People & Planet is the largest student network in Britain campaigning to end world poverty, defend human rights and protect the environment. They are a student-led movement that empowers young people with the skills, confidence and knowledge they need to make change happen, at home and globally.
People & Planet Purpose:
environmental justice. We will achieve our goal by:
• supporting and inspiring students to develop the knowledge, skills, confidence and conviction that they can make a difference;
• bringing about long-lasting change, in policies and practices, by campaigning and collective action.
Job Purpose: To create a working environment which encourages learning and development whilst ensuring People & Planet financial and operational risks are managed
Contract: Continuous employment from 1 April 2015 totalling 21 hours per week. Flexibility possible in negotiating the days worked.
Salary: £27, 971 pro rata Managers' Salary Level. Paid in equal monthly instalments on the 25th of the month. People & Planet provides access to an ethical Stakeholder pension fund with Friends Provident. 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays pro rata.
Background
Established over forty years ago, People & Planet supports the largest student network in Britain, campaigning on world poverty, human rights & the environment. They work with students at universities, colleges and schools across the UK and in 2015/16 will be campaigning on corporate power and climate change. They work closely with many partners and coalitions, for example the World Development Movement, Greenpeace and 350.org. In 2014/15, the People & Planet national support office in Oxford has 11 staff split into two teams:
• Campaigns and Activism team which is responsible for communications, network development, supporting campaign groups, training and events, campaigns strategy, advocacy and policy, materials design and working in coalitions and in partnership with other organisations.
• Operations Support and Enterprise team which is responsible for fundraising (sponsorship, consultancy, merchandising, grants, individual supporters), finance, IT, design, staff development, office management and the website.
The People & Planet office is staffed by highly committed and professional people, and run in an open and supportive way. Unlike most organisations that have a Director or CEO, People & Planet is run by a collaborative Management Team made up of permanent staff members.
Main responsibilities
- Manage and operate the accounting system (using Quickbooks) for the three legal entities that make up People & Planet and recommending any necessary changes
• Manage bank and petty cash accounts.
• Supervise the processing of payments and receipts by the Operations Manager (or other staff to whom this is delegated).
• Maintain and develop the accounting and reporting structure to meets the evolving needs of People &Planet.
• Monitor income and expenditure against restricted and unrestricted budgets.
- Budgeting
• Support other managers in determining financial strategies and budgets, and presenting these to the Board of Trustees.
• Support budget holders in understanding and monitoring their project budgets.
• Drawing up the financial elements of the strategic plan, operational plans and annual plan for the finance function.
- Reporting and Returns
• Produce regular management accounts for management team and trustee meetings.
• Support other managers in preparing budgets for grant bids and submitting grant reports, and providing ad hoc financial information as required.
• Maintain accurate cash flow projections, highlight potential problems and support other managers in finding solutions.
• Ensure timely auditing of accounts, and all required returns (Charity Commission, Companies House).
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Administer all aspects of payroll, pension contributions and other staff benefits, ensuring that all legal requirements are met without penalty
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Responsibility for People &Planet's tax affairs including the claiming of Gift Aid on donation income
- Supporting the Board of Trustees by attending meetings, drawing up agendas, collating and circulating papers and taking the minutes.
- Working with other managers and trustees to ensure good governance practices are encouraged and observed.
- Working closely with the non-Student trustee who acts as Treasurer to ensure that the Board is fully briefed in a timely manner on all financial matters
- Acting as Company Secretary - Lead responsibility for ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory frameworks appropriate to the legal entities making up People &Planet.
- Responsible for oversight of People &Planet's legal affairs including trade mark licence and lease of premises.
- Acting as manager and accountability manager to other staff in accordance with the line management structure
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Attending monthly meetings: staff meetings, management meetings and income generation meetings.
Person Specification
Essential Criteria
- Experience of organisational accounting, including:
• book-keeping and reconciliation;
• maintaining accurate budget projections;
• producing reports for project funders;
• running a payroll
- Experience of producing useful management accounts that enable others to maintain an accurate overview and a good understanding of the financial situation.
- Experience of administering and developing effective systems that enable financial functions to be done efficiently. (For example: making sure that all bills received are authorised by the right person, allocated to the correct expense account, and the supplier paid on time.
- Experience of dealing with company and charity regulators and preparing relevant returns; understanding how companies need to be run
- Experience of company, charity, VAT and PAYE taxation procedures including regulatory requirements
- Proficiency in using Quickbooks accounts software, or similar double-entry accounts software.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to explain financial matters to others who do not have an accounts background.
- Proficiency in using office software: spreadsheet, word processor, email, web browser, managing files and folders etc.
- A working knowledge of double-entry accounting principles.
- Experience of people management and creating the conditions for staff to succeed
- Excellent organisation skills and good attention to detail and accuracy.
- Ability to work in a team and form productive and supportive professional relationships in a non-hierarchical organisation.
- Maturity and a willingness to be flexible and dynamic in the face of changing accounting needs.
- Belief in the importance of human rights, environmental sustainability and social justice, including a commitment to Equal Opportunities.
Desirable criteria
The following criteria are desirable in that they would be very useful in this job, but are not considered essential as they are all things that could be gained on the job.
- Experience of accounting for a charity/not-for-profit, working with restricted/unrestricted funds.
- Experience of preparing accounts for examination and working with an examiner to complete the year-end accounts.
- Highly developed spreadsheet skills including a solid understanding of basics: formatting values, formulas, absolute/relative/linked cell references, print ranges, producing charts/graphs.
For more information, or to apply, please send your CV to jobs@afid.org.uk or call 0208 741 7000
