Finance & Membership Officer - Victoria, United Kingdom - Furniture History Society

Description

Job description

The Furniture History Society (the "Society") is seeking a Finance & Membership Officer (the "Finance Officer") to manage its finances and membership.

The workload is split approximately 50/50 between finance and membership. The post is part-time, paid and you will work from home.


Background

The Society is a membership organisation having approximately 1,000 members divided as to two-thirds in the UK and Ireland and one-third in the rest of the World.

It is constituted as an unincorporated charity governed by a Council (i.e., the charity trustees). The Society is administered on a day-to-day basis by the Treasurer and three unpaid honorary officers.

They are supported by a small group of self-employed contractors each with responsibility for a specific area of activity (e.g., Website Officer, Events Secretary, Finance Officer).

The Society was founded over 50 years ago to study furniture of all periods, places, and kinds, to increase the public's knowledge and appreciation of it, and to assist in the preservation of furniture and its records.

It fulfils these objects by:

publication (including a widely respected journal _Furniture History_, and a quarterly Newsletter); organising a programme of events and tours; educational programmes; and the maintenance of an on-line resource, _British & Irish Furniture-Makers On-line_.

Your duties and responsibilities
The main elements of the Finance Officer's role are to:

• Maintain the accounts of The Society
• Prepare quarterly management accounts for Council
• Prepare an annual budget in conjunction with the Treasurer
• Complete VAT and Gift Aid returns for HMRC
• Liaise with independent examiners the completion of the annual financial statements
• Complete the Charity Commission's annual return
• Maintain membership database and collect subscriptions (about onehalf are paid by Direct Debit)
• Raise institutional invoices and deal with subscription agents
• Deal with membership queries
• In conjunction with the Website Officer and the external web designer, manage the website with particular reference to the membership area
• Advise The Society's printers of the distribution of publications
• Attend meetings (approx. 8 per annum) of the Operations Group consisting of the officers and committee administrators and chaired by the Hon. Treasurer
• Attend meetings of the trustees (four per annum) and its committees (as necessary). Meetings are usually held by Zoom but Council and the Operations Group each meets once or twice a year in person in central London
• Monitor stock of publications and Society's archives in an external storage unit.

Terms and Conditions
The Finance Officer is a self-employed contractor retained on a Contract for Services.

Time commitment:
Three days per week averaged over the year. Commitments necessarily vary from week to week and peak workload is in July.

Remuneration:
Appropriate to experience and qualifications but in the region of £1350 per month. Paid 14 days in arrears against monthly invoices.

Notice:
One month during the Trial Period and three months thereafter.

Trial period:
Three months.

Expenses:

Necessary out-of-pocket expenses will be reimbursed against vouchers and receipts in accordance with the terms of the Society's Guidelines for the reimbursement of expenses.

Place of work:

The Finance & Membership Officer will be based at his/her home and is expected to provide all the necessary office facilities such as PC, printer; broadband access, &c.

without charge.

Mobile telephone & laptop computer:

A mobile telephone and an entry level laptop will be provided for use only in connection with the Society's activities.

The mobile telephone rental and all business calls will be paid for by the Society.


About You
To be successful in this role you will ideally need:

• An accounting and/or finance qualification
• Proven experience of working within a membership organisation
• Experience in financial analysis and forecasting coupled with attention to detail
• Experience in the production and interpretation of financial reports
• Good communication and interpersonal skills to deal with a variety of internal and external stakeholders and the ability to build effective working relationships
• The ability to work independently, accurately, and efficiently with mínimal supervision

**Application Process