Role Purpose

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced finance professional to join the team at Access – The Foundations for Social Investment at a critical stage of our work. With a refreshed strategy, expanded team and extended life we are looking for someone to manage the day-to-day delivery of an effective and efficient finance and operations function, including accounting, payments, treasury and supporting aspects of governance and operations. This role will also provide vital support to the Director of Finance and Operations.

About Access

We want to see a social investment ecosystem that works for all charities and social enterprises.

Through our programmes and our advocacy work, we ensure that charities and social enterprises can access the finance they need to sustain or grow their impact.

We target those most in need of patient and flexible investment through:

·       Funding enterprise development and blended finance programmes in England.

·       Sharing knowledge and data and translating it into practical insight that others can use.

·       Mobilising others who share our goal of making capital work for communities.

Since 2015 Access has been tasked with distributing over £160m from the Dormant Assets scheme, Government and the National Lottery Community Fund. As a wholesaler we work with several dozen partners to deliver programmes around England, including social investment funds, social enterprise support organisations, network organisations, and grant management bodies. We expect to make grants of over £30m this year.

We are a relatively small but collaborative and dedicated team of 13.

Main responsibilities include:

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT (guide c.50%)

·       Through reviewing the work of the Business Support Officer, ensure that financial records are up to date and accurate.

·       Work with the Business Support Officer to execute payments, invoicing, bookkeeping and banking activities.

·       Review monthly bank reconciliations and undertake monthly balance sheet reconciliations, ensuring that transactions are complete on our accounting system.

·       Prepare timely and accurate financial reports, analysis and projections to allow strategic and operational decision making, including monthly management accounts, budgets, forecasts and reports on activity to funders and partners.

·       Maximise the efficient use of the finance system (Twinfield) and look for ways to improve efficiency and automation.

·       Ensure that appropriate financial controls are in place and are being followed in order to comply with financial regulations and internal policies.

·       Assist with external audit queries and preparation of annual financial statements.

·       Work together with the outsourced payroll provider to ensure monthly payroll is accurate and prepare relevant payments for review by the Director of Finance and Operations to HMRC and pension providers.

PROGRAMME SUPPORT (guide c.5%)

·     Work closely with the programmes team to understand Access programmes and provide financial information as and when requested.

·     Manage the grant drawdown process across the Access programmes, in conjunction with the Programme Managers.

·     Reconcile the information between programme team and finance team databases to ensure they agree, investigate discrepancies and seek opportunities to automate the flow of information between them.

TREASURY MANAGEMENT (guide c.10%)

·       Review deposit options among our social banks to provide an optimal balance of liquid cash and return.

·       Manage cash and investment drawdowns to meet the cashflow requirements of Access’s programmes.

·       Support the Director of Finance and Operations in managing the relationship with Access’s asset manager for our endowment.

OPERATIONS, PEOPLE AND GOVERNANCE (guide c.25%)

·       Support the Director of Finance and Operations with the delivery of the team’s objectives.

·       Manage the provision of IT support and onboarding and offboarding processes for new joiners and leavers across the organisation.

·       Assist the Director of Finance and Operations with managing the workplace pension scheme and other benefit schemes.

·       Assist the Director of Finance and Operations with the resolution of HR matters, as and when needed.

·       Keep the organisation’s HR database up to date, and work with the external provider to resolve queries / ensure up to date software is in place.

·       Work with the external provider to ensure that Access’s policies reflect latest legislation and keep policies up to date.

·       Support the implementation of new systems and processes to improve operational workflows, with a dedication to continuous improvement.

·       Understand the programmatic work via the building of strong relationships across Access to be able to provide support to other areas of the business.

·       Support the Director of Finance and Operations in managing the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee (ARCC), Endowment Investment Committee (EIC) and Board including preparation of papers, timetabling and minute taking or reviewing together with the Business Support Officer.

·       Management of the office space, working closely with Access’s landlord, Better Society Capital.

LINE MANAGEMENT (guide c.10%)

·       Line management responsibility for the Business Support Officer, including regular 1-2-1’s, performance reviews and ongoing professional development.

·       Learning and being able to cover all of the tasks undertaken by the Business Support Officer so that they can provide cover at times of absence.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The key skills, experience and personal attributes we are looking for include:

Essential

·       Part-qualified ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent.

·       Strong understanding of financial and accounting principles within the not-for-profit sector.

·       Knowledge of statutory, legal requirements and governance principles relating to charitable organisations.

·       Ability to understand the broader business context and how finance supports strategic goals.

·       Experience of working at a similar level, demonstrating involvement in setting policy, processes and controls and in providing professional expertise, advice, and guidance. 

·       Strong people management skills and a demonstrated professional interest in being a line manager, leader, role model and in coaching others.

·       Proven ability to work on own initiative, prioritise competing demands and have excellent time management skills.

·       Ability to work cross-functionally with others at Access internally and external stakeholders.

·       Exceptional attention to detail and taking pride in your work.

·       Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills to interpret complex data.

·       Ability to convey financial information to non-financial stakeholders.

·       Strong IT skills including MS Office Suite and accounting packages.

·       Strong inter-personal skills to communicate clearly and effectively at all levels (both internally and externally), with excellent written and literacy skills.

·       To encourage a culture of continual improvement within finance and operations and undertake improvement projects as and when needed.

·       A committed team player who happily goes the extra mile.

Desirable

·       Knowledge of social finance and the ecosystem.

·       Experience of having worked in a grant making organisation.

·       Strong systems experience, in particular implementation of CRM / grants management database.

·       Experience of having undertaken HR role or assisted with HR matters in past.

Please note that no prior knowledge of social finance or experience of having used Twinfield (our accounting system) is required to apply for this role. It would be advantageous but is not essential.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND BENEFITS

Terms & conditions

·       This role attracts a salary of £44,385, based on 0.8 FTE

·       Probationary period six months

·       Notice period three months (on completion of probationary period)

Benefits

·       28 days annual leave per annum in addition to bank holidays (pro-rata for part-time employees)

·       Contributory pension (employer contribution of 8% dependent on 4% contribution from employee via salary sacrifice)

·       Income protection and life insurance

·       Personal mobile phone usage and working from home allowances

·       Enhanced occupational maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave policies

·       Cycle to work and travel loans available

Other benefits

·       Bright, modern office in central London location

·       Opportunity to allocate five working days per annum to volunteering

·       Opportunity to attend conferences and events within the social investment ecosystem.

·       Opportunity to take a 3 month unpaid sabbatical after 5 years of service

·       Up to 5 days of study leave (pro rata), where the studies are relevant to the individual’s role at Access and in line with inidividual’s development goals

·       Sponsorship of professional membership fees where relevant to the employee’s specific role at Access

The role is based in Access’s offices in central London with some dedicated time together as a team each week (currently Tuesdays). Outside of this shared time, Access anticipates a significant degree of day-to-day flexibility in terms of where team members will work, depending on both personal preference and the needs of their role.