About the opportunity

Reporting to the CEO, the Director of Finance & Operations will be responsible for leading on all non-frontline areas of operations for the charity, to facilitate the smooth running of the team and programme delivery to meet strategic targets.

Working with your team, this will include long term strategic financial planning, managing regular finances and financial processes, IT, legal and governance functions, running of the office and HR administration.


Place of work: London office: The Dock, Tobacco Quay, Wapping Lane, E1W 2SF.
Hybrid/flexible. The role could be remote, but there is a requirement to be in the London office at least one day a week and in total 6 days a month.

Contract and working hours: Full-time. A full working week is 37.5 hours. 0.9FTE would be considered

Start date: Ideally end of July 2023

Closing date: Monday, 12th June 2023
Interviews: Stage 1 interviews will be held on 21st and 22nd June 2023 and stage 2 interviews will be held on 29th June 2023.

All Action Tutoring staff must have a DBS check. Should you be aware of any incidents, cautions or convictions that would appear on your DBS check, you should notify us with your application.


Duties and responsibilities

· Finance

This role is responsible for financial management and financial control of the organisation: you will work closely with the finance administrator and bookkeeper to produce and monitor monthly management accounts; manage the school invoicing process and monitor school and grant income (including as part of the National Tutoring Programme); support the Philanthropy team with finance reports to funders; develop annual budgets and quarterly forecasts in collaboration with the senior management team and ensure that the charity’s operations continue to be underpinned by a sustainable financial model. You will report to the treasurer and board of trustees on finance matters and prepare the annual accounts and oversee the audit process. Funding and cash management includes managing and forecasting cash, managing payment of supplier and customer accounts and supporting the CEO in fundraising through budget planning, including longer term strategic financial modelling.

· Operations

This role has oversight working with the operations team of operational matters to ensure compliance and smooth running of the organisation; including IT infrastructure, organisational risk management, managing the Data Protection Officer relationship, legal, health and safety and office facilities, including hybrid working and any future office expansion or move. You will develop and lead the implementation of effective, fit-for-purpose processes for the above to enable the organisation to continue growing and reach its strategic goals.

· HR and Payroll

Action Tutoring has a Head of People & Culture who oversees HR. With a staff team of over 70, it will be essential to work closely with the Head of People & Culture to ensure strong HR processes and a healthy team culture are maintained. You will also work with the Head of People & Culture to ensure accuracy for payroll.

· Legal compliance and governance

The role ensures legal compliance of the organisation. You will need to keep abreast of any governance and legislative changes relevant to the charity, including Charity Commission guidance and data protection guidance. You will lead on submissions to Companies House and the Charity Commission and ensure adequate insurance is maintained, plus review contracts and agreements for legal compliance and financial risk. You will plan and prepare paperwork for two board subcommittees — the HR Committee and the Audit, Finance and Risk Committee (two meetings of each committee per year) plus the quarterly board meetings.

· Line management

This role has direct line management responsibility for the Head of People & Culture, the Operations Manager, and the Finance Administrator. You will also with support from your team manage relationships with external support agencies including: the outsourced bookkeeper, IT support company, Data Protection Officer, and HR and employment law consultancy. This role also plays a key part in a number of internal working groups, including leading the GDPR and IT working group and as a member of the inclusion and diversity working group.


Person specification

Qualifications criteria:· Right to work in the UK.· Strong academic qualifications; educated to degree level.· Recognised accountancy qualification (highly desirable).

We are looking for some of the following attributes, though you might be more experienced in some areas than others: · A strong track record in delivering results in a growing environment at management level.· Experience overseeing finances and managing budgets; able to demonstrate a high level of understanding about financial management.· Ability to manage and deliver long-term projects through to completion; self-starter with strong ability to take initiative to drive change.· Broad experience with the full range of business functions and systems, including budgeting, finance, legal, IT and human resources.· Understanding of developing policies and procedures; experience of good governance practices.· Proven track record of working well with a team.· Strong numeracy and interpersonal skills.· Committed to ensuring young people from all backgrounds reach a meaningful level of academic attainment.· Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion.· Committed to promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children.

You will be likely be more successful in this role if you have:· Additional formal qualifications relevant to the role (e.g. MBA, CIPD Level 7).· Experience or knowledge of safeguarding procedures.· Experience of the charity sector; particularly charity legislation and accounting.· Experience of monitoring and evaluation processes and/or school data.· Experience improving systems and processes.

Benefits

Hybrid working

We offer a flexible combination of office and home based working.
Holiday

25 days holiday a year (plus UK public holidays), increasing by a day for each complete year of service (up to three extra days). 3 additional days between Christmas and New Year.

Flexitime and TOIL

We have a flexible policy for working hours, and offer TOIL where staff have to work particularly early in the day or late in the evening, so that they can reclaim those hours at another time.

Team away days

The whole team across the UK gets together three times a year.

Pensions

We have a workplace pension scheme with a 3% employer contribution.

Culture of celebrating

Regular thanks and praise and monthly recognition of ’heroes’ to celebrate employees going above and beyond.

Knowledge-sharing

Lots of opportunities to learn from others in the organisation, including policy briefings, shadowing colleagues and peer-to-peer development.

Socials
Team socials around team days, regular bring-and-share team lunches and other activities.

Proofreading Team

As well as checking the accuracy of all content Action Tutoring shares with external audiences, our proofreading team supports individuals who would value an extra pair of eyes on their writing.

Ad hoc projects

Interested in other exciting topics relevant to our charity? Then join one of our working groups (including policy, diversity and inclusion, curriculum and training, socials, data and insights) and support with ongoing projects.

How to apply

Please submit a completed application form on the Breathe site via the Apply button. 

Applications that fail to meet these criteria will automatically be discounted. We want you to have every opportunity to shine and to show us your skills—please let us know if there is anything we can do to make sure the assessment process works for you