VARIETY THE CHILDREN'S CHARITY
18,000 - 30,000 per year
London
Part-time
27th October 2025
Finance Officer Appointment brief October 2025 1 Contents 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 12 Welcome About Us and Our Purpose How We Help Our Impact Ecosystem Job Description Person Specification Terms of Appointment How to Apply 2 Welcome We are Variety, the Children’s Charity. In the UK, there are more than 1.3 million disabled children and nearly four million children living in poverty. Variety exists to improve their lives. We believe every child has a right to live their best life and reach their full potential, whoever they are. We fund and deliver life- changing programmes that enhance their quality of life and give children and young people across the UK a better future. Over the past 75 years we have supported over one million children by funding almost 6,000 Sunshine Coaches, almost the same number of wheelchairs, and giving thousands of grants to individual children, schools, youth clubs and other organisations for specialist equipment. In addition, each year thousands of children take part in day trips, special events and educational activities as part of our Variety Great Days Out programme and every single day we are improving more young lives. We do it with practical, tangible help, that makes a real and immediate difference. Variety is a dynamic and forward-thinking organisation, and we're looking for a Part-time Finance Officer to support the Finance team. It is an exciting time to join the charity as we have ambitious plans to double our charity size, to fund life-changing practical support for disabled and disadvantaged children and young people across the UK. 3 About Us At Variety, the Children's Charity, we believe every child has a right to live their best life and reach their full potential, whoever they are. We fund and deliver life-changing programs that give children and young people across the UK a better future. Our work In the UK, there are more than 1.3 million disabled children and young people, and nearly four million children living in poverty. Variety provides practical support that makes an immediate difference to children and young people under the age of 19. What does Variety do? We provide: • Grants for specialist disability equipment and wheelchairs that aren’t available through government services Adapted, accessible transport for SEND schools and other non-profit organisations with our famous Sunshine Coaches Memorable day trips and outings through our Great Days Out programme. • • Our work helps give children and young people greater wellbeing, independence, social inclusion, mobility and self-esteem, and allows them to live their best lives – no matter who they are. On average, a family with a disabled child has to pay an extra £581 per month to have the same standard of living as one without. We aim to address the relationship between disability and poverty. Our Purpose? Our Vision Our Mission Our Values Enabling every child to live their best life and reach their full potential, whoever they are. We fund and deliver life- changing programmes that give children and young people across the UK a better future. Putting our beneficiaries first, innovation, creativity, inclusivity, courtesy, patience, respect, transparency, and valuing our heritage. 4 How We Help 5 Our Impact Ecosystem Our Theory of Change 6 Job Description Job Title: Finance Officer (Part-time) Accountable to: Finance Manager Works with: Staff employed in the Bayham Street Office and across the UK Employees, Committee Chairs, Corporate Partners, Donors, Beneficiaries Location: London and Chair/Co-Chair of Trustees £18,000 per annum 0.6 FTE (£30,000 per annum FTE) 21 per week, 9am - 5pm, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Salary: Hours: Role Summary The Finance Officer will support the finance and operations team and regional teams with key areas of responsibility around financial administration and general office and governance administration tasks. See below for structure of this team 7 Role and responsibilities Key responsibilities include: Financial Administration - (95% of role): Supporting the Finance team with o Day-to-day financial administration o Bookkeeping on Xero, raising invoices, chasing debtors, dealing with supplier statements o Ensuring correct VAT categorisations. o Tracking expenditure on Xero in accordance with funder requirements o Processing monthly expenses and petty cash claims o Responsible for preparation of the weekly payment run (approval max and Xero) o Day-to-day financial administration o Banking of cheques o Managing control accounts for CAF, Charities trust, and Justgiving o Managing shopify, worldpay, stripe, paypal and other payment processing platforms o Organising card machines for events Administration: (5% of role) Some tasks listed below are less frequent and ad-hoc. o Opening post and electronic filing o Weekly franking of post, topping up funds when required and taking post to nearby post office o Supporting the Director of Finance and Operations with preparation of board and audit committee papers and materials, minutes and actions o Supporting the finance and operations team with writing and editing documents and presentations and arranging online and in-person meetings as required. o Overseeing the general email address forwarding queries to relevant team members Other o Undertake any other duties that may from time to time be required. 8 Person specification Essential - - - AAT accounting qualification or equivalent Experience within the charity sector Experience with Xero accounting software Other essential: - - - - - - IT skills- Knowledge of MS office Understanding of VAT Experience of donations platforms, stripe, shopify An understanding of fund accounting, restrictions and unrestricted funds Enthusiastic and creative self-starter. Ability to multi-task Desirable - - Experience of CRMs - Sales force Understanding of disability, diversity and equality issues. Further Information • • • Limited travel around the UK may be required. Variety, the Children’s Charity, is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Proof of eligibility to work in the UK is required. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Inclusion is one of our key values. It is our ambition to recruit great people from diverse communities. We welcome and encourage applications from suitably qualified candidates regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment/identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy/ maternity and or marriage/civil partnership status, race, religion or belief. You will be working with a supportive and knowledgeable team who are regularly in our vibrant office in the heart of Camden, London. This role will require a DBS check. 9 10 Terms of Appointment Job Title: Finance Officer Location: London Salary: £18,000 (0.6FTE) Hours: 21 per week Annual leave: Benefits: 25 days holiday (we also normally give between Christmas and New Year off, but this is not contractual). In addition, after one year's continuous service, there will an extra 2 days annual holiday for every complete year of service, up to a maximum of five days' extra holiday. Pension 7% Life Assurance 4x annual salary Company sick pay scheme Medicash benefit Hybrid working - 2 days office based, 1 day working from home 11 How to Apply We are recruiting directly to fill this Finance Officer vacancy. To apply please send the following: • • An up-to-date CV Cover letter (max 1 page) on why you are interested and how you meet the essential and desirable skills and experience Please submit this to our HR lead at hr.support@variety.org.uk Please submit your completed application by 5pm, 27th October 2025. Dates for your diary Closing date for applications: Shortlisting meeting: First stage interviews: Second stage interviews: 5pm Monday 27th October 2025 28th October 2025 w/c 3rd November 2025 TBC Please state in your application if you have any commitments during the interview period that may coincide with these dates. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Inclusion is one of our key values. It is our ambition to recruit great people from diverse communities. We welcome and encourage applications from suitably qualified candidates regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment/identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy/maternity and or marriage/civil partnership status, race, religion or belief. Please let us know if you have any access requirements which we might need to consider in relation to the selection process. 12