Operations and Finance Manager

Location: London
Hours: Full-time, flexible working (home & office)
Salary: £30,000 – £33,000 (depending on experience)
Deadline to apply: 13 April 2022

Makan is a Palestinian-led educational organisation that strengthens voices for Palestinian rights. We contribute to transforming the existing narrative on Palestine/Israel to one that upholds freedom, justice and equality for all. We do this by delivering educational programmes and training on Palestine and intersecting struggles, building useful resources and tools for Palestine advocates, and connecting people and organisations active on the issue to one another.

We are looking for an Operations & Finance Manager who is qualified to take on the role of developing and maintaining our operations, finances and systems, and who also has a demonstrable commitment to social justice and to freedom, justice and equality for Palestinians. Fulfilling this role will help ensure our organisational effectiveness and efficiency, as well as to help nurture a positive work environment within Makan. The successful candidate will be highly organised, detail-oriented, self-motivated, and understand the importance of building strong systems and processes to ensure the smooth running of the organisation in order to help advance Makan’s mission and maximise our impact.

Key responsibilities

Finance

• Ensure Makan’s financial controls are maintained and improved as needed and that operational arrangements are in place to support Makan’s accounting, budgetary and finance reporting systems.
• Work closely with Makan’s Co-Directors to set the annual budget, and produce regular forecasts and financial management reports for Makan’s Board of Trustees
• Provide information to support applications for funding, and as required by funders in regular monitoring as well as ad hoc queries
• Ensure invoices are raised and settled on time; manage staff payroll (ensuring all staff are correctly registered); and manage Makan’s well-being fund & staff pensions
• Coordinate with the Co-Directors, accountants and appropriate contractors to ensure timely submission of reports, such as HMRC & Trustee Annual Reports

Human Resources

• Maintain operational contracts and file all related correspondences—ensuring contracts, including for contractors, are up to date – and support relevant staff on UK employment status
• Work with Co-Directors to design and implement a people strategy, ensuring regular check-ins with staff, management of workloads, and 6 month work plans are in place
• Coordinate personal development & professional training for team members with Co-Directors
• Coordinate recruitment processes for staff positions with relevant team members; help ensure effective recruitment and retention of Makan staff; support in induction processes for new staff and volunteers, reviewing & building on our Induction Manual
• Maintain records of all staff annual leave, TOIL, other absences from the office, sickness leave and lateness
• Help ensure that Makan complies with the legal obligations of charities and small employers to their staff

Administration & Office Management

• Manage all leases and contracts for services and equipment, including reviewing and retendering where necessary and identifying and establishing new services
• Organise, maintain, and optimise virtual and physical filing system
• Manage incoming emails sent to the Makan general email account; manage and streamline work spaces and staff email accounts; manage Makan’s calendars
• Work closely with Database Officer to maintain Makan’s contact and subscription databases, upholding data protection regulations and best practices
• Manage Makan’s physical office space to ensure safety, tidiness and cleanliness

Compliance & Best Practice

• Work with Co-Directors to continue development and implementation of organisational policies & procedures
• Ensure Makan’s compliance with all statutory requirements
• Ensure the completion of statutory annual reports to the Charity Commission and Companies House
• Work with the Co-Directors to ensure that best practices are in place across the organisation

General Responsibilities:

• Support the mission, ethos and values of Makan
• Work collaboratively with others in all aspects of our work
• Maintain and enhance skills through continuous professional development
• Abide by organisational policies, codes of conduct and practices
• Treat with confidentiality any personal, private or sensitive information about individuals, organisations and or staff and Makan data.

Skills 

Required:

• A minimum of 5 years’ experience working in an operations, administrative and / or finance position
• Knowledge of not for profit organisations and small companies’ statutory reporting requirements
• Able to demonstrate the links between finance information and relevant business needs/uses
• Understanding of personnel/HR policy and related issues
• Demonstrable experience dealing with confidential matters
• Ability to use one or more computerised accounting packages
• Strong IT skills, including Microsoft Office software
• Excellent organisational, planning and administration skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills (face to face, email, phone)
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and meet deadlines, while working both independently and in a collaborative team environment
• Proactiveness in developing the role and working with little supervision
• Ability to work flexibly in a small team, building strong, trusting day-to-day relationships with colleagues

Desirable:

• Studying towards a professional qualification e.g. ACCA, CIMA or similar
• Knowledge of Health and Safety and Data Protection regulations
• Understanding of and ability to write risk assessments
• Working knowledge of CRMS / databases
• Demonstrable interest in human rights work and / or previous experience working on / studying the Palestine/Israel issue

How to apply

Please submit a cover letter and CV in English, along with two referees (work related). The cover letter should demonstrate your relevant financial and operations experience, building robust systems and processes, and your knowledge of the not for profit organisations and regulatory requirements. All materials should be sent to [email protected], with ‘Finance and Operations Manager’ in the subject line.

The deadline for submissions is 13 April 2022.

Please note that applications missing any of the above documents / information will not be considered.

Previous applicants need not reapply.