Head of Accounts Examination Services
STEWARDSHIP SERVICES (UKET) LIMITED
60,000 per year
London
Full-time
Listed 1 week ago
Head of Accounts Examination Services Role Description and Recruitment Pack Contents Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 2 Role overview ................................................................................................................................ 3 Why this position is important to us .......................................................................................... 3 The impact you will have in this role ......................................................................................... 3 Welcome to Stewardship ......................................................................................................... 4 Our vision, mission and values ................................................................................................. 4 Job detail ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Main responsibilities ................................................................................................................. 5 It’s all about you… ................................................................................................................... 7 Desired skills and experience ........................................................................................................ 8 Working for Stewardship ............................................................................................................. 10 How to apply for this role ............................................................................................................. 11 2 Role overview Title: Head of Accounts Examination Services Hours: 35 hours per week Contract: Permanent Location: 1 Lamb’s Passage, London, EC1Y 8AB There is flexibility for hybrid and remote working in this role. although you must be able to work in the office at least twice a month, or as the organisation requires. Reports to: Chief Customer Officer Salary: £60,000 Why this position is important to us Stewardship offers a diverse and specialist range of services to the Church and other Christian charities. As part of this we offer an annual accounts preparation and examination service for churches and charities, principally with an annual income of £25,000 to £1,000,000. Staffed by experienced accountants with church experience, our service includes examination of accounts as well as the preparation of annual accounts. The aim is not just to work on the accounts, but to provide advice to clients on a wide area of financial wisdom, governance and regulation, along with training and educational services as needed. We are now recruiting for the Head of Accounts Examination Services. This is an opportunity to lead a growing team, working to support churches and Christian charities through finance and play a significant part in driving forward our mission. The impact you will have in this role Our aim is to improve governance in the Church and Christian charity sector. You will have the opportunity to shape and develop an already highly regarded and growing service. You will lead a 3 dedicated team to deliver high-quality accounting and examination services, ensuring our ministry partners receive mission-aligned professional support. Welcome to Stewardship Stewardship serves Christian donors, workers, charities and churches in the UK and beyond called to faithfully steward their personal, professional or ministry resources for God's glory. Founded over a century ago by a small group of Christians who partnered to facilitate financial support for Christian ministries, today we help over 30,000 people experience the joy of generosity, giving more than £100 million each year in support of over 6,000 charities, 4,000 churches and 2,000 Christian workers. Our vision, mission and values Our vision is to a thriving Kingdom economy where God's people steward resources generously to advance the Gospel. We help Christians be the best stewards of the resources God gives them. Our four core values underpin all the work we do at Stewardship: To find out more about Stewardship, please view our short video clip 4 Job detail Overview This role offers an exceptional opportunity for a dynamic and strategic leader who is motivated by serving the organisation’s Christian mission and committed to delivering excellence. As Head of Accounts Examination Services, you will provide both operational and strategic leadership to a committed team, ensuring the effective delivery of high-quality accounting and examination services. In this key leadership position, you will oversee a client portfolio of your own, shape and implement the client service strategy in collaboration with the Leadership Team, and champion best practice across all technical and regulatory areas. You will play a pivotal role in driving service excellence, strengthening our economic performance, and supporting the continued growth and development of the Accounts Examination Service. Through supportive leadership, cross team collaboration, and a commitment to continuous improvement, you will help ensure our partners in ministry receive outstanding, mission aligned professional support. Main responsibilities To include, but not limited to: Service delivery: • Oversight and responsibility for the delivery of the Accounts Examination Service, including line managing other team members, and ensuring clients receive an excellent service which complies with our Service Level Agreement. • Managing a portfolio of clients, including conducting accounts preparation and examination, and giving professional advice to our clients, when appropriate. • Being responsible for overseeing the AES economic performance and growth strategy, in conjunction with the appropriate Leadership Team and Executive Team members. This includes first responsibility for AES budget, monthly KPI results, profitability, utilisation, and capacity workings. • Responsibility for overseeing technical compliance: o Ensuring awareness of Charity Commission and accounting body best practice on accounting and examinations. o Overseeing process and template updates in accordance with changing requirements. o Overseeing development and delivery of training within the team and managing others assisting with this. o Provide technical advice to other members of staff, as appropriate. • Reviewing resource capacities alongside strategy in developing partnerships with new clients. 5 Strategy and leadership: • Line manage members of the Accounts Examination team, including regular objective setting and overseeing their personal development. • Plan, organise and chair regular team meetings, combining operational and cultural team leadership, in-line with Stewardship’s corporate strategy and values. • Work with the Leadership Team and the wider organisation on short and long-term objectives for the Accounts Examination Service. • Report to the Leadership Team on strategy, reporting and budgeting. • Seek to strengthen cross-team collaboration, enabling an integrated service to our partners in ministry, and delivering excellent customer service. • Grow the Accounts Examination Service through client expansion. This will include identifying opportunities for client growth, meeting with prospective clients and preparing and issuing quotes to prospective clients. • Providing guidance to the team on internal processes, changes in process and introduction of process change resulting in efficiencies • Oversight of self-employed contractors, including resource planning for the Accounts Examination Service, preparation and issuing of contracts, and checking and authorising invoices. Technical, advisory and training • Working with relevant team leaders to provide ad hoc advice to client charities on a range of technical issues (which may include advice on accounting issues and arrangements, internal controls, governance and regulatory compliance), including as part of our Consultancy Helpline Service, participating in the treasurer’s Dial In and contributing to Briefing Papers and blogs, as appropriate. • Work alongside other leaders to help input into and develop educational resources and / or deliver training. 