Finance Manager

Salary: £50, per annum (based on profile and experience)

Duration: Full time, permanent contract

Location: Remote within the United Kingdom

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Preferred start date: As soon as possible

The Degrees Initiative seeks a dynamic Finance Manager in a new role to join an exciting, growing charity working on climate change and scientific capacity building in the Global South.

The Degrees Initiative is a UK-based NGO that strengthens the capacity of the Global South to evaluate solar radiation modification (SRM), a controversial proposal for reducing some impacts of climate change by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth. Degrees is neutral on whether SRM should ever be used, but we believe that the Global South should be empowered to conduct their own research and to play a central role in SRM discussions.

The initiative has been working in different forms for over a decade, and our work receives worldwide coverage and widespread acclaim. The charity, founded in 2021, is now scaling up and has recently doubled its annual budget to £6 million with around 20 staff members.

We seek a Finance Manager to lead the day to day running of the charity’s finances including overseeing the work of our outsourced financial provider. As a grant giving organisation, there will be regular interaction with the programmatic work streams in this position, offering a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to increase the capacity of a field‑leading charity, help empower researchers in the Global South, and contribute to one of the world’s most important climate debates.

If you are an ambitious qualified finance professional, this is an opportunity to step into a role with purpose, international influence, and real impact.

Working with the COO, you will undertake organisational financial planning, budgeting and forecasting so that the senior staff and trustees have comprehensive information for decision making. Furthermore, in cooperation with the Development Manager, this role will support the submission of funding bids and reporting to funders to ensure the continued growth of the charity.

As this is a new role, responsibilities are expected to evolve but some key items include:

• Financial Oversight: Oversee the outsourced finance provider, ensuring service delivery meets organisational needs and deadlines. You will be the primary liaison between our financial services provider and the staff, ensuring that they make payments on behalf of the organisation, run payroll, complete the bookkeeping via Quick Books, the monthly management accounts, and the annual statutory accounts.
• Budgeting & Forecasting: Prepare and monitor annual organisational budgets including a mid‑year adjustment, cash flow forecasts, financial models and annual accounts to support the annual business cycle and fundraising bids.
• Reporting: Finalise monthly management accounts prepared by outsourced financial provider, deliver financial reports for the COO, senior leadership, and trustees, and prepare donor financial reporting.
• Financial Strategy and Investment Oversight: Working with the COO to manage financial resources and reserves including developing the investment policy to support the long‑term goals of the charity.
• Audit & Compliance: Lead on annual audits, maintain compliance with UK charity finance regulations, and ensure adherence to funder requirements.
• Programmatic financial support: Work closely with the programme teams to ensure their payments processes run smoothly with the outsourced financial provider, and regularly review their grant and event expenditure is in line with their own managed budgets.
• Process Improvement: Identify opportunities to streamline financial processes and implement best practices, such as working with Operations to improve payments & expenses software, opening new bank accounts, or finding new platforms to reduce international payment fees.

• Supervised by COO
• Primary liaison with our outsourced financial provider (including a management accountant, payments officer and bookkeeper)
• Works with the Development Manager
• Gran…