Global Finance Operations Senior Officer

GLOBAL FINANCE OPERATIONS SENIOR OFFICER

Quick info

Hours: 37.5 hours a week, 18 month contract with possibility of extending

Location: Hybrid (in London), or remote (within the UK)

Reporting to: Financial Controller

Contract start date: January 2027 (earlier start possible)

At The Social Change Nest (SCN), we’re radically transforming the funding landscape and strengthening civil society. We remove the financial and administrative barriers – like bank accounts and legal structures – that often prevent communities, grassroots groups and informal movements from accessing funding and focusing on their core mission. We also work closely with funders, enabling them to support social action with confidence and transparency.

We currently support over 700 groups across the UK and abroad addressing issues such as social injustice, climate, housing, wellbeing and animal rights. We are at the forefront of fiscal hosting in Europe and, since our inception in 2020, we have supported groups in securing over £50 million in funding, helping them take advantage of opportunities that may have otherwise been unavailable.

We work with all types of social movements and community groups, from climate to housing, wellbeing and animal rights. Read more about this here .

The Social Change Nest is part of The Social Change Group. We are a Disability Confident Employer, and an accredited Living Wage Employer.

How We Work

You’ll be joining a close-knit team, supported and developed to be the best you can be. We believe that every member of our team brings a unique perspective from their experiences and abilities and we encourage everyone to be curious about how we can improve everything we do, from how we interact as a team to how we deliver for our clients and communities.

Underpinned by our values of collaboration, curiosity, courage, and creativity, we work closely and with care with our partners because we believe relationships are the glue that hold us all together.

We’re a growing business and operate at pace to keep up with the challenges that the sector faces. We have established a lot, but as we grow, we’re still working some things out. The right person will thrive in this environment and feel a level of ownership to support the build out of things we need as we need them.

The Role

The Global Finance Operations Senior Officer will provide critical operational support to manage and execute international payments across our growing global grantmaking portfolio.

This role acts as the primary executor of international finance operations, supporting the Financial Controller (FC) in the rollout and day-to-day implementation of new policies and process improvements. You will work closely with the FC, you will ensure the secure, transparent, and compliant day-to-day management of international funds and grant disbursements.

Working closely with colleagues across the Finance, Delivery and Governance teams, you will balance robust financial stewardship with the flexibility needed to support grassroots movements and funders in complex, high-risk contexts. You will serve as the primary point of contact for day-to-day international client finances, execute payment runs, reconcile foreign ledgers, and help the FC put process improvements into practice alongside alternative payment solutions, such as our cryptocurrency pilots.

Skills & Experience

Essential Experience and Knowledge

• Part-qualified accountant or Qualified by Experience (QBE) in a highly relevant financial control environment.
• Strong background in finance, grantmaking, or compliance within humanitarian, non-profits or philanthropic contexts.
• Proven expertise in setting up and managing overseas financial transactions, including multi-currency payments and ledger reconciliations
• Hands-on experience in managing volatile exchange rates and currency fluctuations risks
• Experience navigating complex regulations that exist in some geographies
• Experience processing international payments into high-risk jurisdictions, including unincorporated or grassroots networks.
• Familiarity with digital exchange payment platforms and cross-border banking restrictions (e.g. SWIFT, XE, Wise).
• Experience applying due diligence and financial risk management frameworks.
• Knowledge of:
  • KYC/AML regulations
  • Counter-Terrorism Financing rules
  • UK charity and banking regulations
  • Digital exchange transfer tools such as XE, WISE
• Language skills – in addition to fluent English, fluency in at least one other language key to SCN’s activities with Arabic preferable, but Spanish or Portuguese useful.
• Previous experience in NGOs, fiscal hosts, or international grantmaking.
• Operating with crypto currencies.
• Familiarity with transparent fund-tracking platforms like Open Collective.

Skills and Ways of Working

• Strong interpersonal skills and cultural competence, with the ability to work in a trauma-informed way.
• Excellent stakeholder management, from grassroots partners to funders and banks.
• Ability to balance compliance with flexibility, navigating political sensitivities with discretion and integrity.
• Problem solving mindset, proactive around constructing solutions
• Able to hold attention to detail, and manage workload in a dynamic, fast paced environment.
• Collaborative mindset, with self-awareness to seek support where needed.
• Alignment with SCN’s values of curiosity, courage, creativity, and collaboration.

Key responsibilities

International Payment Operations

Implement and strictly adhere to financial controls, compliance standards, and payment processes designed by the Financial Controller.

Set up and process international payments, ensuring accurate payee details and compliance with our financial controls.

Execute the regular international payment runs (bi-weekly), recommending optimal payment routes and promptly investigating payment failures and delays.

Monitor volatile exchange rates and provide actionable advice to the Delivery team and clients on currency decisions and FX impacts.

Provide cover for UK Payments as needed (eg Annual or sick leave cover).

Client Financial Support & Relationship Management

Provide advice to the Delivery team on currency decisions in line with processes.

