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Finance Manager

Employer
Inspire!
Location
Hackney, London
Salary
£32,000-£38,000 pro rata
Closing date
26 Feb 2020

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Finance Manager

Hours: 25-30 hours per week (flexible working or compressed hours available)

Salary: £32,000-38,000 pro rata

Pension: 5% employer’s contribution

Annual leave: 28 days plus bank holidays (pro rata)

Employment term: Permanent

Reporting to: Chief Executive

Location: Hackney, London

Background

All young people should have a fair chance to succeed. Inspire’s mission is to deliver high-impact services driven by local need, helping all young people to believe and achieve.

Our mission is to create opportunities for all young people in Hackney and beyond, to find their talents and thrive. Founded in 2004, we open doors for those aged 3-24 in Hackney and beyond, through a range of programmes helping them to raise their aspirations and achievement levels.

With a team of 35 staff and turnover of £1.2m per annum, we work with 42 schools across Hackney, Camden and Islington, supporting 16,000 young people each year with over 2,000 volunteers and a huge network of employers. In 2014 we established our independent school Inspired Directions, which offers alternative provision for learners whose needs cannot be met within mainstream education.

About the team

Our team is a diverse, passionate and talented group of individuals who are:

Committed – dedicated to our work and cause

Caring – believing all young people deserve to be heard and supported

Collaborative – building networks and partnerships to help us achieve our goals

Excellent – delivering high-quality programmes

Creative – innovating to meet the needs of young people

Impactful – making a practical difference to young people’s lives

About the role  

We have an opening for an enthusiastic and talented Finance Manager to join our team. As the organisation’s day-to-day finance professional, you will ensure that financial planning, controls & compliance, record-keeping and reporting are co-ordinated and delivered to the highest standard.

You will play a crucial role within the organisation, ensuring our financial compliance to satisfy the requirements of funders and auditors, along with the preparation of financial information for the Board of Trustees and our school’s Board of Governors. 

This role would suit an ambitious, fully qualified accountant (e.g. CA/ ACA/ ACCA) or Level 4 AAT qualified finance professional looking for an opportunity to lead on finances within an organisation that is making real social change. You should have a minimum of 3 years’ finance experience, preferably within the public or charity sectors.

Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults in our care, taking every reasonable step to ensure they are protected where our staff and associates are involved in the delivery of our work. As an employer, we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment; and as such an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check will be required and safeguarding training will be provided for the successful candidate.

Responsibilities Working within our central team, you will manage the organisation’s finances. Key activities will include:

Financial monitoring and reporting

  • Ensure our finances are managed effectively, in compliance with relevant financial regulations and funders’ specifications
  • Delegate some finance tasks to our Administrative Officer
  • Work with the Chief Executive and Head of Income Generation, alongside budget holders, to prepare and set annual and long-term budgets including revised estimates. Identify future changes in funding levels and expenditure needs
  • Produce monthly management accounts (profit & loss, balance sheet and cashflow) and regular forecasts of financial performance against budget for the current financial year
  • Hold monthly financial monitoring meetings with the Chief Executive, providing information about changes to income and expenditure
  • Prepare monthly management reports to feed in to Senior Leadership Team meetings and quarterly trustee meetings
  • Monitor all transaction activity and conduct regular spot-checks on transactions
  • Raise and distribute invoices and liaise with creditors for timely payment
  • Process a monthly payment run for suppliers
  • Monitor and update all relevant financial policies and processes, including the Financial Procedures Manual
  • Maintain our organisational finance risk assessment
  • Support the roll out of timesheets across the team
  • Work with the Head of Income Generation to review our pricing
  • Provide financial information for our portfolio analysis, giving a steer on which projects are gaining full cost recovery and which need further review
  • Ensure effective payroll systems for staff, liaising with our external payroll agency to ensure accurate and timely completion each month

Audit and year end

  • Prepare year end accounts, including securing appropriate arrangements for annual financial audits and liaising with auditors
  • Submit our annual returns to the Charity Commission and Companies House

Record keeping

  • Ensure proper accounting records are kept, and control exercised over accounting arrangements, including:
  • Income received
  • Purchasing and payments made
  • Petty cash
  • Returns of financial information to the Charity Commission, funders and other bodies
  • VAT and taxation
  • Pension scheme requirements
  • Control of debtors and creditors

Other

  • Attend Trustee meetings to provide an update on finances. Help to prepare trustee papers relating to finances, and record and follow up on actions from the meetings
  • Provide verbal and written reports as required by the Chief Executive, Head of Income Generation and the Board of Trustees
  • Carry out any other duties that may reasonably be requested by the Chief Executive, in line with the purpose and level of the post
  • Follow Inspire’s performance management framework, take part in reviews and appraisals, and take up opportunities for continuing personal development
  • Attend and contribute to team meetings

Working at Inspire

You will be based in our lively office in Dalston, in the heart of the community we serve. Our annual leave allocation is 28 days in addition to bank holidays.

You will have access to our employee assistance programme, Perkbox. It offers a host of free services such as a learning platform, phone counselling and financial advice, weekly cinema tickets and discounts for many high street products and services.

You will be encouraged to volunteer on our primary and secondary programmes, supporting young people to believe and achieve. You will work with your line manager to produce a personal development plan to ensure you are learning and developing within your role.

Person specification

Essential

  • Educated to degree level or equivalent
  • Professional qualification in accountancy/ finance (e.g. AAT Level 4, CA/ ACA/ ACCA)
  • Extensive experience of using and maintaining accounting software, particularly the QuickBooks Online Accounting package
  • Significant experience of preparing and developing budgets and managing cashflow
  • Experience of preparing management accounts and end of year accounts
  • Experience of managing internal and external audits
  • Experience of contributing to the efficient running of a busy office
  • Knowledge of SORP, charity law and VAT
  • Strong skills in financial analysis and risk management
  • Excellent IT, literacy and numeracy skills
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Highly organised and excellent administration skills
  • Ability to prioritise workloads and meet deadlines
  • Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work with different teams
  • Demonstrable commitment to the aims, purpose and values of Inspire
  • Commitment to learning and development
  • Enthusiastic and self-motivated, with a ‘can do’ attitude and ability to motivate others to achieve results

Desirable

  • Experience of working in a diverse education or community setting
  • Experience of the charity sector
  • Ability to build and sustain positive and professional relationships with stakeholders

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