Charity Accountant

Bridge House Estates (BHE) is a 900-year-old historic charity of which the City of London Corporation is trustee. Today its primary purpose is to maintain and support five of London’s most iconic Thames Bridges ( Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Southwark Bridge, Millennium Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge), vital infrastructure which connects the capital and those who live and work here.

During the past 27 years, our vision has expanded to tackle social and economic divides across the capital and we are now London’s biggest independent charitable funder. Today, alongside maintaining the five bridges, our funding arm, ‘City Bridge Trust’ (CBT), uses the charity’s surplus funds to support other charitable causes.

Collaborating with civil society, foundations, policy makers and businesses, we harness the combined experience of local communities and partners to build a fairer, more inclusive London.

BHE is a values-based charity and welcomes applications from all backgrounds and sectors. Equity, diversity and inclusion is as important in our staff and governance as it is in our charitable activities. The City Corporation is a Disability Confident employer and positively welcome applications from disabled people.

Following a recent review, this is an important time in BHE’s history as we look to develop and implement an exciting and ambitious new investment strategy. The finance team will be crucial in ensuring we deliver on these goals and as such we are seeking a Senior Charity Accountant.

Overview:

Reporting to the Charities Technical and Strategic Finance Manager. The role of Senior Charity Accountant will be responsible for the provision of specialist charity finance advice on the due diligence assessment of charitable funding. Ensuring appropriate and sustainable funding decisions are made that align with organisational strategic objectives.

Working closely with the City Bridge Trust (CBT) – The funding arm of the organisation. The Senior Charity Accountant will assist with decisions relating to funding activities, providing constructive challenge regarding ongoing and potential programmes.

Key responsibilities include:

• To undertake constructive challenge of proposals and having autonomy of approving individual financial assessments upto £100k
• To undertake reviews of regular and ad hoc reporting on grant commitments for both BHE and charitable funding activity undertaken within the Corporate Charity & Funding Unit.
• To lead on review of the production of the Annual Report and Financial Statements, along with other regulatory reporting requirements
• To develop and deliver training to funding managers and officers on specialist aspects of charity finance.
• To contribute to a culture within BHE which fosters excellent performance, innovation and trust amongst staff.

The successful candidate will:

• Be Fully Qualified (CCAB, ACA or CIMA)
• Have previous experience within the Not for Profit sector whether through working in a Charitable/third sector organisation or experience of auditing Not for profit organisations.
• Have practical understanding of Charity SORP.
• The ability to influence senior leadership and other primary stakeholders, developing both internal and external relationships.

Although our work with the bridges and distribution of charitable funding is restricted geographically to Greater London, we are an organisation that likes to work with local communities whilst drawing on best practice from around the world. London is a truly global city, and we are looking to reflect its diversity across all levels of the charity. As such, as an equal opportunities employer, we welcome applications from all communities and backgrounds.

Please do note that applications will be reviewed and assessed on a rolling basis and we reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore we encourage you to apply at your earliest convenience.