Governance and compliance manager volunteer roles

JOB PURPOSE:

To support the Finance & Accounting Team by accurately tracking donations and financial transactions, maintaining clear and auditable records, and assisting with routine reconciliations, ensuring transparency, accountability, and timely financial information to support ethical decision-making within the CIC.

About the role:

The Volunteer Finance Associate supports the Finance & Accounting Team by accurately tracking donations and financial transactions, maintaining clean and auditable financial records, and assisting with routine reconciliations. This role is essential in ensuring transparency, accountability, and timely financial information to support ethical decision-making within the CIC.

Experience Qualification and Requirements

Essential Technical Competencies

• Practical experience supporting finance or accounting processes at organisational level.
• Experience recording, tracking, and reconciling financial transactions or donations.
• Familiarity with accounting software such as:
  • Xero
  • QuickBooks
  • Sage
  • or equivalent finance systems
• Ability to maintain accurate, audit-ready financial records and documentation.
• Working knowledge of basic accounting principles and financial controls.
• Strong numerical accuracy and attention to detail.
• Ability to escalate discrepancies or irregularities clearly and promptly.
• Understanding of confidentiality, ethical finance handling, and data integrity.
• Ability to manage multiple finance tasks while meeting internal deadlines.
• Equivalent professional or voluntary experience accepted.

Desirable Competencies

• Experience working within non-profit, CIC, charity, or community-based organisations.
• Exposure to donation platforms, fundraising tools, or payment processors.
• Experience supporting finance teams in volunteer-led or resource-constrained environments.
• Familiarity with financial reporting for internal or governance purposes.
• Awareness of compliance, audit, or internal controls in small organisations.

Qualifications

• Formal qualifications: Not strictly required.
• Education background: Accounting, Finance, Economics, Business, or related field preferred.
• Professional experience: Equivalent practical or voluntary experience accepted.
• Finance, ethics, or data protection training: Required once in post (training can be provided).

Main Responsibilities/ Key Duties

• Record and track all donations received through approved fundraising and payment platforms in a timely and accurate manner.
• Assist with the reconciliation of donation records against bank statements and payment processor reports.
• Support the maintenance of accurate financial data within accounting software such as Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, or equivalent systems.
• Prepare basic financial summaries, donation breakdowns, and internal reports for review by the Lead Financial Accountant.
• Assist with filing, document management, and maintaining audit-ready financial records in line with CIC policies.
• Ensure financial records are complete, clearly labelled, and stored in accordance with internal retention and compliance standards.
• Escalate discrepancies, missing information, or irregular transactions promptly and clearly to the Lead Financial Accountant.
• Adhere strictly to the CIC’s financial policies, ethical standards, and confidentiality requirements at all times.
• Support ad-hoc finance tasks as required to assist with month-end or internal reporting processes.

You must:

• Be aligned with the CIC’s mission, values, and ethical, anti-capitalist stance.
• Be willing to commit at a founding level during the unpaid build phase of the organisation.
• Be comfortable working with evolving or incomplete financial systems and helping to build structure, clarity, and good practice.
• Be able to work responsibly with sensitive financial and donor data.
• Be comfortable collaborating across multiple teams, including Finance, Operations, Fundraising, and Leadership.
• Be able to follow guidance, policies, and controls while also exercising sound judgement.

You should bring experience in some of the following:

• Supporting finance, accounting, or data processes within small organisations or teams.
• Donation tracking, income recording, or financial data management.
• Working with accounting software, spreadsheets, or structured financial systems.
• Reconciliation, data checking, or basic internal reporting.
• Maintaining accurate records in low-resource or volunteer-led environments.
• Working with limited budgets in non-profit, CIC, or purpose-led settings.

Formal qualifications are not strictly required, but relevant education is desirable.
Essential equivalent practical or voluntary experience is mandatory.

Next Steps

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to:

• A values-led conversation focused on ethics, accountability, and mission alignment.
• A practical discussion around financial processes, data accuracy, and working within evolving systems.

If you believe that transparent, well-managed finances are essential to trust, safeguarding, and long-term impact, this role is for you.

A Final Word

Transparency is power and responsibility.

If you know that:

• Financial integrity builds public trust
• Data accuracy protects communities and donors
• Accountability matters more than scale

Then your contribution here will matter.