Head of Finance - London, United Kingdom - Chefs in Schools

Chefs in Schools

Verified Company

London, United Kingdom

5 days ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Job description

Who we are
Chefs in Schools is a young, ambitious charity that's rapidly growing. Our mission is to improve kids' health, through improving school food & food education.

Working in areas of high deprivation, we support and train schools and their kitchen teams to serve the best, freshest and tastiest food possible, alongside meaningful food education.

We share our learning and resources freely, aiming to inspire and enable others to follow our lead.

We're backed by some of the biggest names in food and have ambitious targets to ensure every child has access to incredible school food and food education, setting them up for life with the skills and knowledge to feed themselves well.

About you and the role

The purpose of this role is to lead on our finance strategy, and ensure all of our systems, reporting and processes are helping to drive forward the charity and deliver on our objectives at scale.

You will work closely with the Chief Executive and Directors to ensure that financial planning is effective and supported by accurate data analysis.

You will report directly to Trustees as required and ensure that the highest standards of transparency and probity are maintained.

You will be joining the team during a period of growth in the size and complexity of our delivery. We currently have 20 employees and anticipate doubling in size within three years.

You will have a crucial role in shaping our systems and processes to ensure we can scale effectively, both our existing programmes and a new membership-based programme that is in development.

We're looking for an experienced finance professional with an interest in effectively using technology and systems to drive efficiency, without compromising on accuracy or compliance.

You will support and mentor the Finance and Office Manager, ensuring that financial administration is carried out proficiently and in line with all legal and regulatory requirements, including ultimate responsibility for ensuring that all statutory filings are made accurately and on time.

Your role will also encompass ensuring that we operate within legal & regulatory frameworks and stay up to date with changes in relevant legislation.

We want to get to know you at the interview and understand we can do this best if you're at ease.

We're an inclusive employer and work hard to create a welcoming working environment for everyone, including appointing a neurodiversity champion to help us identify how we can make our work environment work for everyone.

If you need adjustments to the interview process please let us know.

Key responsibilities:

Developing a comprehensive financial strategy that supports the delivery of the charity's objectives and activities
Reviewing suitability of our current systems: Quickbooks for accountancy, Beacon CRM, PLEO for expenses management, Survey Monkey for data collection etc.
Where necessary, identifying and implementing new software to ensure all systems and processes are robust, user friendly, deliver useful data analysis, integrate and/or improve automation
Working closely with the Director of Transformations to translate the annual activity plan into an accurate organisationallevel budget
Advising the Chief Executive, team and Trustees, ensuring that benefits and risks of decisions are fully considered and fit with the overall financial strategy
Oversee sound financial management and governance across the organisation
Provide leadership and guidance to all things finance related, providing mentoring and support to the team
Accountability for monitoring that the organisation's services are, and will, run to budget, supporting budget holders and reporting promptly on risks
Have ultimate oversight of the external audit and production of the statutory accounts, supported in delivery of this by the Finance & Office Manager
Oversee production of management accounts and bespoke financial reports, including accurate forecasting, incisive analysis and accessible narrative commentary
Support the Development team with financial submissions and other compliance areas (eg advising on and supporting with due diligence processes)
Oversight of finance, governance and basic HR administration, supporting the Finance & Office Manager with high profile or complex queries, seeking specialist advice on financial or compliance matters as required
Ensure the organisation's compliance with charity law, in accordance with the Charity Commission in England & Wales

Skills & experience:

You have interest and belief in our mission, to improve kids' health through improving food and food education in schools
You have full or partial qualification through an accredited accountancy body
You have some experience in a senior finance role (eg Director, Head of, Management Accountant) in any sector, and some experience within a finance function in the 3rd sector (in particular familiarity with the Charity