remote working with some UK and international travel
We are looking for an ambitious, experienced and passionate Chief Financial & Operations Officer (CFOO) to join The Lifescape Project, leading the evolution, management and delivery of our financial and operational capacities as the organisation grows.
Our impact as a charity depends on excellent financial management and the efficient provision of supporting operational structures, policies and ways of working. As the organisation grows and diversifies, we need a dedicated Chief Financial and Operations Officer to lead the management and development of these critical functions in close liaison with the CEO. The CFOO will be second in command to the CEO and a key member of the Management Team.
About us and the role
We are a small and quickly growing UK-registered charity whose mission is to protect and restore wild, natural landscapes. We use the skills and expertise of our multi-disciplinary team (spanning science, law, economics, technology and culture) to develop projects that pursue this mission.
We use the approach of combining disciplines to design and deliver our work because the biodiversity crisis is driven and impacted by social, economic, legal and other complex factors. It is increasingly recognised that the urgent transformative change needed for a sustainable future on our planet is most effectively achieved through this approach. The Lifescape Project has a unique ability to apply these diverse areas of expertise to our mission whilst maintaining the agility of a smaller organisation in delivering our work.
Working in pursuit of our 2020-2026 strategy, the Lifescape Project has seen rapid growth in its impact, team and revenue since commencing work in 2020. Our annual revenue has increased from £265,000 in FY 2020/2021 to £1.2m in FY 2024/2025, with further growth expected in the current FY. Our team has grown from just one to a team which will number 20 at the time of the successful CFOO candidate joining. This growth to date and planned future growth requires constant evolution of our financial and operational infrastructure and an experienced hand to guide this process, which is the core purpose of the CFOO role we are seeking to appoint.
We are excited to be hiring for this role, which will be transformational for the organisation, allowing us to develop our approach to financial and operational matters and support the continued growth of our team and impact. The role will act as second in command and will deputise for the CEO when absent. We are therefore looking for a highly capable and experienced finance and operations leader with the vision to ensure that we continue to grow in a sustainable, effective and efficient way.
We currently have a full-time manager and officer in our Finance and Operations team (F&O Team), which the CFOO will be joining to oversee, develop and guide all relevant functions. With the small size of the team at this time, the CFOO will be expected to jump into the detail in some areas. In the short term this will include delivering some of the more complex areas of the F&O team’s work, such as the audit process, multi-year financial planning and legal compliance, with support from other team members and external advisers as appropriate. If we continue to succeed in delivering our growth strategy, the role will progress over the medium term with increasing team size/supervisory duties and reducing involvement in immediate implementation. Remuneration would also increase in line with growth and assuming strong performance in the role.
For further information, please download the job pack below. Candidates must review the entire job pack before applying.
To apply, please email a cover letter and CV (each a maximum of 2 pages).
Closing date: 9.00pm on 29th January 2026, however we will be reviewing applications as they come in and reserve our discretion to extend the deadline if necessary.
First interview: First round interviews are expected to take place virtually on Microsoft Teams between 3rd-6th February.
Second interview: Second round interviews are expected to take place between 23rd-27th February.
Assessed task: There will be an assessed task which candidates will be asked to complete, either before the first round or second round interview.
Start date: The role will commence as soon as possible from 1st April 2026, subject to the successful candidate’s availability.
To apply, please email a cover letter and CV (each a maximum of 2 pages). Candidates must review the entire job pack before applying.
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Location: Remote, but with flexibility to travel for in person meetings
Salary: £38,336 - £44,427 pro rata, per annum (dependent on experience) plus 8% pension contribution
Duration: Permanent established role
Hours: 0.8 FTE (29 hours 36 minutes per week), flexible
The Head of the CEO Office will provide leadership to the CEO Office team and serve as a key advisor to the CEO and Senior Leadership Team (SLT). This role will be responsible for the three specialist areas which form the CEO Office: People Services, Governance and Executive Support.
This role is responsible for delivering the People Services function for the organisation, including the development and implementation of People Services strategies, plans, policies and processes. You will lead the People Services team in delivering high quality support and advisory services.
This post requires the individual to understand, anticipate and react to the organisation’s changing needs, to think critically, make decisions, and offer solutions to problems with expert professionalism, sensitivity, and confidentiality. To implement Butterfly Conservation’s (BC) objectives through leadership of the CEO Office team, setting and managing budgets, targets and workplans while inspiring and enabling staff to achieve their best.
Specific Tasks:
Delivering the People Services function
Responsible for delivering a high-performing People Services function ensuring all interactions adhere to BC’s inclusion and organisational values. To lead, manage and be accountable for the function, including:
- Aligning workload with BC’s Strategy and annual business plans.
- Advising, coaching, and enabling the People Services team to deliver effectively and create an engaging, supportive, and empowering environment.
- Ensure monthly workforce reporting systems are in place and actions followed up where required.
- Lead on Employee Health and Wellbeing initiatives, promoting a culture of engagement and self-responsibility.
- Implement, monitor and evaluate performance management systems and processes.
- In conjunction with the CEO and SLT, procuring external specialist support and/or legal advice as needed to minimise risk to the organisation.
- Act as the escalation point for complex employee casework, including dispute resolutions, disciplinaries, grievances, absence, retirement and redundancy, ensuring that the SLT members’ roles remain objective and that safe formal processes can occur if required.
