We’re hiring a Finance Lead

(Equivalent to Finance Manager / Management Accountant)

We have an exciting opportunity for a qualified/ part-qualified finance professional to join the Library of Things team and lead our financial management and reporting.

You’ll join an agile, 20-person team with a values-led culture and a bold mission — to make borrowing better than buying for people and planet (more affordable, convenient, and socially rewarding).

Who are we looking for?

We’re looking for someone who loves getting into the detail of numbers, but who can also step back and show how finance connects to the bigger picture. Your insights will guide how we use our limited resources to grow sustainably and create impact.

What matters most is that you:

• Balance best practice with pragmatism: We're a small but growing organisation with evolving systems — we’re looking for someone who can bring structure while being comfortable with 'good enough' when needed.
• Have entrepreneurial energy: Finance may be traditionally 'back office', but at Library of Things everyone plays a hands-on role in making borrowing better than buying.
• Communicate clearly: You’ll help make financial information accessible to the whole team, enabling better decisions.
• Offer constructive challenge: You’ll bring a clear-eyed view of how we’re allocating resources — and where we could improve.

We welcome candidates with non-traditional career paths and value flexibility. We already operate 9-day fortnights, and we’re open to shaping the role around your needs. We strongly encourage applications from people from marginalised communities. Representation and lived experience matter to us.

What’s the offer?

Time input: 20 hours a week with flexibility about how this is spread across the week (e.g. shorter working days to fit around childcare or other caring commitments)

Location: Open to Hybrid (London &/or Bristol) or Remote candidates

Salary: £39,875 - £44,000 (£19,938 - £22,000 pro rata) depending on experience

Team & Culture: We are a team of ~20 in total. This would be the only internal finance role, supported by an external accountancy company for bookkeeping, tax and compliance.

You’ll be joining and building on strong foundations like our award-winning culture, created by three women co-founders, and centred on principles like transparency, autonomy and joy. Get a flavour of this by reading our team reviews here.

Key roles & responsibilities

Financial Management and Reporting:

• End-to-end month-end process including producing monthly financial insight reports, monthly/ quarterly management accounts and exception reporting for the team with insights to help drive decisions
• Assisting with funding applications and reporting as required (mixture of grant, public and private funding)
• Preparing short to medium term cashflow forecasts to ensure visibility over cash headroom and runway
• Working with external accountants to prepare year-end accounts, corporation tax return and R&D tax claim

Transactional Processing:

• Staying on top of where the organisation is spending its money, and ensure bills are paid on time:
• Work with external bookkeeper to ensure financial records are kept up-to-date and categorised, to be able to gather insights
• Ensure all accounts are regularly reconciled
• Working with relevant team members to raise sales invoices, credit notes and expenses, ensuring they’re paid on time

Skills and Competencies

• Qualified or part-qualified: CA, ACA, ACCA, CIMA or similar qualification
• Entrepreneurial – happy to roll up your sleeves, organise your priorities, and be self- and peer-led
• Clear communication and strong listening skills – able to work with team members who are not financial experts, and support robust decision-making
• Strong attention to detail with an ability to analyse and interpret financial and non-financial data – simply presenting complex information for others
• Proficient in using financial software and systems, particularly Xero and Soldo, plus Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel for data analysis

Potential areas for role growth

In time, there may be options to lead on or support with the following:

• Develop in to our Finance Director
• Lead on Impact measurement, reporting and storytelling
• Business modelling for strategic partners and investors, plus informing wider pipeline strategy
• Facilitating and iterating our ‘Fair Exchange’ process – our team salary-setting process that is self-led and peer-reviewed by employees and co-directors

Desired knowledge & experience

Essential:

• Minimum 1+ years of experience using Xero for bookkeeping, VAT returns, and report production.
• Familiarity with standard accounting practices and principles.
• Experience in performing month-end processes and reconciliations.
• Track record of effectively managing a virtual card system (e.g. Soldo, Pleo), accounts payable and accounts receivable
• Experience in educating and assisting non-financial team members in understanding financial systems

Desirable:

• Experience in working within a fast-moving organisation with a clear social purpose
• Hands-on experience with grant applications and reporting
• Proven ability in identifying and implementing improvements in financial systems, including cross-team collaboration

Want to learn more?

Think this is interesting and want to explore it with us?

👉 APPLY HERE

📅 Deadline: The application deadline is 6pm on Monday 1st September 2025

We’ll review your application and be in touch about arranging a time to discuss your application further when we can also share more info about:

• the current financial setup & background to this role
• our growth plans & current initiatives underway
• the team & our culture

Not sure if you fit all the criteria? Don’t let that stop you!

Want to share it? We’d love you to. Pass it on via WhatsApp or email, and help us find the best person possible for the mission 🙏

Who are we?

Library of Things is an award-winning organisation on a mission to make borrowing better than buying for people and planet.

We first started testing item sharing in communities back in 2014 and helped kickstart a global movement. There are now 2000+ sharing libraries across Europe. Our aim ever since has been to make sharing libraries accessible, convenient, impactful, viable and repeatable – to help people save money, reduce waste, and build resilient communities.