The company

Social Bite is a leading Scottish charity aimed at providing support to the homeless across the UK.

They began their journey in 2012 starting out as a small café based in Edinburgh. Since then, they have grown to be one of the leading UK charities. Becoming a major employer of people experiencing homelessness and extreme barriers to employment, as well as the largest provider of free freshly made food in the UK to those in need.

Social Bite has created many projects designed to benefit those in need. Having distributed over 180,000 items of food and drink to the country’s most vulnerable people in 2021. They also created and launched ‘Scotland’s Housing First’ programme. In this programme, they secured 830 mainstream flats across 5 cities designed to provide a permanent home for Scotland’s rough sleepers. This alongside their aim of having 1 in 4 people that work for them either being homeless or having experienced homelessness in their time. Their goal is to continue to grow these numbers and make a real impact to benefit the homeless community.

Since 2016 they have organised the well-known ‘Sleep in the Park’ fundraising events. These events have seen over 18,000 people sleep outside to aid the homeless and have raised over £8 million which has been invested in a range of flagship projects to try and bring an end to homelessness.

Social Bite is now growing the support team around them as they continue to expand. They are looking for candidates who are passionate about making a difference and that offer new ideas to the way the finance structure is being run.

The individual

You will be a Qualified or QBE accountant with great interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate with a variety of stakeholders. You will have a real passion for the charitable sector, whilst being driven to deliver accounting excellence.

You will have excellent problem-solving skills that will enable you to adapt to challenges that you may face while working and the ability to ask questions and support the team around you.  You will have excellent attention to detail and the ability to meet tight deadlines in a fast-growing charitable business. As a driven individual, you will want to take on the responsibility for your work, ensuring it is of a high standard and constantly striving to improve.

The role

Social Bite is looking for a highly motivated individual to support its finance function as they continue to grow. You will report directly to the Group Finance Director with regular interaction with the finance team and various other stakeholders within the business. This role provides the opportunity to get involved in a fantastic business that is centred around giving back to the community.

The position is best suited to someone who is passionate about supporting a charitable business and someone who can bring new ideas to the table. This role will involve providing timely monthly management accounts, overseeing the fortnightly and monthly payroll process, providing regular cash flow forecasts, supporting the Group Finance Director in preparing long-term forecasts and reviewing and supporting in the preparation of quarterly VAT returns and reviewing.

Main Responsibilities

• Providing timely monthly management accounts and associated reports for all Group entities
• Successful completion of annual Group audit and associated corporation tax returns
• Providing regular cash flow forecasts for each Group entity and highlighting any potential risks and mitigating actions
• Supporting the Group FD in preparing longer-term forecasts for the Group
• Overseeing the fortnightly and monthly payroll process
• Review and support in the preparation of a quarterly VAT return for the Group
• Accounting for Restricted Income and Expenditure and ensuring that the Charity remains compliant with its regulatory obligations
• Supporting the Group FD by running the Social Bite Finance department on a day-to-day basis and supporting the development of the team, consisting of the Finance Business Partner and Finance Administrator) – this role does not currently have direct line management responsibility
• Documentation of key finance processes and continuously improving the way in which we do things to create efficiencies and a robust finance environment
• Working with our Insurance Brokers to ensure there is consistently adequate cover across the Group and that they are kept updated of changes that may impact our cover
• Tracking income and expenditure relating to specific Projects/Funding and providing associated reports
• Supporting the Group FD with Board reporting
• Reporting to the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee (a sub-committee of the Charity’s Board)
• Providing general operational Support as required
• Supporting the Group FD in managing Risk across the Group

Experience & Qualifications

• Previous extensive experience of working in a finance department and preferably with the knowledge of charity accounting
• An accounting qualification is preferred (qualified by experience will be considered)
• Highly numerate, with a deep understanding of the company finances including P+L, Balance sheet, cash flow, financing strategies etc.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with an ability to articulate financial information in an engaging and informative way to non-financial colleagues
• Inspiring people management skills
• Places value on collaboration
• Naturally inquisitive, being prepared to ask “why” and constructively challenge others
• High levels of integrity and professional standards
• Track record of identifying and solving problems

Remuneration

£44,000 - £50,000

What to do Next

To find out more on remuneration, the role or to see a full Position Profile, please contact their retained advisor, Harry Thomson at Rutherford Cross by emailing [email protected]

Please note that any direct or third-party approaches will be sent to Rutherford Cross for review and assessment.