6 It’s all about you… We recognise that to be great at your role, there are certain characteristics that are important and others that enable a good fit within our existing team and culture. • You are a practising Christian and be able to clearly demonstrate a personal commitment to the mission, principles, values and practices contained in our Ethos Statement. You should also be able to demonstrate enthusiasm for the Christian purposes of the organisation and a readiness to support and contribute to its ethos. You will have: • A formal accounting qualification and experience in professional accountancy supervisory roles. You will also have a practising certificate or be able to obtain one. • Experience of leading a professionally qualified team and of monitoring financial performance, key metrics and other key performance indicators. • A good understanding of charity finance issues and an understanding of UK statutory accounts for charities and companies. • The ability to quickly understand financial and professional practices and the values that underpin good financial stewardship in an organisation, balancing legal compliance and biblical practice relevant to the client organisations we work with. • Experience of writing guidance and advice on complex financial issues which can easily be understood by nonfinancial people and the ability to give advice both in writing and orally. • Previous involvement in evangelical church finances and enjoy working with Christian church leaders and charity trustees. • You have an enquiring mind and understanding of implications that leads you into enquiry and analysis, but also understand the relevance of prioritising what is important. • You have a commitment to deadlines, are able to plan and prioritise work and manage and motivate the members of the team that you lead. 7 Desired skills and experience Skills and experience Essential Desirable Have a professional accounting qualification and current membership allowing you to undertake independent examinations for entities with income of over £250,000. Proven ability to lead, support and line manage a team, including professionally qualified staff. Ability to plan, organise and chair regular team meetings. Strong experience in accounts preparation and examination, including managing a client portfolio. Up to date knowledge of Charity Commission requirements and accounting body best practice. Ability to provide technical advice to team members and clients on accounting issues, governance, internal controls, and regulatory compliance. Experience in developing or delivering service strategy in partnership with senior leadership. Strong commercial acumen, including responsibility for budgets, KPIs, profitability and capacity management. Ability to identify opportunities for growth and engage confidently with prospective clients. Excellent communication skills and the ability to deliver a high-quality service to client charities. Ability to collaborate effectively across teams to ensure an integrated service. Experience overseeing processes, templates and internal systems to ensure compliance and efficiency. Ability to manage operational tasks such as issuing contracts and approving contractor invoices. Experience developing or delivering training materials for team members or clients. Demonstrated enthusiasm for supporting the organisation’s Christian mission and working with integrity and excellence. Experience contributing to thought leadership through briefing papers, blogs or similar. Experience participating in charity sector forums such as treasurers’ dial ins ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ 8 Deep understanding of the challenges and operational realities of Christian charities and churches ✓ Experience leading or supporting process redesign to improve efficiencies You have the Right to Work in the UK (we do not offer sponsorship arrangements). You will meet our Occupational Requirement to be a practising Christian as an active member of a local church and be able to clearly demonstrate a personal commitment to the mission, principles, values and practices contained in our Ethos Statement. ✓ ✓ ✓ 9 Working for Stewardship Q. What are the usual working hours? A. Stewardship’s normal office hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, but you may be required to work flexibly between 8am and 6pm in accordance with the needs of the organisation. Q. How much Annual Leave do you offer? A. All full-time employees receive 27 days Annual Leave, and 8 days bank holiday leave. Q. What are the pension arrangements? A. Stewardship offers a generous pension contribution; the equivalent of 10% of your gross annual salary into a group personal pension scheme (applicable after 3 months service). A salary sacrifice scheme for personal contributions is also available. Q. Is it possible to work from home? A. Yes, we are happy to offer flexibility for this role. There is flexibility for hybrid and remote working in this role. You would be required to attend our London office at least twice a month, or as the organisation requires. Q. What staff benefits do you offer? A. Once probation has been passed, there are number of benefits available to staff: • Subsidised exercise membership • Hybrid and flexible working options • Contribution to your charitable giving account • Generous leave allowances • Long service awards • Participation in the Cycle to Work Scheme • Death in Service benefit (4x annual salary) • Health Cash Plan, Level 1 cover paid by Stewardship • Interest-free loans 10 How to apply for this role Occupational Requirement (OR) As a result of our Christian ethos, this post is covered by an Occupational Requirement (OR) under Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010. The successful applicant will be expected to be a practising Christian and to clearly demonstrate a personal commitment to the mission, principles, values and practices contained in our Ethos Statement, by: • Active membership of local church congregation. • An understanding of the faith aspects of the work of Christian charities, including the preparedness to pray with colleagues, where appropriate. How to apply for this position You can apply online for this role at www.stewardship.org.uk/about-us/careers Please remember to also upload a copy of your C.V. along with a covering letter that demonstrates what you would bring to this role, to Stewardship and how you fulfil the Occupational Requirement. Contact us For any questions or to arrange an informal conversation about this role, please contact Joan Gray, our People, Culture & Place Administrator, on: Telephone: 020 8502 5600, Extension 307 Email: careers@stewardship.org.uk Stewardship 1 Lamb’s Passage, London EC1Y 8AB 020 8502 5600 careers@stewardship.org.uk stewardship.org.uk Stewardship is the operating name of Stewardship Services (UKET) Limited, a registered charity no. 234714, registered in England & Wales, and a company limited by guarantee no. 90305, registered in England & Wales. © Stewardship 2021 11