The B Corp Movement

B Lab UK is the home of the B Corp movement, a community of over 1,500 UK businesses who meet high standards of social and environmental performance, legal accountability, and transparency. Some B Corps you might have heard of include Innocent Drinks, Patagonia, Tony’s Chocolonely, Finisterre, Jude’s Ice Cream and WeTransfer. Our goal is to transform our economy so that all businesses can be a force for good - and we’re looking for people who can help us get there.

The role:

With the growth in demand from businesses to join the B Corp movement, this is an exciting time for an outstanding and motivated person to support the Director of Finance & Operations in B Lab UK’s growth and development.

 Tasks and responsibilities include: 

• Support the Director of Finance & Operations, and Leadership Team, in financial planning :

  • Lead and coordinate the preparation of the annual budget, mid-year forecast and other financial plans, as appropriate;

  • Financial modelling to test planning and budgeting scenarios, pricing and income, and ad-hoc initiatives including new programmes.

• Oversee our outsourced accounting service to ensure records are accurate and processes are compliant with our financial policies. Move our financial activities to another outsource provider that meets B Lab UK’s growing, more sophisticated, needs.

• Ensure monthly management accounts produced by the service are accurate, analyse and produce monthly and quarterly narrative reports for budget-holders. Undertake financial analysis that enables informed decisions at strategic and operational levels.

• Manage staff, and in line with best practice, supervise, motivate and appraise, coach and support their development.

• Ensure compliance with relevant statutory requirements including Charity and Company Law and HMRC regulations, sign-off returns such as VAT, Corporation Tax and Payroll.

• Develop and update appropriate financial procedures and controls.

• Liaise with B Lab Global on financial matters that impact B Lab UK.

• Ensure new initiatives are planned and carried out in the most tax effective way, considering other organisational objectives and benefits.

• Manage the annual audit, overseeing the process, liaising with auditors, preparing audit packs, and finalising statutory accounts under the Charity SORP.

• Present financial information to non-finance stakeholders, at all levels within B Lab UK.

• Lead, assist with and/or contribute to Team activities and projects as required.

 Skills, Knowledge and Experience  

Essential

• Qualified accountant, preferably ACMA or ACCA

• Demonstrable experience of developing and establishing financial controls and processes

• Demonstrable experience in producing management accounts and reports

• Demonstrable experience in budget and forecast preparation

• Advanced spreadsheet skills, including experience of building models, perform data and sensitivity analysis for business planning and decision making.

• A good understanding of:

  • the legal requirements for statutory accounts especially as related to charities,

  • VAT and tax principles related to charities (or other mixed rate)

• Staff management

• Ability to manage projects effectively

• Proven organisational skills, including coordinating workloads and prioritising to meet competing deadlines.

• Great attention to detail and accuracy

• Good problem-solving skills

• Adaptable and comfortable working in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.

Desirable

• Experience of preparing charity statutory accounts

• Experience of overseeing outsourced accounting services

• Experience of financial system specification, evaluation and implementation

Person Specification

• Passionate about the role that business can play in creating the future that benefits all people and the planet.

• Integrity, professionalism and perseverance

• Analytical, with a commercial mindset

• Strong verbal and written communication skills. Able to demonstrate a professional manner remotely and face to face

• Collaborative, with excellent interpersonal skills

• Proactive, organised and highly self-motivated.

• Responds flexibly to changing needs, whilst maintaining appropriate financial controls.

• Ability to maintain confidentiality and deal with commercially sensitive information

• Committed to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion

• Eligible to work in the UK (we do not have a sponsorship licence and therefore are not able to provide visa sponsorship)

(B Lab UK has a transparent pay framework, roles are graded against the pay framework and therefore, B lab UK will only offer salaries within the advertised pay bands)

Benefits:

• Opportunity for Flexible working 3 to 5 days per week

• Hybrid working

• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays (pro rata for part-time staff)

• Our office is closed between Christmas and New Year, no need to take extra holiday!

• 1 additional annual leave day (pro-rata for part-time staff) for each complete calendar year of service, up to a maximum of 30 days

• Private Medical and Dental cover

• £200 tax free Annual Wellbeing allowance and Employee Assistance Programme

• 2 paid volunteer days per year

• Enhanced Parental Leave and family friendly policies

• Carers leave policy

• Learning and Development opportunities

• Enhanced Pension and Life Assurance

• Cycle to Work Scheme

• Income Protection policy

How to apply:

B Lab believes an equitable and inclusive work environment and a diverse, empowered team are key to achieving our mission. We’re not looking for candidates who are “culture fits.” We’re looking for candidates who can expand our culture and challenge business as usual. We strive to foster an environment where all staff can bring their whole selves to work, by their own definition, and we strive to provide all candidates with an equitable and accessible recruitment process. If we can offer accommodations for you in the recruitment process, or if you have feedback on how to make our recruiting more equitable or accessible, please contact us at hiring@bcorporation.uk.

Recruitment Process

We use a blind recruitment process, to avoid biased screening, where the initial selection is based on answers to predefined questions and an anonymised CV review which are scored by a panel against predefined criteria for the role.

N.B. Due to the anonymised scoring process, the scoring panel does not see the applicant's CVs or any other information about them (until interview stage), so you should ensure your answers to the questions are specific and give real examples of what you have done to demonstrate your experience and skills that are required for the role.

All candidates will be contacted after the initial screening process. The short-listing process will consist of at least 2 panel interviews. Candidates may be asked to prepare and present a task. Interviews will likely to be remote, and one conversational in-person interview.