Head of Finance

The purpose of this role is to lead on financial strategy and systems at NEON. For us this means 3 things: providing accurate snapshots and clear narrative, analysis and recommendations for spend and course of action on our finances to help us make good decisions ensuring we have the right tools and systems to understand our finances and that people are using them effectively We know that people from certain backgrounds and identities are often excluded in progressive movements and we're committed to doing what we can to correct this. So: we particularly welcome applications from marginalised groups, especially people of colour and other ethnic minorities, people who identify as LGBTQIA, Disabled people and those who identify as working class or have done so in the past we know the work goes way beyond "diversity", it's about making the space inclusive too. So we are continuously working on that at NEON. So far this includes tangible things like a flexible work policy so people have genuine flexibility around where and when they work and a 28 hour week as standard; a gender–neutral parenting/leave policy, an anti–oppression strategy which is held at senior level given how important it is to the organisation. It also includes the day–to–day work of creating psychological safety for everyone at NEON and celebrating the wisdom of black, indigenous, queer, Disabled and other cultures in the way we work and behave There are no formal education requirements for this role. As long as you can show us you have the skills we don't mind where you got them from! Also important to us is your potential to learn and grow in the role so even if you don't have 100% of the skills listed we want to hear from you. What you will be doing Here are the key responsibilities of this role: 1. Overseeing and developing NEON's financial systems to effectively manage NEON's budgets and forecasting, totalling about GBP1.6m annually (as well as those of our incubated organisations) 2. Leading on financial strategy alongside others in the senior team – setting the direction of travel for NEON, planning our finances over the short, medium and long term 3. Managing regular finance and accounting processes and the people doing them. This includes a freelance bookkeeper and outsourced PAYE 4. Producing management accounts, financial reports, and providing clear narrative and analysis of our finances for a range of people – this could be for the Board at a quarterly meeting, for one of our teams looking at their budget, or Directors needing to make organisational decisions 5. Working with others in the Ops Hub (especially the Ops and People Manager and Ops Director) to operationalise and democratise finance processes across the team e.g. through writing team manuals, or training and supporting staff with their own budgets 6. Leading updates and innovation to our finance system and tools to make sure we're always using the best tools for the job 7. Working on the finance aspects of our fundraising work – contributing to fundraising bids by providing budgets, then leading the reporting against them. This includes helping us to navigate the complexity of multiple format reporting and restricted expenditure tracking requirements for different funders 8. Playing an active part in the whole NEON team, contributing to organisation–wide plans Who you are Skilled and experienced in managing the many parts of the finance function – from accounting to budgeting to bookkeeping you know what excellent looks like and know how to make it happen. This includes managing others (in–house and freelance/contractors) to deliver on elements of this work as required Excited about thinking creatively about how to do finance in a progressive/radical way, able to weigh up risks and willing to experiment with new ways of doing things Excellent at turning complex spreadsheets and complicated financial data into simple and clear analysis for others to understand. That might be through excellent data visualisation tools, great written narrative or other ways of doing financial reporting differently to the norm Able to flex between longer term projects, regular cycle work and responsive requests – you are great at being self–motivated in order to push longer projects forward over weeks or months, as well as getting daily or weekly operational tasks done. But you can also shift your workload to turn things round in a day when it's important. (15–20% of the role is not filled with allocated work to allow for unexpected stuff, and jumping in to support each other) Comfortable with saying no and managing your time, energy and workload so it is sustainable and all still gets done (with support from your manager) Willing to continuously learn and grow – with good emotional intelligence and self awareness including around your own power, and an ability to give and receive feedback well, and sit in (and encourage) healthy conflict and disagreement Committed to NEON's purpose of building the strength of movements for social, economic and environmental justice, and to learning how to align your actions with the values of NEON: solidarity; generosity and respect