Finance Director
Bath or Exeter
£50,000

When snow hit the South West in February of this year, you’d be forgiven for turning up the central heating, reaching for a blanket or two and shutting out the cold.

But as temperatures in Bath dipped below zero and the bitter wind swept in, the team in our Manvers Street hostel had other things on their mind. Providing emergency shelter for every rough sleeper in the city was their only priority.

It’s this commitment to helping the most marginalised in society, that makes Julian House the charity that it is today. Whether it be homelessness, mental health problems, substance abuse or a combination of them all, our passionate team provide housing and support around the clock to those most in need.

At 150 staff we’re proud to be exceeding even our own expectations. In a few short years Julian House has grown out to provide services in Counties throughout South West England. This good work is getting noticed. We’re earning the trust of our clients and building a name for ourselves in the process.

The opportunity

Helene, our Finance Director, is retiring. She’s been with us since 2012. Whilst we couldn’t be happier for her, she takes with her much knowledge and experience.

As a result we’re planning for an extensive handover to you, our new Finance Director. We want you to be ready and feel prepared. We won’t set you up to fail.

You’re going to join an established management team which is led by Peter, our Chief Executive. Under Peter’s guidance we’ve seen growth in revenues, staff numbers, services and geographical reach.

Against this positive backdrop you’re going to help shape the strategic financial plan. You’ll turn monthly reports and forecasts into meaningful financial data. Data which can be easily understood by the management team and board of trustees, so we all know how we are performing.

So, in the first 90 days you’re going to spend most of your time in two areas. Firstly, getting to know our charity and key priorities. Secondly, building the team you need around you to help us all achieve our aims. Within 12 months you’ll know you have been successful when:

• Business-as-usual activities - things like delivering timely accounts, forecasting and day-to-day transactional finance activities - are running like clockwork;
• You’ve developed a suite of financial KPIs, which are helping the management team and trustees to better understand our performance and deliver best value;
• You’re bringing strong financial insight to the tendering process and as a result, helping us drive our ambitious growth strategy.

Who you are

You’re a qualified accountant in a hands-on financial management role - that means taking care of things like preparing monthly management accounts, annual accounts, managing Housing Benefit income, some forecasting and taking care of payroll.

You’ve got overall responsibility for the accounting in your organisation. You might have a small team helping you take care of the transactional finance activities. But you own the financial plan and you’re delivering against it.

You’re the one in the team who has experience of external auditing. You understand the reporting requirements in a regulated industry, which may include the Charity Commission or FCA.

If you’re already doing this in a setting where you support, or present to a trustee board then you’re likely to have a great head start.

What we’re offering

We offer a competitive starting salary which will grow as the organisation grows, and benefits which include a generous pension scheme and leave entitlement, healthcare benefits and flexible working.

Money and benefits aside, there are plenty of other things we can promise you.

Autonomy is one of them. You won’t be micro-managed. We might ask some tough questions. But we don’t pick apart everything you do.

Recognition of a job well-done is another. When people succeed, we make sure everyone in our charity knows about it.

Plus, there’s the opportunity to play a key part in the growth of one of the South West’s most exciting charities.

Sound appealing? Then we are likely to be a good fit.

Apply now!

Please include a cover letter for the position, as the first page of your CV document.

Interviews due to take place in early September.