Head of Finance & Operations, Europe

mothers2mothers (m2m) is an international NGO founded in Cape Town, South Africa in 2001. m2m employs and trains HIV-positive women to deliver health services, advice, and support to women and their families at health facilities and in local communities. From an initial focus on eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV, m2m has expanded into five related areas to deliver benefits for women and their families at all stages of life. As well as a continued focus on HIV-prevention and education, m2m’s services now also include early childhood development, paediatric care and support, and adolescent mentoring.

m2m’s European office, based in London, is currently looking for a part-time (60% FTE) Head of Finance & Operations, Europe, initially on a one year contract with the potential to become permanent. The Head of Finance & Operations, Europe, is responsible for managing and overseeing the finance function of the European office as well as the operational management of the office, its infrastructure, systems and processes. They are also responsible for managing and overseeing the HR function and for reviewing the legal risks affecting the organisation. This role currently manages two staff members, and provides strategic input and support to senior management to ensure that controls are properly implemented and managed, resources are allocated within budgetary constraints and that the financial records are in accordance with related policies and legislative requirements.

The ideal candidate will be a fully qualified accountant (eg ACA, ACCA, CIMA) with at least 5 years post qualification accounting experience. They will have at least 3 years’ experience working in a similar managerial/leadership role with significant charity/Not for Profit accounting experience and good working knowledge of UK charity and regulatory bodies and good governance standards (Charity Commission, Companies House, etc).

The ideal candidate will need to demonstrate that they are highly organised and adept at managing multiple, concurrent activities and show strong attention to detail. They must be able to work both in a team and independently and to drive forward changes and processes. The candidate will be able to effectively manage people and effect change quickly and to liaise effectively with both internal and external stakeholders. They should also be used to working in a relatively small, fast-paced team.

Key responsibilities include:

• Overseeing the statutory financial accounting and reporting, including the statutory audit

• Being responsible for ensuring the Charity is following appropriate UK tax, accounting and other appropriate legislation, and appropriate filings are being undertaken

• Overseeing the management accounting function, including preparing key financial reports for wider distribution and liaising with senior management and Trustees thereon

• Providing strategic input into the development of future strategic plans for resource mobilisation

• Monitoring and reviewing key risks affecting the Charity

• Reviewing appropriate legal and other contracts with the Charity in conjunction with the wider Grants & Compliance function

• Developing systems to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of operational processes 

• Ensuring adherence to key financial controls and leading the implementation of improvements, where appropriate

• Responsibility for governance processes including preparing Board papers and presenting financial, governance and operational information for review and discussion by the Board of Trustees at regular Trustee meetings, as well as managing the Trustee induction and recruitment process

• Overseeing the HR function and liaising with the wider organisation’s HR department, including monitoring and ensuring adherence to UK legislative requirements with respect to UK employees such as workplace pensions/auto enrolment

• Supporting the Charity’s Director with regards to reviewing financial information and commenting on appropriate trends/RoIs etc for global fundraising and supporting to create useful financial metrics to do so 

• Leading in managing the financial and operational processes of other smaller, affiliated European entities and the possible set-up of additional charitable entities within Europe

• Playing an active role in the management of the European office, alongside other senior managers

• Managing and supervising two members of staff.