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JOB DESCRIPTION Finance Director April 2026 The Royal Foundation of St Katharine is one of Britains oldest charities in continuous existence since 1147. Now in its third location in Limehouse between the City of London and Canary Wharf it is a retreat centre, hospitality and meeting space and a community charity. With 45 bedrooms, 12 Meeting rooms and a community café in a Yurt it is a unique offering of an urban oasis in the busyness of London life. We are now recruiting a Finance Director to oversee the financial aspects of this c£3m turnover charity with around 60 staff. Purpose To ensure that the Royal Foundation delivers an efficient and effective Finance function with insightful and accurate reporting of the financial and non-financial drivers. Reports to: The Master and working as a business partner to the General Manager. Direct reports: Manages the Financial Assistant and other finance resources as needed. Usual place of work: The Royal Foundation of St Katharine (RFSK), 2 Butcher Row, London. E14 8DS. Full time - 40 hours per week. While some work can be carried out remotely and you will be provided with a laptop, there is an expectation that majority of days will be spent working onsite. Key areas of Responsibility: The Finance Director will manage all aspects of the Finance Functions and ensure it is run effectively and accurately with good controls in place. They will understand and maintain the key systems and processes that ensure an effective delivery of finance, improved financial data available to managers and to help them action their business decisions based on good data. They will ensure the finance function has the level of resilience needed to cover operation and people risk. Support of charitable objectives As a key member of the Senior Management Team, alongside the Master, General Manager and the Chaplain, the Finance Director will be able to provide good representation of our charity. They will be sympathetic to and supportive of the Christian values of this distinctive charity which has a chapel and a pattern of prayer at its heart. (although the post is open to people of all faith and no faith). Business Partnering and Business Management • Act as a business partner to the General Manager and through them to the department managers as required • Provide peers, team members and other stakeholders in the business with objective advice and information as required • Act as a duty manager from time to time as needed • Maintain RFSK’s financial records to reflect at all times a complete and accurate picture of the Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss Account making using the Sage Intacct system. Accounting Management • Close the books of account within 5 working days of each month end • Maintain balance sheet reconciliations of all material accounts and make follow up and adjusting entries as appropriate • Ensure corporate and tax returns made on time • Make quarterly VAT returns • Process Gift Aid donations • Process trading subsidiary entries and reporting Monitoring and Reporting • Assist the General Manager in having effective internal controls frameworks in place • Develop high quality management information and performance measurement that is timely and accurate with commentary on variances. Reporting should be thought provoking and action orientated. • Develop new reports and KPIs that highlight relevant financial information for senior management, the Court (Board of Trustees) and its sub-committees and develop automated processes as far as possible. • Attend Finance Audit Risk Committee Operations Committee and the Court (Trustee) meetings and make reports on the state of finance as needed. • Provide analysis to help in dynamic pricing of key offerings. • Ensure that RFSK financial and reporting systems operate in compliance with internal and external policies, procedures and legislation, including codes of corporate governance, ethical conduct, tax and other regulatory frameworks including GDPR Audit • Prepare and plan for the annual audit – liaising with auditors • Support the annual audit providing the auditors with all required analysis and schedules. Payroll and HR operations Work with the GM and managers to ensure that Employment Hero is kept up to date with schedule and time sheet information to process the payroll. In conjunction with the Account’s Assistant compile the overtime and then process the Payroll. Follow through the procedure until all salaries have been processed via the bank account and the payment of the monthly PAYE to HMRC. Oversee the Financial Assistant in their work of HR administration of key processes around training/learning/recruitment and compliance Cash Flow Management Ensure of accounts receivable and direct payments to vendors, both on a timely basis Maintain cash flow projections Manage and report VAT and other taxes and deductibles to government departments Legislation Compliance Ensure RFSK takes advantage of, and complies with, tax and other legislation affecting charities and hospitality business Ensure that RFSK financial and reporting systems operate in compliance with internal and external policies, procedures and legislation Act as Data Protection Officer and ensure GDPR compliance Budgeting and Financial Appraisals Plan and coordinate the budgeting process including updates and reforecasts during the year and monitor performance against the plan with explanations of key variances. Provide financial appraisals for all projects Systems and Processes • Learn, Use and Improve the systems to meet accounting, analysis and reporting process needs. • Maintain the daily journal interface between Rezlynx (hospitality booking system) and Sage Intacct (accounting system) ensuring that it is correctly mapped. People, communication and interaction • Represent RFSK in person from time to time in a manner and style reflecting the Foundation’s ethos and core values. • Attend and represent RFSK at events including but not limited to professional corporate, charity, community and social events Person specification The post requires: • CCAB accounting qualification or equivalent • Technical and Operational Experience to be able to fulfil the functions identified • Excellent interpersonal skills and evidence of effective people and change management • Ability to work with others including clients and suppliers • Clear and concise communication • A problem solving & can do attitude Work experience (the following experiences would be useful to the Foundation): • experience in hotel or other service industry • Experience of the charity sector • knowledge of Sage Intacct and similar accounting systems • knowledge of Rezlynx Guestline booking system or other hospitality property management system • audit experience • supplier and contract management