Last year, 136,000 young people approached their council for help as they were homeless or at risk of being homeless. Even more alarming is that figure represents an increase of 58% from six years ago. Youth homelessness costs the UK economy an estimated £8.5bn, largely due to unemployment, and so the challenge can feel huge. But we already have the resources to solve it within the built environment sector. And that is where LandAid comes in.
We use our links to the UK’s property industry, harnessing its members’ direct capital, assets and skills to help tackle youth homelessness by awarding grants and investing in frontline charities, providing financial support, and brokering free advice and expertise to increase the impact of their support.
The Chief Financial and Operating Officer is an important new role for us, created to ensure we achieve our ambitions over the coming years by focusing on delivering better quality of management information, insights and analysis to the Board and leadership to inform decision making. A key early component of the role will be to develop a detailed four-year financial plan in line with our organisational strategy. You will also look to invest in our internal operations by driving continuous improvement and exploring emergent technologies that offer us the ability to deliver greater real-time insights to and efficiencies for our teams. In addition, you will review our risk and governance frameworks by working actively with our Board sub-committees.
Beyond finance, you will oversee our outsourced HR and IT functions, ensuring we receive high-quality and cost-effective support and have robust systems and policies in place. You will also continue our work to become an employer of choice, building on our achievements today which have seen us identified as one of the UK’s ‘100 Best Small Companies to Work For’, and shortlisted as one of the ‘Top 30 Charities to Work For’.
We are looking for a chartered accountant who brings senior finance leadership experience either at executive director level in an organisation of similar size to ours, or deputy director level in a larger organisation, most likely within a charity setting. Knowledge of the built environment and/or capital investment is advantageous, as is an understanding of the models of social investment. Crucially, you’ll be the sort of person your colleagues are keen to learn from and eager to work with, able to offer expert insight and coaching with patient enthusiasm, but comfortable in offering clear advice and direction when needed.
To download a full copy of the candidate brief and learn more about the role, please click the ‘Apply’ button, where you will be redirected to the website of our recruitment partner, Tall Roots. If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact Tall Roots via their website.