Finance & Operations Officer

The Difference is a growing charity, in both the size of its team and the reach of its delivery. As we grow, we must develop our financial management processes and continue to enhance our efficiency and effectiveness as a team by developing the operational infrastructure necessary to support our growth. This means proactively developing systems, policies and processes to ensure precise management of our finances and smooth running of our day-to-day operations.

As the Finance & Operations Officer, you will manage the day-to-day financial processes of the Difference; work closely with the Head of Finance & Operations to support budgeting, management accounting and reporting; and improve the charity’s operations infrastructure to support the whole organisation's work. Through this work, you will ensure our financial and operational processes are effective and compliant - developing, implementing and evaluating new policies and systems for the charity.

We are looking for someone who likes to be busy and can work flexibly to juggle competing priorities. This role will require you to take initiative and be proactive in anticipating problems before they arise. You’ll need a high level of accuracy, organisation and initiative; as well as a keen eye for detail. 

You may have a background in accounting - including either holding or working towards an accounting qualification; you may have worked in a Finance team before; but you will definitely have strong numerical and spreadsheet skills. Further to this, you should be drawn to the idea of a role which extends beyond finance, and into the wider remit of operations - supporting the smooth- running of the charity as a whole.

Key Tasks Required of this Role

Finance management

• Use Xero accounting software to complete day-to-day bookkeeping
• Ensure timely payment of both receivable and payable invoices, including invoicing schools for our programmes
• Ensure compliance with our financial controls, in collaboration with the Head of Finance & Operations
• Process monthly payroll with our external payroll provider
• Problem-solve accounting queries as they arise

Budgeting & reporting

• Support financial management and budget-setting, including preparing draft monthly management accounts for review with the Head of Finance & Operations
• Support preparation of reports and summaries for The Difference’s Board, senior management team and funders
• Work closely with the Development team to update and monitor fundraising pipeline
• Be a point of contact for our accountants, ensuring they have access to all the necessary information

Operations

• Support the development of IT systems, equipment and policies to ensure they support delivery at scale as well as team efficiency and productivity.
• Support the development, implementation and review of key organisation-wide operational policies, (e.g. information security, GDPR, safeguarding)
• Own and maintain the policy tracker to ensure policies remain up to date and are regularly reviewed
• Work closely with the Chief of Staff to develop working policies for our office space, ensuring team culture is nurtured, the working environment is effective
• Support with ad hoc planning and coordination for events and programme delivery

Human Resources / People

• Support the recruitment process, for new full-time and sessional staff
• Coordinate induction and onboarding of new members of staff
• Manage HR administrative processes including annual leave process, staff expenses, updating contracts, drafting consultant agreements, liaising with our pension provider etc. 

Person Specification

Essential

• Values - Shared valueswith The Difference (see above) and a personal commitment to our mission to improve life outcomes for vulnerable people.
• Accounting/financial experience - Knowledge of bookkeeping and accounting processes, understanding and experience of Xero or equivalent accounting software, and sound knowledge of day-to-day financial management processes.
• Proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets - which you will use to generate management account information, and to support in budgeting/forecasting.
• Keen attention to detail - Detail-oriented in your working style, with a high level of precision and accuracy when completing tasks.
• Self-direction -Evidenced capacity to take high levels of ownership in your work and over your self-development, proactively diagnosing skills and information gaps and making use of others’ expertise to continually grow your skills, and make a success of tasks at hand.
• Organisation & project management - A track record of supporting others to deliver projects and communicating proactively if milestones are missed or timelines need to change; as well as scoping and delivering some projects independently from beginning to end.
• Proactivity & agility in problem-solving - Ability to thrive in a fast-paced start-up environment, diagnosing when there is a need to reprioritise and change course. Ability to proactively anticipate and propose solutions to arising operational issues. 

Desired but not essential 

• Accounting expertise - currently holding an accounting qualification or working towards one. 
• Experience of financial modelling - an understanding of effective use of spreadsheets to produce forecasts and support modelling/business planning.
• Previous experience of developing/implementing operational policies - an understanding of an effective policy document as well as associated training/processes as required.  
• Previous experience of HR processes - experience of managing staff recruitment processes, onboarding new staff and/or policy development and writing.
• Charity sector/education sector - experience of working within finance and/or operations in a non-profit or charity setting or within a school setting.  
• Start-up experience - experience of working as part of a small team in a fast-paced context.

How To Apply

To apply, please complete this application form and email [email removed - click apply for more details] no later than Midnight on Sunday 9th April attaching your CV, including contact details for two referees. Referees will not be contacted without your prior consent.

Interviews will be held during the week beginning April 17th. Please indicate if you would not be available to attend an interview during this week.

We are committed to building a diverse team and strongly encourage applications from under-represented groups in the charity sector such as people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, people with experience in the care system, non-graduates and first-in-family graduates.

As part of our commitment to fairer recruitment, all applications will be assessed with names and any protected characteristics redacted.