Finance and Sustainability Lead at The People Practice

Our client, a non profit in the education sector is looking to hire Finance lead is to support the financial management and financial sustainability team to design, implement, enforce and innovate on financial management systems, processes and priorities that will accelerate the achievement of the organisation\'s mission. Support the organisation\'s program teams to design and implement innovative revenue maximization and cost minimization strategies to scale our impact in a financially sustainable way.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Financial/Management Accounting: Prepare the management accounts, and seek to implement a best practice approach for financial accounting controls.
• Processes: Design and implement the necessary controls to protect the organization’s assets and prevent any potential areas of fraud. This work will be determined by any changes required and outlined by the CEO and/or the Board and should meet the needs of internal audit recommendations.
• Systems: Meet and exceed internal customer requirements by being the organization’s champion for any new financial systems introduced, as well as driving the development of existing ones.
• Financial Policies & Procedures: Ensure that appropriate financial policies are implemented, documented and become part of the core work of the finance department
• Communication: To raise the profile of the Finance Department through the provision of a service that meets the needs of all stakeholders. Be able to influence colleagues when introducing new ideas, processes and systems that support the aims and objectives of the charity.
• As unit lead the post holder should seek to communicate effectively throughout the organisation and actively participate in relevant forums and cross–departmental working groups as deemed appropriate.
• Financial Sustainability: Work with programs and operations teams to minimize their costs and maximize revenues without compromising on essential impact and scale priorities.

KEY TASKS

Financial/Management Accounting

• Prepare the management accounts for each academy in line with the monthly accounting timetable.
• Deliver all reports to the relevant deadlines.
• Devolve operational reporting and ownership of budgets to academy leads through the provision of the appropriate reporting tools which will enable academy leads to manage their budgets, and plan and review the financial performance of their academies.
• Managing cash flows.

Strategy Development and Strategic Planning

• Develop 1-, 3-, 5-year strategy and strategic plans for financial management and sustainability

Budgeting and Forecasting

• Assist the CEO and Programs Lead with the preparation of the consolidated annual budget and forecasts.
• Develop appropriate systems to drive the effective implementation of the budget.
• Prepare the operational budget timetable and work with both internal and external customers to enable the organization to meet agreed deadlines.

Statutory Accounting/Reporting

• Work with external auditors to manage auditing processes for the organization.
• Manage new and existing regulatory requirements where appropriate and incorporate them into the financial and management accounts.
• Complete and deliver operational information/payments to FIRS, LIRS and other government and regulatory bodies as required. This includes VAT returns. As well as HMO, Insurance, and Pension.

Systems

• Ensure the robustness of all finance systems taking into account any required enhancements and upgrades required.
• Development of the existing finance system to empower each academy team to exercise financial control over their areas of the business.
• Review the financial management needs of the organisation and propose new systems and processes to support these needs where appropriate.

Leadership/Management

• Lead on any changes required to processes and procedures and be able to drive and motivate the team in meeting set goals and objectives.

Service Level Agreements

• As Finance is a shared service the financial management and sustainability lead will create and document service level agreements with all customer groups.

Treasury

• Be responsible for the approval of day to day treasury movements adhering to the appropriate financial policy and procedures of the organisation.

Raising Departmental Profile

• Continually increase the department’s profile across the organization. The role is fundamental to the delivery of a financial management framework for the organization and should seek to increase awareness of the work of the department and what it can offer and also what it expects, from its internal customers.

Qualifications

• Degree in Accounting of Finance or related courses
• Minimum of 5 years’ relevant experience in Finance reporting, audit within a structured environment
• Proven Experience in Finance preferably in the non-profit or social impact sector
• Relevant Professional accounting qualifications e.g ICAN/ACCA is a plus
• Accounting and Financial technical knowledge and experience in Quick Books financial software, Microsoft Excel, managing processes, audit accounting, tracking budget expenses and analyzing information including IFRS Knowledge
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Workspace

Must have skills

Strong analytical, presentation and leadership skills

• Ability to communicate effectively (verbal, written, digital, non-verbal) with a diverse set of employees and stakeholders.
• Attention to detail with the ability to prioritize, multitask and problem solve.
• Results oriented to handle multiple projects in a timely manner while managing expectations along the way
• Ability to lead people by supporting them to perform their tasks effectively
• Interpersonal skills to effectively build and manage relationships.
• Business Acumen
• Integrity