Finance Manager (Maternity Cover)

Terms and Conditions

Fixed term contract (July 2025 - May 2026)
22.5 hours per week
Annual Leave Entitlement - 6.6 weeks pa (including 8 bank holidays)
Salary of £29,250 - £30,150 pro rata
Volunteer Leave
Personal CPD budget
Personal Wellbeing Time
Office based in Lincoln (remote/hybrid options considered)
 

Description

We are looking for an experienced Finance Manager to join our team for a fixed-term position while our current finance manager is on maternity leave.

Act Trust is a dynamic Lincoln-based Christian charity founded by Alive Church with a mission to Empower People to End Poverty. To fulfil our mission, we mobilise volunteers and run projects which are constantly adapting and developing. These currently include:

• RAFT (Restore And Food Teams) Department:
  • Lincoln Foodbank: Providing emergency food for people in crisis
  • Restore Programme: Supporting people to overcome poverty causes through skills and knowledge development (Life Skills, Money Management, Employability and Wellbeing)
• Community Grocery: Providing low-cost food shopping for membership, alongside support
• Youth: Support young people to raise their aspirations, improve their life choices and reduce the risk of exclusion
• Night Light Cafes: Providing safe spaces every day of the week to support people’s mental health

We are a passionate and determined team who loves to learn and serve together. And with 15 years ofexperience working in the City, we are a bold, empowering and reputable force for good.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Financial Management:

• Providing ongoing management, monitoring and oversight to departmental budgets
• Oversee our bookkeeper for data entry and payments
• Authorising invoice expenditure and expense claim payments
• Monitoring Acts Trust’s bank activity
• Accurate and timely preparation of invoices and wider financial documentation and processes (such as establishing direct debits) for customers, donors and suppliers
• Processing the payroll and ensuring payments are made for wages, HMRC and pensions

Planning, evaluating and reporting;

• Monitoring of financial performance against department and fund budgets
• Compiling financial reports for stakeholders, including profit and loss review for the Senior Leadership Team and the Board of Directors

Funding:

• Assist with preparing budgets for any funding applications
• Grants management, including tracking of expenditure, providing evidence of spend, maintaining audit trails and financial reporting
• Supporting the teams in preparing Grant Evaluation Reports for funders/significant donors.
• Advising on and supporting the development and implementation of the Acts Trust fundraising strategy and approach

Other duties:

• Supporting the Senior Leadership Team by providing effective insight and advice on funding and fundraising matters as and when required
• Actively engaging and supporting Trust-wide events and campaigns
• Attend staff meetings and board meetings as required (remote access is possible)
• Abide by Health and Safety guidelines and share responsibility for your own safety and colleagues
• Contribute to team Christian prayer and worship meetings and Bible studies
• Actively promote and represent the ethos and work of Acts Trust and our founder, Alive Church
• Any other duty as requested by the Acts Trust CEO, Operations Manager and the Board of
• Directors

Person Specification

Genuine Occupational Requirement:

Acts Trust actively seeks to recruit the right mix of talent, skills and potential, promoting equality for all, and welcomes applications from a wide range of candidates. We select all candidates for an interview based on their skills, qualifications, experience and commitment to our values and purposes.
As an organisation seeking to deliver services within a Christian context, some posts can only be filled by Christians. The nature of these posts or the context in which they are carried out, and their link to the ethos of the organisation, give rise to a 'protected characteristic' (or 'genuine occupational requirement') for the post-holders to be Christians.
This post has been identified as having an “occupational requirement” under Schedule 9, Part 1, paragraph 1 and 3 of the Equality Act 2010 where it is a requirement that this post be filled by a Christian due to the requirement of the post holder to lead or participate in worship, prayer and bible-study.
The postholder will be required to demonstrate an active and clear commitment to the Christian faith.

Personal Attributes:

• Have a keen interest in social justice and local community action
• Committed to Acts Trust’s Vision, Mission and Values (you can read more at www.actstrust.org.uk)
• Understanding and commitment to equal opportunities
• Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with people from a range of ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds, gender, age, religious and sexual orientation
• Willingness to be flexible with hours, including the occasional evening meeting or event
• Adaptable to change as our projects develop and grow with time
• Will proactively seek opportunities to promote fundraising within personal networks and relationships
• Model personal generosity towards Acts Trust through giving campaigns

Essential:

• A basic accounting qualification such as AAT or part Qualified Accountant or equivalent (or demonstrable experience working to this level)
• Experience of working with a Small-Medium Enterprise in a financial or bookkeeping role
• Experience and understanding of accounting processes such as bookkeeping and reporting
• A knowledge of grant application and reporting processes, and/or tendering for contracts
• Excellent financial skills with strong attention to detail and accuracy
• IT literate with a strong knowledge of relevant financial software (e.g., Google Sheets and Xero)
• Able to generate clear and concise reports, including accurate analysis and summary
• Resourceful; will always seek to maximise the impact of financial provision across the organisation
• Trustworthy and able to consistently model a high level of integrity and accountability
• A confident and clear communicator with excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to articulate concise and persuasive rationale in support of funding bids.
• Can effectively multitask and prioritise workload across a range of teams and needs
• Uphold and contribute to our Christian ethos and culture

Desirable:

• A contextual understanding of financial requirements and policy within the charity sector
• Experience of working within the charity sector, specifically contributing insightful financial reporting and documentation for various purposes
• A working knowledge and understanding of payroll operations
• Experience of liaising with accountants for the preparation of annual accounts
• Experience of submitting Gift Aid claims
• Experience of working with churches