Head Of Finance

Who we are

Chefs in Schools is a young, ambitious charity that’s rapidly growing. Our mission is to improve kids' health, through improving school food & food education. Working in areas of high deprivation, we support and train schools and their kitchen teams to serve the best, freshest and tastiest food possible, alongside meaningful food education. We share our learning and resources freely, aiming to inspire and enable others to follow our lead.

We’re backed by some of the biggest names in food and have ambitious targets to ensure every child has access to incredible school food and food education, setting them up for life with the skills and knowledge to feed themselves well.

About you and the role

The purpose of this role is to lead on our finance strategy, and ensure all of our systems, reporting and processes are helping to drive forward the charity and deliver on our objectives at scale. You will work closely with the Chief Executive and Directors to ensure that financial planning is effective and supported by accurate data analysis. You will report directly to Trustees as required and ensure that the highest standards of transparency and probity are maintained.

You will be joining the team during a period of growth in the size and complexity of our delivery. We currently have 20 employees and anticipate doubling in size within three years. You will have a crucial role in shaping our systems and processes to ensure we can scale effectively, both our existing programmes and a new membership-based programme that is in development. We’re looking for an experienced finance professional with an interest in effectively using technology and systems to drive efficiency, without compromising on accuracy or compliance.

You will support and mentor the Finance and Office Manager, ensuring that financial administration is carried out proficiently and in line with all legal and regulatory requirements, including ultimate responsibility for ensuring that all statutory filings are made accurately and on time. Your role will also encompass ensuring that we operate within legal & regulatory frameworks and stay up to date with changes in relevant legislation. 

The responsibilities, skills and experience listed below are intended to give you an idea of what we need for this role. If you don’t meet every single requirement, but feel as though you would be able to work with us to deliver the majority of them, we would urge you to apply anyway. We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and for us, the most important ‘experience’ is passion for our mission. You may be just the right candidate for this, or other roles.

We want to get to know you at the interview and understand we can do this best if you’re at ease. We’re an inclusive employer and work hard to create a welcoming working environment for everyone, including appointing a neurodiversity champion to help us identify how we can make our work environment work for everyone. If you need adjustments to the interview process please let us know. 

Key responsibilities:

• Developing a comprehensive financial strategy that supports the delivery of the charity’s objectives and activities

• Reviewing suitability of our current systems: Quickbooks for accountancy, Beacon CRM, PLEO for expenses management, Survey Monkey for data collection etc.

• Where necessary, identifying and implementing new software to ensure all systems and processes are robust, user friendly, deliver useful data analysis, integrate and/or improve automation

• Working closely with the Director of Transformations to translate the annual activity plan into an accurate organisational-level budget

• Advising the Chief Executive, team and Trustees, ensuring that benefits and risks of decisions are fully considered and fit with the overall financial strategy

• Oversee sound financial management and governance across the organisation

• Provide leadership and guidance to all things finance related, providing mentoring and support to the team

• Accountability for monitoring that the organisation’s services are, and will, run to budget, supporting budget holders and reporting promptly on risks

• Have ultimate oversight of the external audit and production of the statutory accounts, supported in delivery of this by the Finance & Office Manager

• Oversee production of management accounts and bespoke financial reports, including accurate forecasting, incisive analysis and accessible narrative commentary

• Support the Development team with financial submissions and other compliance areas (eg advising on and supporting with due diligence processes)

• Constantly seeking to develop and improve the organisation’s financial systems, policies and procedures to promote dynamic, best practice and up-to-date application of tools, systems and approaches

• Oversight of Finance, governance and basic HR administration, supporting the Finance & Office Manager with high profile or complex queries, seeking specialist advice on financial or compliance matters as required

• Ensure the organisation’s compliance with charity law, in accordance with the Charity Commission in England & Wales

Skills & experience:

• You have interest and belief in our mission, to improve kids’ health through improving food and food education in schools

• You have full or partial qualification through an accredited accountancy body

• You have some experience in a senior finance role (eg Director, Head of, Management Accountant) in any sector, and some experience within a finance function in the 3rd sector (in particular familiarity with the Charity SORP and experience of administering restricted funds)

• You have experience of audit

• You enjoy a mix of leadership and rolling up sleeves to get hands on when the need arises

• You take a pragmatic and dynamic approach to robust financial management

• You can turn complex and dry data, into clear and engaging narrative

• You have project managed the implementation of new systems (accountancy / CRM / data)

• You are organised, methodical, strong on detail, and able to map out deadlines and plan ahead

• You are skilled in building rapport with people and strike a balance between being supportive and challenging 

Benefits

You would be joining a friendly, supportive team who works hard but believe in a healthy work/life balance. We seek a diverse range of perspectives, skills, experience and knowledge. Joining a small, collaborative team means you’ll be able to contribute to and draw on various projects and strategic insights.

We offer 33 days of holiday per year, including bank holidays, a Cycle to Work scheme, hybrid working, free access to the CODE app for discounted restaurants & hospitality venues, enhanced parental leave. We are committed to developing our team and will support you with relevant training opportunities including £250 towards elective training and development of your choice.

As we work with children & young people, an offer of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and DBS clearance, in line with our safeguarding policy.

Please note that shortlisted candidates will be invited to a 30-mins online interview to take place on Weds 19th June. Successful candidates will then be invited to a second interview that will be in person at our offices in Brixton, London, on Weds 26th June.