About Us

Abbeyfield Southern Oaks is deeply interconnected with the local community on many levels in the spirit and practice of our vision and values. Residents, employees, trustees, volunteers and service professionals are all drawn from the local area. Abbeyfield Southern Oaks is a not-for-profit organisation. We provide supported housing for people who are still able to care for themselves and wish to remain independent. Our residents generally don’t want the responsibilities of maintaining a house or flat, or a garden, but they’re not ready to go into a care home. We currently have five supported houses with between 4-11 residents in each at any one time.

We also recently developed Nonsuch Abbeyfield, a supportive, vibrant retirement village in Surrey where active, independent living is at its heart. 36 of the flats are owned by leaseholders while the rest are rented at an agreed affordable rent, frequently when residents have been referred by the local council.

Background to the role

With our plans to develop and grow our offer, our current Finance Trustee wishes to step back to focus on other areas and we need to replenish this important range of skills and expertise on the Board.

In addition to our quarterly Board meetings, Trustees may be asked to sit on sub-committees and attend ad hoc meetings. The time commitment will be on average one to two days a month and can be delivered across the year in a flexible way.

Main Responsibilities

Overall purpose of the Finance Trustee role

• Overseeing the financial affairs of the organisation, providing assurance to the Board of Trustees, and ensuring that they are legal, constitutional and within accepted accounting practice
• Ensuring that effective financial policies, procedures and controls are in place, giving expert strategic advice to the executive team to ensure good practice and compliance with charity accounting rules
• Chairing the Finance Committee, a sub-committee of the Board working with the Services Committee, which oversees all financial matters and leads financial planning and practice, reporting to the Board
• Working with the Risk and Oversight Committee

Person Specification

• A qualified accounting and finance professional or another suitably qualified professional with extensive business management experience.
• Significant, practical finance experience at a strategic level, including especially the development and monitoring of business plans and performance for sustaining and growing the Society’s business
• Experience of overseeing and supporting staff responsible for accounting, budgeting, longer term financial planning and management reporting to Trustees 
• Experience of managing finance systems sufficient to lead and oversee the finance and related systems aspects of any potential takeover of, or merger.
• Ability to communicate complex finance and accounting issues to non-financial colleagues so as to lead on financial reporting to regulators, and Board members

Diversity and inclusion 

Abbeyfield Southern Oaks is fully committed to equality of opportunity and diversity to ensure that we reflect the full breadth of the people we aim to support. We work within an increasingly diverse area, and it is important that the Board is representative of the communities that we serve. We would particularly welcome applications from women and people from an ethnic minority background who are currently under-represented on the Board and warmly welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

How to apply

Eastside People is supporting Abbeyfield Southern Oaks in the recruitment of this role. Please download the Candidate Pack for all information. Please click here to apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter both in Word doc. format, which should indicate why you are interested in applying for the particular role and how you meet the selection criteria. 

If you would like a call to discuss the role in more detail, please email Lucinda Shaw, lucinda@eastsidepeople.org  to arrange a convenient time. Having a call of this kind will not influence the success or otherwise of your application.

The closing date for applications is Monday 21 April. Shortlisting interviews will take place the week after and shortlisted candidates will have an interview with Abbeyfield Southern Oaks in the following weeks.

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential; please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustment so that we can help with making the application process work for you.