Senior Finance Manager

AGULHAS APPLIED KNOWLEDGE LTD

Terms of Reference for Senior Finance Manager

Agulhas are looking to recruit an experienced finance professional to lead in the provision of end-to-end finance functions for the company and support a portfolio of international development work with clients including UK government, the United Nations, multilateral banks and various Foundations. We are in an important and exciting phase of our five-year Strategy which includes a recent transition to becoming an Employee-Owned business and looking forward to a period of growth and company development.

The new Senior Finance Manager will have a key role in delivering the Strategic Plan during a period of innovation and growth, and will lead a full review of Agulhas’s finance and administrative systems. The successful candidate must have ACCA, ACA, CIMA or CFA qualification or equivalent and a track record delivering high quality financial management. The role will lead the finance department, reporting to the CEO and working closely with the Leadership Team.

Role

Responsibilities

• Ensuring the financial compliance of the organisation, in line with relevant legislation, regulation, and audit recommendations.
• Overseeing all company finances, incl. banking, bookkeeping, bills, payments and invoicing.
• Conducting financial analyses to produce budgets and forecasts, and report on these at Board of Directors and Board of Trustees level.
• The provision of routine management accounts, i.e. timely and detailed reports on financial performance on a quarterly and annual basis, and accurate weekly cash flow reports and forecasts.
• Undertaking the production of year-end accounts, Corporation Tax and VAT returns.
• Ensuring the payroll is maintained; salaries, benefits and bonuses paid on time, all tax notices and forms (P60, P11D, P45 etc) are communicated to staff, and that staff pension and other benefit enrolments and payments (e.g. cycle to work, health schemes etc) are up to date.
• Updating and maintaining the company’s financial policies, and ensuring these are communicated to, and complied with, by staff.
• Feeding financial risks into the company risk register, reporting new or escalating risks to the CEO in real time and reporting regularly to the Leadership Team.
• Leading a process to review, update and refresh the company finance , administration and core business systems with a view to streamlining and strengthening the foundation of company operations.

Day-to-day management

• Ensuring that the day-to-day financial accounting activity of the company is undertaken efficiently and effectively, including the timely and accurate processing of invoices, contracts and payments on the system.
• Supporting financial / commercial proposals and budget design for new and existing pieces of work.
• Supporting project teams on monitoring budgets / project spend across the Agulhas portfolio.
• Taking a lead role on budget design and implementation for key project delivery where required.
• Managing relationships with external stakeholders, including the external accountant firm, auditors and insurance.
• Providing line management to finance department staff, currently a Contracts Manager and Fin / Admin Officer.
• Providing a key role in driving the strategy and performance of the organisation, as a member of Senior Management working on our growth management strategy and financial planning.

Requirements:

Agulhas are looking for a strong team player who can demonstrate relevant finance experience and is ready to step up into a new and challenging role in our small, dynamic company. The right candidate will have the ability to work effectively with a number of diverse clients and will be able to demonstrate excellent communication and project management skills along with the ability to work collaboratively across different teams. You will bring excellent interpersonal skills and be supportive of an open and inclusive culture ensuring Agulhas continues to be a great place to work.

They will:

• Be a qualified Accountant (e.g. AAT; ACCA; CIMA)
• Be able to lead a small finance team
• Be fully computer literate and proficient in MS Office Suite
• Be an experienced user of financial databases and systems. For example, previous experience using accountancy systems such as SAGE is desirable.
• Have experience leading a systems change management process.
• Be fluent in written and spoken English.
• Be self-motivated, driven and have the discipline to manage their own time and workload.
• Be willing to spend minimum 40% LoE in the Agulhas London office.
• Have the right to work in the UK.

We are open to a discussion on flexible working aligned to the requirements of the business.

As an employee-owned company Agulhas is able to distribute a share of profits each year, depending on company performance.

We welcome all candidates to apply, regardless of age, sex/gender, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, or pregnancy/maternity

Send a CV (max 4 pages) and covering letter to apply. We will not review application CVs unless they are accompanied by a covering letter. The deadline is rolling, we will review, shortlist and interview candidates on a regular basis.