Head of Operations

Do you want to work with a vibrant, dynamic and youth driven organisation that is committed to creating healthy futures for British children by improving the food system?

Be part of the creative, agile and growing team behind Bite Back’s exceptional teenage activists. Join us as our Head of Operations and contribute to our journey to help make the food system healthier and fairer. See below for more details about the role and how to apply.

At Bite Back we are committed to ensuring our staff is representative of the diverse world around us and therefore encourage candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply. At Bite Back we are inclusive and want to ensure we uphold our multicultural environment.

ABOUT BITE BACK 2030

We’re surrounded by junk food. From the moment we're born, every second of every day, children are being targeted. Giant companies manipulate them with colourful, cuddly, clever marketing, deceive them with packaging claims and pump products at them that are full of junk. It's become the cultural wallpaper. Now, it risks destroying the health of a generation.

In the UK, nearly a third of children aged 2-15 are now at future risk of developing food-related conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

The good news is, it's totally preventable. And we're biting back.

Bite Back is a youth activist movement challenging a food system that's been set up to fool us all by:

• Calling out the manipulation of the junk food giants.
• Demanding higher standards from food marketing and from everyday food itself.
• Mobilising and equipping young people in the fight for better food.
• We do all this so we can bite back against a global epidemic of food-related ill health.

ABOUT THE ROLE

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Head of Operations seeking a broad and challenging role, that will help shape and define the growth of Bite Back 2030 as it moves from start-up to scale up.

As a member of the Leadership Team, you will be responsible for developing and implementing our Operational Strategy. The appointee will work closely with the CEO and Leadership Team and draw on support from (and line manage) an HR Manager and a Finance & Admin Executive.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director / Head of Operations will be responsible for finance, HR, IT, operations and governance ensuring best practice compliance within the organisation. This will include:

Leadership and strategy

• Work with other members of the Leadership Team to develop and deliver our overall strategy.
• Oversee the process to develop the annual organisational objectives in line with the strategy.
• Support the CEO to drive our objective to build a robust organisation with the funding, people and values to achieve our mission.
• Lead and manage the Operations team, developing individual skills and building a team that provides excellent support across the organisation.

Finance

• Develop the finance strategy to support Bite Back’s growth.
• Lead and coordinate the annual budget-setting cycle to deliver the agreed financial strategy, working with each of the budget holders.
• Produce monthly management information and report to the Board and Leadership Team on the budget position, restricted funds, forecast and cash flow.
• Manage the financial and accounting processes, ensuring that robust financial controls are in place and all statutory requirements are met.
• Lead the annual audit process.
• Take responsibility for financial components of funding bids and grant reporting, maintaining financial records on specific projects and restricted funds.

HR

• Develop and deliver the resourcing plan for the charity as it scales, in line with the finance strategy.
• Take oversight of HR processes, including DEI, working closely with the HR Manager on implementation and recruitment.
• Develop and foster a positive team culture.
• Lead on objective setting and performance management across the organisation.
• Oversee training and development to enable our people to develop to their full potential.
• Take responsibility for Bite Back’s policies and procedures, including GDPR, ensuring they are updated appropriately and staff are inducted and trained.
• Oversee Bite Back’s pensions, insurance, subscriptions, payroll and benefits arrangements and ensure they are run effectively.

IT

• Manage the technology strategy of the organisation, overseeing the management of our Google Workspace and ensuring we are GDPR / cyber essentials compliant.
• Take oversight of Bite Back’s CRM system, Salesforce, and ensure it is properly implemented across the charity.
• Ensure Bite Back’s systems and platforms (Finance, IT, Project Management, HR) and any 3rd party software are effective, deliver value for money, and all necessary staff are trained and supported to use them.

Operations

• Manage our office space and future office needs.
• Build and maintain supplier relationships that support our ethical and sustainability criteria.

Governance

• Act as Company Secretary and secretary to the Board.
• Ensure compliance with Charity Commission and Companies House requirements, reporting as necessary.
• Oversee the development of a risk register and regular reviews, with an appropriate culture developed to manage risk.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Required Skills and Experience:

The ideal candidate would have the following experience and qualities:

• Relevant technical and accountancy skills and qualifications; ideally a qualified accountant, ACA or equivalent, with experience of charitable activities.
• Relevant HR skills and experience.
• Broad IT knowledge.
• Good understanding of charity governance and compliance.
• 5+ years of leadership experience.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to provide sound, financial and HR advice.
• A high level of proficiency in building financial models.
• Experience in leading operational improvement processes.
• A self-starter who can manage projects end-to-end.
• Outstanding organisational skills and clear communication.
• Great people skills and the ability to build trusted relationships.

You will be able to show the following qualities:

• A bold and open mind — you will be prepared to think differently about issues.
• A level head — you will be comfortable working both reactively and proactively.
• A sense of humour — we believe work should be fun and that we all perform at our very best when we enjoy what we do.
• Leadership — you enjoy leading teams and developing individuals to expand their skill sets.
• Creativity — you will come at issues from new and unusual angles and be prepared to work hard on finding fresh and surprising angles.
• Resilience — you will be prepared to keep going or as our values say, set back won't set you back.
• Flexibility and adaptability — you will thrive in an organisation that moves quickly.
• A passion for our mission.

Skills / experience (desired):

• Experience in working with young people is welcomed but not essential.
• Experience as a Company Secretary.
• CIPD qualification, level 5 or above.