Overview

Sightsavers is looking for a Senior Finance Systems & Projects Executive to help lead and evolve our integrated finance systems and change projects—acting as a technical lead on system enhancements while driving business‑wide and finance team process improvement. 

Salary: £36,436 to £42,866 

Location: UK remote - with occasional travel to Haywards Heath, West Sussex when required and up to five weeks international travel per year

Contract: 24-Month Fixed-term Contract

Hours: This is a full-time role with some flexibility around hours worked and lots of home working

Responsibilities

About the role
You’ll share responsibility for the Finance Systems & Projects function, reporting into the Head of Finance Systems & Projects within Operations, Planning & Finance

Your focus will be to deliver system improvements, strong controls, and smooth change adoption across a global user base: 

• Provide training and day to day support to Finance Systems team members, troubleshooting issues for internal and external stakeholders.
• Oversee project management for new financial processes and initiatives—producing project plans, conducting research/benchmarking and analysis, managing scope and stakeholders, and tracking progress to timelines.
• Support global business users to embed new operational and financial processes, including communication, stakeholder engagement, and creating training and eLearning materials.
• Continually review finance systems, processes, and information flows to identify efficiency gains and control enhancements.
• Keep process documentation up to date and aligned with the Sightsavers Financial Framework.
• Oversee maintenance and support for accounting, procurement, expenses, banking and related financial software within a robust control framework and in line with accounting principles.
• Plan and refresh user training and information delivery so all system users have the tools and guidance needed for their role.
• Respond to escalated queries and coordinate with external stakeholders as part of training, support and monitoring activities.
• Some international travel (Africa/Asia/UK) may be required. up to approximately five weeks per year.

Please note: duties are not exhaustive, and a flexible approach is expected. See the full job description for further details

Skills and Experience

You’re an experienced finance or finance systems professional who combines technical depth with project delivery and clear communication.

Knowledge & experience
• Part qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, ACMA) or equivalent experience; newly qualified applicants are also welcome. 
• Significant experience in a finance role with a strong systems component (or extensive experience as a user); project management experience in a finance environment is desired. 
• Sound understanding of accounting principles and a solid technical background. 
• Advanced knowledge of mid range accounting systems and controls (ideally SUN Accounts). 
• Familiarity with eProcurement and financial reporting systems (ideally Proactis). 
• Advantageous: knowledge of Supplier Onboarding and Auto Invoice processing systems. 
• Experience developing/managing interfaces between software systems. 
• Experience within a complex international organisation and understanding of the international charity sector and regulatory environment
• Degree level education or equivalent is ideal. 

Skills & ways of working
• Strong ICT skills, including mid  to high range accounting packages and eProcurement systems. 
• Able to produce clear, global audience project documentation and implement process change projects. 
• Highly organised, delivering to time and specification; deep finance systems knowledge. 
• Excellent communicator, confident working remotely with global colleagues and engaging stakeholders to keep projects on track. 
• Strong focus on financial control and robust processes, with a logical approach to problem solving and process redesign. 
• A clear commitment to equality of opportunity for disabled people. 

Core behaviours
Integrity and strong work ethics, effective communication and influencing, teamwork, planning and organising, change and improvement, sound decision making, and reliable delivery and implementation.

Please note that you must have existing and ongoing going Right to Work in the UK for the duration of this contract and that for contractual and legal reasons, this role must be worked from within the UK.

Next Steps

To apply for this exciting opportunity, please complete an application via our recruitment portal. We are particularly interested in learning of your motivations for applying. Please note that there will be an expectation that you can occasionally visit our modern and collaborative offices in Haywards Heath, West Sussex (RH16 3BW) and international travel will be required.

We anticipate that remote interviews will take place in early February, and the evaluation process may include a role-typical task to be completed by shortlisted candidates in advance of this. We would ideally like the appointed candidate to start in early March to allow for a handover.

As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.

Sightsavers is an employer that does not tolerate any form of harassment and has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All potential candidates will be subjected to rigorous background checks and controls.

In line with its commitment to safe programming and recruitment, Sightsavers participates in the inter-agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (MDS) administered by the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response. Through collaboration with other MDS members, Sightsavers aims to ensure that there are no sexual exploitation, abuse or harassment issues relating to potential new hires and that we can respond systematically to checks from fellow MDS members. This ensures our work is accountable, delivered to a high standard and supports safeguarding across the development and humanitarian fields.