Prospect, Britain’s leading magazine of ideas, is looking for a Head of Finance & Resources to take up a central role in our small and friendly team. Over 23 years, Prospect has established a distinct niche in the UK media market—giving Britain’s biggest brains and sharpest pens the space to get behind the headlines and cultural currents of the day.
Run on not-for-profit lines, with the support of the Resolution Trust, the magazine has also developed a fast-growing online presence, and a prestigious events programme. It is currently at a particularly exciting stage, with the latest circulation figures being the highest to date, and with additional resources currently being ploughed into a drive to grow our print and online subscription base.
This post offers a fantastic variety of responsibilities and opportunities: the job effectively involves being Prospect’s chief operating officer. The successful candidate will take a step into the world of the intelligent media, and get to work in every corner of a small company whose activities range from commercially-driven ad sales to journalism with an expressly educational and public interest ethos. This is a challenging and busy role, which involves pulling all aspects of the company’s operations together to help achieve its strategic goals. As such it provides terrific experience—from standard accounting, to dealing regularly with our board, and being the chief scrutineer of the company’s performance against its plans to grow.
It offers a breadth of experience that would not be available in a larger company, and opportunities unusual in a company so small. It could provide a route into media or the not-for-profit world or indeed more senior management in business of any sort.
Key personal responsibilities
- Managing the financial affairs of the company - Ensuring the company has and adheres to appropriate HR policies and procedures - Overseeing legal and regulatory compliance - Supporting the directors in setting and achieving strategic goals and operational targets - Working across departments to coordinate cross-functional communication in areas critical to the achievement of the goals set out in Prospect’s business plan
The role also involves taking a lead on the following tasks, which also involve working with Prospect’s whole team:
- Preparation of annual budget and forecasts - Production of monthly management accounts and cash flow reports - Preparation of quarterly board reports, briefing the board and recording its meetings - Oversight of the production of year-end statutory accounts and audit - HR policies and procedures, and support of line managers in recruitment and performance management - Responsibility for data protection compliance and any other legal or regulatory requirements (although legal and HR advice is available) - Liaison with the office building management - Supervision of company expenditure to ensure that budgets are adhered to and the operations function in the most cost-efficient manner.
Person Specification The person will be a qualified accountant. Previous experience of accounting in a small company would be a plus, but is not a requirement.
Our chief concern is to find someone who has:
- Strong technical accounting skill (we operate on Sage50) - An understanding of the legal and regulatory environment (especially data protection) - Impeccable integrity, strong judgement and good instincts - The ability to marry meticulous attention to detail with a feel for the bigger picture in which this small company operates - Ownership—an ability to identify what needs to be done and get it done, no job too small.
To apply, email a CV and a covering letter to applications@prospect-magazine.co.uk by May 3 2018
First interviews will be held 9-11 May with second interviews the following week.
Data Protection Act 1998
Information provided by you on this application form may be copied for use during the recruitment process. Once the recruitment process is completed, the data will be stored for at least six months and then destroyed. If you are the successful candidate, relevant information will be taken from this application and kept on file.
