Senior Finance Officer

Growing Hope Senior Finance Officer
Location: Hybrid working (2-3 days office based in King’s Cross Mon, Thurs and possibly Fri)
Hours: 37.5 (full time)
Salary: £34,200 - £37,200PA (including London weighting, specialist officer role).

Growing Hope is a charity providing free therapy for children and young people with additional needs in partnership with local churches across the UK. We aim to grow hope for children, hope for families and hope in Jesus. Growing Hope was founded in December 2017 and has a vision to see 20 clinics set up across the UK by 2030. We have three clinics, King’s Cross, Brockley and High Wycombe, and we are currently setting up our fourth and fifth clinics in Maidstone and Redbridge. We worked with over 500 children, young people, parents, carers and siblings in 2023. As a national charity Growing Hope has trained over 1,000 professionals & parents. We are continuing to expand, with the set-up of further local clinics on the horizon.

We are seeking an experienced and enthusiastic finance professional with great attention to detail, strong analytical skills and an ability to work in a fast pace environment. The role will report to the Director of Operations and will involve running book keeping, reporting and banking functions as well as overseeing payroll. This role supports the national Growing Hope charity and each of the local charities’ (clinics) accounting for around £1 million collectively each year. You will be joining a small and dedicated national team of eleven.

Job Purpose
Growing Hope requires an experienced finance professional (with part qualifications) who will be responsible for the delivery of internal financial management systems and controls, and for maintaining accurate financial management records, including managing the process of producing annual accounts. This role covers both the national charity and the local Growing Hope charities which are growing across the UK. The national charity raises around £600,000 per year and the local charities around £50,000-£100,000. The Senior Finance Officer will support the charities with day to day book keeping, raising invoices, paying expenses, scheduling payroll payments and running management reports and accounts. This job role also involves advising on budgets for fundraising project proposals and working closely with the supporter engagement team. This individual will be able to communicate effectively with all the relevant parties including the national Growing Hope team, the local Clinic Managers, and local finance trustees who have overall governance of each charity’s finances.

Main Duties and Responsibilities
Duties and responsibilities will be discussed and developed as the charity continues to grow.

Book keeping & Finance processes

• Processing of accounts using Quickbooks for each Growing Hope charity in a timely manner (currently 6 small charities)
• Paying expenses and invoices as and when these are approved.
• Liaising with payroll provider and scheduling salary payments for all staff each month.
• Invoicing local Growing Hope charities each month for book keeping, payroll and quickbooks.
• Running gift aid claims and supporting volunteers to run this across the Growing Hope charities.
• Liaising with local clinics and churches to agree payment schedules and giving for each financial year.
• Participate actively in prayer and worship times as part of the team. This includes praying, coaching and supporting Clinic Managers to understand their budgets and financial processes.

Fundraising

• Contributing to the fundraising strategy and development of budgets for fundraising projects.
• Contributing to the wider teams fundraising efforts through networking, and involvement in fundraising and community events.

Reporting

• Updating monthly forecast vs. budget spreadsheets for each local charity and the national charity.
• Leading monthly budget reporting meetings for Senior Leadership Team and Chair of Trustees, using analytical skills to highlight patterns or potential risks or problems arising.
• Create annual reports in partnership with the Clinic Managers and Finance trustee for each local charity and ensure these are independently examined by recruiting and liaising with volunteer accountants.

Payroll

• Liaising with the payroll provider to run payroll for all staff across the Growing Hope charities each month.
• Setting up and running pension payments each month.
• Paying NI payments each month.

General administration

• Set up bank accounts and signatories for local Growing Hope charities, support the local trustees with ensuring all financial processes are set up and working (e.g. bank account, Stripe, Quickbooks, payroll, pensions, HMRC)
• Sending letters and emails as required.
• Maintain data protection and confidentiality in line with Growing Hope’s information governance policy.
• Ensure adherence to Safeguarding and wider Growing Hope policies.

Person Specification

The ideal candidate will have a genuine interest in working in the charity sector, an interest in additional needs and inclusion are highly desirable.

ESSENTIAL

• Occupational Requirement - This role has an Occupational Requirement to be a Christian, as permitted under Schedule 9, Part 1, of the Equality Act 2010.
• ATT certifications (or equivalent)
• At least three years experience as a finance professional
• Commitment to Growing Hope’s vision
• IT skills – experience of MS Office, particularly Word and Excel
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team, as the task requires
• Excellent knowledge of financial management and budgets
• Strong ability to manage multiple priorities and tasks in a fast paced environment

DESIRABLE

• Excellent knowledge of QuickBooks
• Accounting qualification
• Experience, interest in or commitment to a career in additional needs and inclusion
• Interest in or experience of working inthe charity/NGO sector