The Blagrave Trust is looking for new Finance Lead Trustee to support us to bring lasting change to the lives of young people; investing in them as powerful forces for change and acting upon their right to be heard in pursuit of a fair and just society.
Do you have finance experience that you would like to bring to an ambitious and thoughtful organisation? If so we would love to hear from you. We would encourage you to read more on our about page, where you can find more about our mission, values and our vision on how we can as an organisation tackle the issues that matter to young people.
Finance Trustee Lead
Role Description
Objective
The Finance Lead Trustee will hold the Board and Executive Team to account for the Charity’s finances, providing inclusive financial leadership to the Board of Trustees and particularly the Finance and Investment Committee members. The Finance Lead Trustee will also support and work closely with the Finance and Governance Manager alongside the CEO on finance matters of the Trust. Where appropriate you will also support and challenge the CEO and ensure that the Board functions as a unit and works closely with the entire Executive of the charity to achieve agreed objectives.
For an endowed foundation with capital assets circa £30 million and a diverse property portfolio where our income is derived from, it will be fundamental that the Finance Lead Trustee has an interest in sustainable and ethical investment approaches in line with our own.
Principal responsibilities
Strategic support
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- Provide financial leadership to the charity and its Board, ensuring that the Charity is following best practice, adhering to charity law and as much as possible lives its values in the way that it engages with its finances.
- Oversee the financial affairs of the organisation and ensure they are legal, constitutional and within accepted accounting practice.
- Ensure that the Charity operates within its charitable objectives and be an active part of providing the trust with a clear strategic direction.
- Ensure that the organisation is able to regularly review major financial risks and associated opportunities and satisfy itself that systems are in place to take advantage of opportunities and manage and mitigate the risks.
- Ensure proper records are kept and that effective financial procedures are in place.
- Ensure effective monitoring and reporting on the financial health of the organisation.
- Oversee the production of necessary financial reports/returns, accounts and audits.
- Ensure the board receives regular reports updating on the spend against budget, cashflow and investment performance.
- Oversee the production of an annual budget produced by the CEO and supported by the Blagrave staff team.
- Assist the Chair and CEO to ensure that the Board fulfils its duties to ensure sound financial health of the charity, with systems in place to ensure financial accountability.
- Support fellow Trustees and Finance & Investment Committee members to be aware of their financial obligations and take a lead in interpreting financial data in a way that facilitates their collective engagement, oversight and decision- making.
- Chair meetings of the Finance and Investment Committee effectively and efficiently, bringing impartiality and objectivity to the decision-making process.
- Work closely with the CEO to give direction to Finance and Investment Committee meetings and to ensure that meetings are well planned, meaningful and reflect the responsibilities of trustees.
- Provide advice to the Board and Executive Leadership Team on the financial implications of strategic decisions.
External Relations
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- Be an ambassador for and if appropriate act as a spokesperson for the Blagrave Trust.
- From time to time represent the charity at sector external functions, meetings and events.
The Finance Lead Trustee is also responsible for (alongside other trustees)
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- Advising on the charity’s strategic direction and financial stability.
- Approving the organisational strategy and annual budget.
- Setting and monitoring performance and risk parameters.
- Using specific skills, knowledge, and experience to help the Board reach sound decisions.
- Keeping up to date with charity law, company law and the environment in which the Trust operates.
- Maintaining appropriate confidentiality, abiding by the charity’s code of conduct and disclosing any conflicts of interest.
- Ensure that Trustees are fully engaged and that decisions are taken in the best, long-term interests of the Charity and that the Board takes collective ownership.
- Monitor that decisions taken at meetings are implemented and upheld.
Recruitment Timetable
Deadline for applications: Sunday 1st October 2023
Interviews with Blagrave: w/c 9th or 16th October
If interested, please read and download the job description here, and apply via the Prospectus website.
The successful candidate will be appointed subject to DBS checks and references.
If you wish to have an informal discussion about the opportunity, please contact Lottie Wihl or Hayley Sheldon at Prospectus via email: Lottie.Wihl@prospect-us.co.uk, hayley.sheldon@prospect-us.co.uk