Full time | UK Remote Working | Permanent | £45,000 - 55,000 per annum
Deadline: Monday 20 March 2023 at 10am GMT
At Brink we see finance and operations as magic mechanisms that underpin our business and enable the team to do the best work of their lives. This past year Brink has grown its global portfolio of work and headcount to 30+, opened an office in East Africa and set up Brink Foundation CIC, a Community Interest Company. As we turn 5 in April, we have major ambitions for the next stage of the company’s growth. We have an opening for a Finance Manager to join us to help power that growth and continue to enable our brilliant team of Brinksters.
As a core member of our operations team, we’ll be looking to the Finance Manager for expert financial support, advice and recommendations on things like financial planning, management and control. You’ll be working closely with the Founders, the portfolio CFO (a part time role) and the operations team to keep Brink running smoothly and support the wider team.
The right person will see this as an opportunity to grow with us and will feel excited about the possibilities of this role, and motivated by Brink’s mission to make a meaningful dent on the world.
The role
What you’ll be doing
- Ensuring the smooth day-to-day operations of the finance processes, including month-end, bank reconciliations, tax, reporting and payroll.
- Supporting financial planning and analysis including forecasting and financial modelling, making sure our forecasts are increasingly accurate and predictable
- Working with the Ops Manager to provide data and create process to support the internal resourcing and forecasting
- Implementing and upgrading financial processes, systems, and policies as the company grows, including relevant tech tools to ensure effective and efficient financial management
- Managing our external accountant; overseeing the preparation of management accounts, including interpreting financial performance, identifying issues and value creation opportunities
- Preparing reports that create clarity and transparency to guide our financial decision making, with an eye on user experience for Brink team
- Providing hands on guidance and support to programme leads on financial issues, alongside the operations manager
- Ensuring the integrity of Brink’s financial systems and compliance with appropriate accounting policies, taking into account the Brink group entities - Brink Ltd, CIC and wholly-owned Rwandan subsidiary. Knowing when to bring in external expertise on specialist subjects related to this, as appropriate
- Answering routine queries arising from Brink team, budget holders, as well as external bodies we work with, including government agencies, donors and partners
- Ensuring all government funded projects retain robust audit trails for internal and external audit, meeting client and other stakeholders’ requirements
- Supporting financial management of Brink’s foreign subsidiaries, liaising with local teams, accountants, and other professionals, and helping us find the right experts who can give us advice on things like international tax laws
- Advising and leading on taxation matters, including R&D tax credit claims preparation, in coordination with external tax advisors
- There may be other things and we’ll uncover those together. This is an evolving role that will grow with Brink and the team over time
Your skills and experience
- 3-7 years’ previous experience in a finance function. Solid experience in a professional services environment and a global business group is essential, exposure to government-funded projects is a bonus
- Able to provide actionable recommendations and communicate clearly with Founders and team
- Excellent FP&A skills and experience working on forecasting and resourcing
- Networked, knows who to go to about things and has a strong network of support and professional expertise
- Tech-savvy, able to identify the right tools and implement them. We use tools like Xero, Harvest and a lot of Google Sheets, and we’re always interested in new tools that make our lives easier and our work more joyful
- High professional standards and integrity especially around sensitive financial issues
- Previous exposure to finance in a fast growing, dynamic, startup environment. If you have also had exposure to a B Corp or other ESG corporate governance, green accounting or e-liabiltity accounting that’s a definite bonus. As a certified B Corp we are bound by law to do well, by doing good and to look after our impact as we look after our P&L.
- Wants to be a Brinkster, which means being a valued member of an energetic, passionate and fun-loving team with a strong culture that you’ll be invited to contribute towards in your own way.
- Is energised by Brink’s mission. As part of the Brink team you'll be working alongside colleagues tackling some of the world’s greatest challenges, like access to education, shortages of oxygen for children or climate change. Our hope is that this excites you and motivates you
- ACCA, ACA, CIMA qualification preferred but not required
We also look for these interpersonal skills (being a ‘Brinkster’):
- Growth mindset: keen and eager to experiment and learn, comfortable with not knowing all the answers yet and happy to let stuff go when it doesn’t quite hit the mark
- Is ‘interoperable’: quickly establishes rapport with all kinds of people
- Enjoys ‘making others shine': Brink is a low-ego zone that thrives on making our colleagues, clients and collaborators shine
- Self-starter, proactive, can 'get on with it', has a sense of agency and a point of view
How we work
- A team of around 30 that genuinely enjoy spending time together, online and in person where possible.
- Remote-first approach.
- You can work outside of the UK for a maximum of 100 days within the tax year.
- Flexible working hours; you take ownership over how you get your work done.
- Dedicated learning time at our ‘Dojo Days’.
- Certain set days over the year where we require the team to be together in real life. This is usually for around one week in mid January and for another week in mid July. Depending on your location it may also include travel and overnight stays.
In addition to your annual salary you’ll have access to extra things to support you to be your best self, in and out of the office.
🐙 A role that isn’t available for anyone else and shaped around you and your interests
🏖 ‘Take what you need’ annual leave
🧠 Dedicated coaching for your mental health and wellbeing from Sanctus
🎒 Brink retreats and away days
📚 Kindle with unlimited books
🎓 Generous training budget
🏡 Workspace expense budget for working from home
🚴♀️ Access to a cycle to work scheme
🐣 16 weeks full pay parental leave
How to apply
If you’re interested in joining us, please click on our beautiful ‘apply here’ button below. This will take you to an online application form where we will ask you to upload your CV as well as a response to the following questions:
- How would you approach reporting and improving on monthly programme forecasts versus actuals, with colleagues that are not financially minded and may find this process stressful?
- Can you provide an example of difficulties you have overcome when working within a global business group and how you would now approach the same situation differently?
Please be as creative as you are comfortable with and choose any structure or layout to present your information, but remember to keep it under 50mb.
- Please answer one of these 36 questions.
This upload can be a video, voice recording, PDF or any other format which you would prefer - we’re open to the weird and wonderful! As long as you keep it to roughly a 2 minute read/watch/listen and under 50mb.
Please note that once you are in the online application form, there is no option to save and return. So please feel free to pop in just to have a look and come back later when you're ready.
📅 The deadline for this application is 10AM GMT on Thursday 16 March 2023. You will receive an email from the system to confirm your application has been received and we will be in touch (we aim for within 2 weeks) to let you know if we’ll be taking it further.
🔗 Our commitment as Brink
Diversity is in our DNA at Brink and we’re proud of the broad range of Brinksters we have on board. We also know there is always room for improvement which is why we track diversity in all its guises to see how we’re doing, and make efforts to cast our hiring net as wide as possible. Our latest survey shows we could do better in some areas, so we’re particularly encouraging applications from people of the Global Ethnic Majority, people over 50, parents, neurodiverse people and/or those living with a disability.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability or age. We are happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments individuals may require in the recruitment process, on commencement, or once in post.
❓❗ Questions that people often ask us
Where is this role based?
Brink is a remote team and we work all over the place from London, Paris, Nairobi, Kigali and Amsterdam. However, for this role we are looking for someone who is based in the UK and has UK right to work. If you plan to work in the UK on an existing visa, please let us know on the application form the visa type and expiry date.
