Head of Finance

The Head of Finance is the lead finance professional at GSG Impact, and, with the support of the Chief Operating Officer, is responsible for leading all aspects of the charity's finances. The Head of Finance will be the owner of the external audit relationship and be responsible for the production of the annual report and accounts, including all regulatory compliance associated with a UK based charitable entity. They will support the leadership’s preparation for, and presentations to both the charity’s Finance and Audit sub-committee and the main GSG Impact Board. The post-holder will ensure that the charity’s budget and financial position are closely monitored and that established financial controls, spanning the procurement to payments cycle, are firmly adhered to. They will lead on the annual budget setting process, including interim re-forecasting, and financial reporting. In addition, the post-holder will provide budgetary support, business partnering and technical advice to non-finance staff, and build strong relationships across the organisation, particularly the Fundraising and Programme Support Teams, positioning GSG Impact for continued success and financial sustainability.

Key Responsibilities

• Regulatory Compliance & Audit
• Preparation of the Annual financial statements and Audited accounts for the charitable entity and trading subsidiary.
• Completion of regulatory returns as required by the Charities’ Commission.
• Co-ordination and filing of the quarterly VAT returns and annual Corporation Tax return.
• Review of the VAT registration position for continued appropriateness.
• Ensure gift aid is calculated and paid over from the trading subsidiary to the charity, as applicable.
• Management Accounting and Planning
• Leadership of the Annual organisational budget process, including multi-year financial plans and Scenario modelling.
• Lead mid-year re-forecast process for review and approval of the Board.
• Production of Monthly – Quarterly summary management accounts with accompanying narrative to support analysis of significant variances and trends.
• Oversee Budget vs actual reporting and analysis by department-function for circulation to nominated budget holders.
• Financial Accounting, Cash and Treasury Management
• Ownership of the month end financial accounting processes and adjustments.
• Manage monthly payroll process with outsourced provider.
• Oversee completion of monthly Balance sheet reconciliations including bank accounts.
• Manage accounts payable processes to ensure timely fulfilment of obligations to suppliers and 3rd party payments.
• Monitor domestic and foreign currency bank accounts and ensure optimal balances are maintained in the various currency accounts.
• Prepare regular cash flow forecasts utilising updated income and expenditure information to monitor working capital needs in the short and medium term.
• Funds Management & Programme Support
• Work with Programme Support colleagues in the preparation of standard budgets for donor proposals, ensuring cost recovery is maximised in line with our Full Cost Recovery Model.
• Maintain a staff cost allocation database to provide an overview of funding gaps to be addressed in future donor proposals.
• Oversee the production of Donor, project, or grant expenditure financial reports to ensure we meet our donor reporting obligations.
• Maintain a Restricted/Unrestricted fund summary analysis schedule to support fund balances reported in the Balance Sheet.
• Liaise with finance colleagues within the National Partners on sub-granted funds.
• Governance & Board Support
• Main liaison with the Audit and Finance committee, co-ordinating quarterly meeting schedule, agenda and supporting reports and documentation.
• Production of additional information as required for Trustee board finance packs.
• Supply of financial data for KPIs and dashboards on a quarterly basis.
• Periodic review of Reserves Policy to ensure appropriateness and update as required by the Board.
• Financial Systems, Controls & Risk Management
• Maintain and ensure effective application of organisation wide financial policies and procedures.
• Preparation and analysis of data required to support Going concern assessments.
• Review and update on areas of financial risk as identified in the Risk Register updates.
• Support colleagues in due diligence and risk assessments for partners engaged through sub grants.
• Lead on continuous improvements to financial processes to ensure finance systems support programme management and organisational growth.

Qualifications

• Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) with significant post qualification experience.
• Experience of working with the UK Charity SORP and production of annual report and account.
• Experience of managing a team and relationships with colleagues in a distributed global structure.
• Experience managing a multi-donor funded organisational budget and grant budgets, including restricted and unrestricted funding, full cost recovery and financial reporting.
• Experience with multi-currency income & expenditure and management of the processes around sub-grants to overseas partners.

Competencies and Behaviours

• Strategic leadership; the role involves supporting SLT and the Board in the alignment of financial resources to the organisational strategy, ensuring outcomes and objectives can be achieved through the provision of concise and decision useful financial information.
• Stakeholder engagement; the Head of Finance must be comfortable working closely with a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders including SLT, Trustees within the Finance Committee, wider Board members, the Fundraising Team and National Partners.
• Communication; the post holder must have the ability to communicate potentially complex financial information to non-finance specialists.
• Collaborative and hands on approach, alignment with the goals and mission of the organisation with a global outlook and perspective.

Flexible working – remote with occasional onsite meeting. Salary competitive within the charity sector, based on experience. 25 days holiday per annum plus eight bank/public holidays. Enrolment in NEST Pension Scheme (3% employer and 5% employee contribution).