Finance Adviser

Overview

The Church of England Diocese of London comprises of 400+ parishes north of the River Thames and within the M25 motorway. The Finance team enables the missional objectives of the London Diocesan Fund (LDF), parishes, archdeacons and bishops through delivery of effective financial reporting and efficient processing of financial transactions. We contribute to the work of the parishes by providing support, advice and training to parishes on a wide range of financial issues, both in technical areas such as bookkeeping and gift aid, but also support generous giving and stewardship. There is an occupational requirement that the job-holder is a Christian under the Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010.

Introduction

As Willesden Area Finance Advisor you will have the opportunity to work in partnership with churches across the Willesden Episcopal Area in promoting generous giving, and providing support and resources to clergy and lay leaders on all aspects of parish finance and administration, and you will support the Area leadership team in management of Common Fund and other financial matters. You will be part of a small team of Finance Advisers across the Diocese of London, and your role will also entail coordinating projects for this team in areas such as training for churches, and methods of giving.

The Willesden Area is the north-western area of the Diocese of London containing the four London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow and Hillingdon, and with a population of 1.2 million. The Area’s population is highly diverse and growing rapidly. There are over 100 Church of England places of worship in the Area, 21 church schools, and significant chaplaincy activity, including at Heathrow Airport.

Main Responsibilities

• Provide finance and other appropriate training, support, resources and advice to the clergy, PCCs and parish officers to enable the churches to develop their respective ministries.
• Promote generous giving through training and providing resources to clergy and parish officers.
• Support the introduction of different methods of giving, including online, contactless, and Parish Giving Scheme.
• Assist the Area Bishop, Archdeacon and Area Deans in managing Common Fund giving by the churches in the Area.
• Facilitate and monitor the award of grants and loans to churches from Area funds.
• Build relationships with, and promote effective communication between, the Area team, Finance team, and parish officers.

Project Coordinator Role:

• You will act as project coordinator for the team of Finance Advisers, ensuring that team projects are properly organised, scheduled, maintained and documented. You will have primary responsibility for creating first drafts of particular reports and other documents as necessary, which will be worked on with the rest of the team. Current projects include generous giving training, and support for contactless giving.

The role will require occasional evening and weekend working.

The Ideal Candidate

Key Competencies

Experience, knowledge, training and qualifications

Essential:

• Experience of encouraging charitable giving.
• Experience of charity accounting (accounting qualifications are not a requirement).
• Effective management of a wide variety of working relationships.

Desirable:

• Understanding of the ethos and mission of the Church of England, and of the role of parish clergy.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including relationship building and discretion.
• Effective written and oral communication skills.
• Numerate and financially astute – comfortable working with financial data.
• Self-motivated, as work needs to be undertaken proactively and with limited supervision.
• Attention to detail – accurate and efficient.
• Strong administrative skills, including use of Microsoft Office.

There is an occupational requirement that the job-holder is a Christian under the Part 1 of Schedule 9 to the Equality Act 2010.

About us

The Church of England Diocese of London comprises of 400+ parishes north of the River Thames and within the M25 motorway. The Finance team enables the missional objectives of the London Diocesan Fund (LDF), parishes, archdeacons and bishops through delivery of effective financial reporting and efficient processing of financial transactions. We contribute to the work of the parishes by providing support, advice and training to parishes on a wide range of financial issues, both in technical areas such as bookkeeping and gift aid, but also support generous giving and stewardship. The London Diocesan Fund exists to support the mission of the Church of England in London. The principal activity of the London Diocesan Fund is to operationally and practically serve and support the parishes and people within the Diocese of London, enabling the vision that every Londoner will encounter the love of God in Jesus Christ.