Born Free Foundation Hiring for Finance Officer Job at Horsham, England Full Time

About the Charity

Born Free works tirelessly to ensure that all wild animals, whether living in captivity or in the wild, are treated with compassion and respect and are able to live their lives according to their needs. As a leading wildlife charity, we oppose the exploitation of wild animals in captivity and campaign to keep them where they belong – in the wild.

We promote Compassionate Conservation to enhance the survival of wildlife, especially threatened species in the wild, and to protect natural habitats while respecting the needs and safeguarding the welfare of individual animals. We seek to have a positive impact on animals in the wild and protect their ecosystems in perpetuity, for their own intrinsic value and for the critical roles they play within the natural world.

Set up initially as Zoo Check in 1984 by Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna and their son Will Travers, Born Free has worked tirelessly for nearly 37 years to prevent captive animal suffering and phase-out zoos. Will continues to lead the organisation as Executive President, and Virginia remains active on the Board of Trustees, working closely with the team to share our vision and programmes on public forums.

The Opportunity

We are recruiting an experienced and motivated Finance Officer with a proven track record of delivering to deadlines in a busy and dynamic environment. This is a varied role that will process transactions, perform reconciliations and help ensure that financial controls and policies are followed across the charity.

The Role

The Finance Officer is an essential role that will ensure financial data is entered correctly and promptly into the finance system, that expenditure is properly authorised and audit trails exist to support all transactions. This includes day-to-day processing of entries into the ledgers of both the charity and its trading subsidiary. The successful candidate will have a “can do” attitude, an eye for accuracy, a methodical approach to their work and excellent customer service skills.

Key tasks will include:

· Processing invoices and staff expense claims, ensuring they are correctly coded and that VAT is treated appropriately;

· Processing of income received through the bank, ensuring it is correctly reflected in the customer relationship management (CRM) system and the accounting system;

· Preparing the monthly payment file and loading this onto internet banking, ready for approval;

· Ensuring proper documentation is obtained and filed appropriately to support the audit trails for all transactions, including charity credit cards;

· Ensuring payments and expense claims are appropriately authorised in line with the charity’s policies;

· Preparing control account reconciliations and bank account reconciliations;

· Developing a thorough understanding of the charity’s processes and suggesting improvements to ensure they are efficient and compliant;

· Dealing with queries from external suppliers and internal colleagues

The successful candidate should ideally demonstrate the following attributes:

· The ability to plan, prioritise and deliver to tight time frames in a small, fast-paced and dynamic team;

· An excellent understanding of basic accounting and book-keeping (debits, credits, principles of reconciliations);

· A basic understanding of VAT principles;

· Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to explain financial process and their rationale to people from a non-financial background;

· A good level of Excel skills, including an appreciation of how IT can be used to reduce manual intervention and improve processing speeds;

· Excellent attention to detail and a methodical approach to work;

· Experience of using accounting packages, ideally Sage 50;

· Quick to understand systems and data flows;

· An empathy with the work of the Foundation, and the desire to drive it forward, bringing energy and determination to its mission;

· Decisive and straightforward; low ego and a team player; high levels of drive and energy; a sense of humour; honesty, integrity and reliability;

The candidate will report directly to the Financial Controller and work with the Accounts Assistant and Legacy Officer. This role has no direct reports.

Our excellent benefits package includes a generous annual leave entitlement, working from home with regular team meetings (Covid permitting) to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance, wellbeing support, and a competitive pension.

Born Free is an Equal Opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates, regardless of age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital/civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity. We welcome requests for flexible working.

Applications are by a CV with a covering letter that should demonstrate your skills, experiences and attributes that make you suitable for the role. Your CV and covering letter should be sent by email by Friday 8th October 2021.

Important: Please include “Finance Officer Application” in the subject of your email.

Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert at any time. Born Free politely requests no contact from recruitment agencies or media sales. We do not accept speculative CVs from recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

If you do not receive an invitation for an interview by 12th October, then you have unfortunately not been shortlisted. The interviews are expected to be held from 13th October onwards. The interviews will take place remotely via Microsoft Teams.

Thank you for your interest.

Reference ID: Finance Officer Application

Application deadline: 08/10/2021

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: £28,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Company pension
• Work from home

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Work remotely:

• Yes