- Account management for providers of BC’s People Services Workforce Systems, ensuring Service Level Agreements are met and partnership opportunities are maximised including Occupational Health, EAP services, Hireful and BreatheHR.
- Oversee and manage ‘Charity Learn’ BC’s online learning management system, to include setting up annual statutory training for all staff and creating bookable in-house training sessions as required.
- In conjunction with the CEO and SLT, develop and implement a People Strategy to include areas of succession planning, talent management, change management, and staff engagement.
Governance, Risk and Management Information & Reporting
Accountable for the smooth running of BC’s core governance activities and trustee meetings, including:
- Overseeing the risk and audit process for the CEO Office, bridging as needed between the Finance Directorate and the CEO Office Directorate.
- Ensuring all core legal requirements are met and that the trustees comply with their duties in accordance with the Articles of Association.
- Ensuring relevant statutory returns are submitted to Charity Commission and Companies House.
Executive Support
- Ensure the support function to the CEO and SLT is delivered efficiently and effectively, including direct line management of the Executive Assistant to the CEO and SLT PA’s.
Management and Development of Team members
Responsible for managing a team of five direct reports and undertaking all People Manager duties, including:
- Setting objectives, workload planning, holding 121 meetings and regular reviews.
- Conducting Performance Development Reviews and giving timely direction and feedback.
- Building engagement within the team and creating an environment of trust and wellbeing.
- Coaching and developing team members to ensure professional and personal growth and career development and supporting any training needs.
- Role modelling people management in line with BC’s values and competency framework, setting a good example from the CEO Office.
Strategy, Planning and Budgeting
Working with the CEO and SLT on the annual and long-term business cycles, including:
- Supporting with the creation of BC’s Strategy as required.
- Creating annual Directorate work plans to deliver actions and outcomes in line with BC’s strategic priorities ensuring teams within your responsibility have clarity and direction.
- Working with Finance to ensure that the function has adequate budget to match the work plans and supporting with budget refresh and reforecasting.
- Supporting the Directorate with workforce planning and resource management as required.
- Responsible for the CEO Office budget.
Relationship building, partnering and culture development,
Operating as a strong ambassador for BC and the CEO by:
- Cultivating and nurturing excellent working relationships both internally with all colleagues and trustees, and externally with branches, volunteers, partners, suppliers, funders, and sector networks.
General:
- Promoting and exemplifying BC’s values (Excellence, Passionate, Inspiring, Collaborative) ensuring they are adopted in all aspects of the role.
- Aligning with the mission and strategic goals of BC; commitment to species conservation, the environment and nature recovery.
- Undertaking any other reasonable duties as required and commensurate with the grade of post.
- Undertaking all duties and responsibilities in compliance with BC policies, processes and code of conduct, role modelling inclusive behaviour to enable a diverse workforce.
- Be cost conscious and respectful of funders’ money. Make good financial decisions to minimise cost and maximise impact by the charity.
- Actively participating in on-going professional development activities, committing to personal and professional growth and development.
Candidates must have the right to work and be resident in the UK.
We reserve the right to close the vacancy early before the advertised closing date and time.
Closing date: Sunday, 1 February 2026 at 23:59.
Interviews will be held 9 February and 12 February 2026.
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The opportunity
We are seeking an experienced and values-led Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead East London Waterworks Park in this next phase of our development. This is a rare opportunity to shape the first paid executive leadership role in a pioneering environmental charity.
The CEO role is wide-ranging and dynamic, and will evolve as East London Waterworks Park grows. The CEO will provide strategic leadership to help realise our ambition to purchase the Thames Water depot site in East London, while strengthening our capacity to deliver community-led rewilding and nature-recovery projects across London in partnership with landowners, local authorities and other stakeholders.
An important aspect of the role will involve introducing a sustainable staffing model that complements and develops East London Waterworks Park’s existing volunteer ecosystem, and strengthens our culture, vision and values. The CEO will be supported in this work by long-standing volunteers at both trustee board and operational level, who believe in the benefits this organisational change will bring.
About East London Waterworks Park
East London Waterworks Park is a community-led charity working to reconnect people and nature. Starting from nature-first principles, and with inclusivity at the heart of everything we do, we work with communities to co-design spaces to unlock a chain of positive changes that culminate in the long-term transformation of people and place.
Our work includes:
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co-designing East London Waterworks Park with the East London community, working towards purchasing a 14-acre Thames Water depot in Waltham Forest and transforming it into a biodiverse urban park with free, accessible wild swimming and welcoming community spaces
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co-designing other nature-first spaces on disused or brownfield land in London, returning land to nature in collaboration with local communities to encourage long–term community stewardship
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hosting engagement, education, and empowerment activities that build skills, confidence and deeper connections to nature.
East London Waterworks Park is a sociocratic organisation, with a decentralised organisational structure and a transparent and collaborative approach to decision making. We have grown organically since 2019, responding flexibly to the challenges we have encountered but always committed to our core vision: creating a new kind of urban green and blue space: one that is ecologically rich, inclusive, and shaped by the people and wildlife who use it.
East London Waterworks Park is currently entirely run by volunteers but we recognise the need to transition to a more sustainable structure. We want to introduce paid employees to ensure we can deliver the exciting projects planned in 2026 and beyond, while retaining our strong community-led ethos.
More information
If this sounds exciting, please review the attached recruitment package.
Registered Charity
East London Waterworks Park is a charity campaigning to create a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.