Provide day-to-day financial support and query resolution for philanthropic clients raising funds for overseas emergency relief and grassroots movements (referred to as Tier 5).

Act as first point of contact for larger Tier 5 groups that have a significant international accounting requirement, triaging queries to other members of the team.

Maintain sensitive communications with grantees regarding payment delays or compliance hurdles, applying a trauma-informed approach to groups operating in high-risk areas.

Act as the first point of contact for international financial queries, maintaining accurate transaction logs and escalating complex issues or financial solution design to the FC.

Compile financial data and prepare draft budget reports for the Financial Controller’s review and final client distribution.

Systems Support, Process Improvements & Reconciliations

Perform month-end reconciliations of all international payment platforms (e.g., Wise, XE) and foreign currency bank accounts, feeding accurate, verified data directly into the wider ledger.

Support the Financial Controller’s rollout of new financial systems by testing and managing the daily operations of multiple digital international payment platforms within SCN’s accounting software and client-facing interfaces (like Open Collective).

Maintain day-to-day operations and data execution on international payment and fund-tracking platforms, providing user feedback and operational data to the Financial Controller to support ongoing system improvements.

Support in the reviewing and implementation of improvements of financial controls and processes for both international grant distribution and fund distribution, ensuring a balance of agility and risk reduction.

Support the Financial Controller and the Governance team with the setup, operation, and control of a pilot cryptocurrency account for disbursing client funds.

Assist in training the wider Grant Distribution and Finance teams on newly implemented international payment processes

Risk, Compliance & Audit Readiness

Advise Governance team on robustness of due diligence checks from a financial perspective.

Conduct day-to-day financial due diligence for incoming and outgoing international payments, escalating complex compliance issues or policy decisions to the Financial Controller

Contribute to risk frameworks that safeguard SCN and our partners, balancing compliance with accessibility for grassroots groups.

Execute daily transaction compliance checks to ensure adherence to SCN’s AML, KYC, and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) frameworks, as overseen by the Financial Controller.

Prepare international transaction logs, compliance checks, and payment samples to directly support the FC during annual external audits.

Other Important Information

Terms : The role will be full-time (37.5 hours/week) on an 18 month contract with possibility of extending. As we often work with volunteers, occasional evening and weekend work may be required and compensated through TOIL. Occasional but limited UK or European travel may be required (by arrangement).
We are open to exploring flexible working arrangements and supporting you to meet commitments you may have. All pay and benefits, holiday etc will be pro-rated with the length of your contract.

Location : We are happy to consider remote candidates, but you must be based inside the UK. We have an office in central London, which London-based staff go to 2 -3 times a week.

We hold quarterly all-staff strategy meetings and annual away days, which you will be required to attend in person and for which we will cover the cost of your travel.

Language skills & visa status : Candidates must be fluent in English. You must have the right to work in the UK independently, as we are unable to provide visa sponsorship.

Holiday : 28 days plus bank holidays (including 3 days between Christmas and New Years).

Employer pension contribution : We offer a 3% employer pension contribution, that you will be auto enrolled into after 3 months of employment with SCN.

Additional Paid Time Off : We offer 2 days of paid voluntary time off, encouraging all staff to serve as trustees or any equivalent voluntary positions to contribute to their communities.

Mintago : The health and wellbeing of our staff is very important to us. We offer all of our staff access to Mintago which offers a 24 hour support line, structured counselling with external support, and a bank of online resources such as webinars and articles tailored towards health and wellbeing for both you and the members of your family, and access to some types of legal advice. You can see their website for details. They also offer access to a 24hr virtual GP.

Financial Wellbeing : The financial wellbeing of our staff means a lot to us. We offer the following to our staff to help them reach their financial goals:

• Financial wellbeing platform allows staff to check their pension dashboard, plan for retirement and search for forgotten/lost pensions. There is also a smart saver plan and we provide access to financial advisers for free.
• Benefits app – retail discounts. Select from over 80 brands.

Hiring process

We strongly encourage applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds. We are committed to our staff representing the wide variety of backgrounds represented in the communities we work with. If you are concerned that you may not fit 100% of the job specification – please throw your hat in the ring. We never put formal education requirements on any role as we value lived experiences as highly as formal education and training qualifications.

We follow a blind recruitment process, which means that hiring managers for the role can only see your work history and cover note when deciding to progress to the interview stage.

If you need any accessibility accommodations for this application please do not hesitate to contact us at people@thesocialchangenest.org or by calling 07958298727 and we will be happy to provide you with those accommodations.

Please visit our main vacancies page for our equal opportunities statement.

Recruitment Timeline:

• Applications will close on Sunday 8th November at midnight (23:59).
• Candidates will be notified on the w/c 16th November 2026.
• The first round of interviews will be conducted on 19th-20th November 2026.
• A second round of interviews will be conducted on the w/c 23rd November 2026.
• Offers will be made the following week.

#J-18808-Ljbffr