Job Title: Finance Officer

Location:  London, UK. Office-based role, one day per week working from home

Reporting to: Head of Finance (Geneva based)

Job Status: Permanent, full-time role

Salary: circa 46,000 GBP 

About Oak:
Oak Foundation (oakfnd.org) commits its resources to address issues of global, social, and environmental concern, particularly those that have a major impact on the lives of the disadvantaged. With offices in Europe, Africa, India, and North America, we make grants to organisations in approximately 40 countries worldwide.

Background:
Oak Foundation is recruiting a dynamic finance officer to join its finance team. In collaboration with our programme staff, the finance officer will perform financial due diligence on grant applications submitted by our not-for-profit partners and monitor the finance reports of existing projects. In addition, the finance officer will be responsible for the financial management of assigned Oak offices – initially the UK office. We are looking for someone who easily adapts to changing requirements, who can be a business partner to local programme colleagues while being a member of a global finance teamand who can lead initiatives to improve and standardise our processes.

Main responsibilities include:

1)       Financial due diligence of grants:

o   Uses technical financial expertise to provide input and recommendations to programme staff, based on financial review and analysis of grantee applications and reports. This includes:

§  assessing the level of financial risk associated with grants within the organisation’s risk management framework;

§  examining and analysing accounting records, financial statements, and other financial reports of grantee organisations to develop an understanding of, and document trends, costs, revenues, and financial commitments and obligations;

§  collaborating with programme staff on all financial aspects of grant applications and progress reports, including providing subject matter expertise on elements of financial due diligence carried out by programme staff (e.g., budget reviews, cost analyses, and reliance);

§  identifying and documenting financial issues associated with grant applications and following up with programme officers and grantees, including jointly developing risk mitigation plans.

o   Carries out compliance checks.

o   Provides input on the financial capacity building of grantees.

o   Sets standards for financial reviews, including documenting, categorising and analysing issues, and developing consistent approaches, to ensure the harmonisation of approaches within the finance team.

o   Participates in the ongoing process of improving the foundation’s financial due diligence practices.

o   Acts as focal point to a number of programmes to ensure that programme staff have a point of reference within the finance team.

o   Supervises more extensive assessments of grantees carried out by external consultants.

o   Provides analysis related to grant-making.

2)       Financial management:

o   Manages or provides back-up to the management of the budgeting, accounting and financial reporting of assigned Oak offices. This includes supervising the work of local book-keepers, liaising with and monitoring the work of the local accounting firm, recording closing adjustments, preparing budgets and reports, and analysing variances.

o   Makes sure that all compliance requirements related to assigned Oak offices are met and that proper filings are done in a timely manner.

o   Liaises with auditors regarding queries related to the offices and controls results of the audit.

o   Participates in the development and supports the implementation of business processes and financial system improvements.

o   Provides costing analysis at a more detailed level on demand. 

3)       Other

o   Represents the finance team on internal working groups (e.g., process improvements, system developments, foundation-wide initiatives).

o   Designs, supports, delivers and/or organises financial trainings for Programme Officers.

o   Represents Oak in networks and  communities of practice relevant to operations, finance and administration within the philanthropy sector (e.g., Operations Professionals Network).

o   Undertakes special projects as required.

o   Performs all other relevant duties under the supervision of the head of Finance and tasks as assigned by the head of Finance.

Position requirements:

·       University degree and accountancy qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA etc.).

·       5-7 years of experience.

·       Experience in accounting, financial reporting, and financial analysis.

·       Experience in the management of projects.

·       Experience in a variety of environments and international settings desirable.

·       Experience in the not-for-profit sector a plus.

·       Proven ability to work autonomously as well as within a team.

·       Proven service orientation and ability to build relationships with internal and external partners.

·       Excellent problem-solving, analysis and synthesis skills.

·       Excellent oral and written communication skills.

·       Demonstrated ability to juggle multiple priorities and meet strict deadlines.

·       Ability to remain positive and proactive in the face of seemingly repetitive tasks.

·       Excellent Excel skills, proficient use of other Office tools (e.g., Sharepoint, Powerpoint); knowledge of accounting softwares.

·       Fluent in spoken and written English; French and/or Spanish desirable; other languages a plus.

·       Committed to Oak’s organisational values.

·       Applicants must have the right to work in the UK without visa sponsorship.

How to apply  

Interested candidates should submit their application on the Applied platform by 22 May 2022.  Please note that we will only be contacting shortlisted candidates.  

By submitting your application, you confirm that you have read and understood Oak’s job applicant’s data privacy notice. 

Oak Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, as detailed in our child safeguarding policy. We expect all staff to share this commitment. Please note that the successful candidate will undergo reference checks and be required to provide a police record prior to starting employment.