We are looking for a Treasurer who will enjoy using financial skills to improve the life chances of low-income families in the Newbury area.
We are a small volunteer Board, currently 6 Directors, with a wide range of skills and experience. Living in or near Newbury is important so you can visit the site, meet residents and contractors. We are supported by a part-time Clerk but there is much to do – dealing with resident issues, filling vacancies, arranging repairs and servicing. We employ local trades for maintenance and repair work, gardening, and window cleaning.
The Board meets formally every 6 weeks in person. Every Director also sits on at least one of the three Board Committees covering residents, property, and finance, which meet infrequently as needed, often using Zoom.
You will use your professional and technical skills to construct the annual budget and present quarterly management accounts to the Board, and to develop draft statutory annual accounts for presentation to our Independent Examiner. We employ a Clerk for 10 hours per week, dealing with administration and day-to-day bookkeeping, using Quickbooks.
You will need the necessary accounting expertise to oversee all finance matters and dealings with banks - we have a substantial mortgage and significant funds on deposit. The Treasurer is the Board lead on GDPR.
Our reserves of cash are vital. We have developed a planned maintenance schedule for the years ahead covering kitchen appliance and boiler replacement, re-decoration, and longer-term issues like roof replacement.
You will need accounting experience; the Charity's accounts are basic: total annual income is around £140k with a single income source (Weekly Maintenance Charges, the almshouse term for rent), and costs before mortgage interest of about half that.
Some experience of the charitable or social housing sectors would be advantageous. The accounts are similar to those of any small housing rental company but we operate in a tightly-regulated environment as a Registered Provider in receipt of substantial public grant funding during the 2017/18 re-development of our estate.
Experience of developing budgets is important. When the Charity re-opened in 2018 after the re-development, its financial position was strong but recent increases in base rate have led to hefty rises in mortgage interest (our loan balance at Charity Bank is currently £1.1 million) and have tightened our finances considerably. You will be key to ensuring accurate and prudent budgets; that we keep spending under control; and that the Bank is kept on-side.
You will deal with arrears and other payment issues arising: several households are on Universal Credit and the make-up of their Weekly Maintenance Charge payments may vary between UC and their own earnings. The Treasurer also deals with the Charity's insurances and will be Board lead on GDPR compliance.
Our Board has a reasonable mix of gender and age but lacks ethnic diversity, which we are keen to improve. Two directors are disabled. We particularly welcome female and non-white applicants to better reflect the characteristics of our residents, several of whom are from ethnic minority communities or are single parents.
Board experience, particularly with a charity or non-profit, would be an advantage, though certainly not essential.
As Treasurer, your expertise would be key to our financial survival and our ability to continue to provide these much-needed homes to Newbury households in need of good quality housing. We need to keep Weekly Maintenance Charges as low as possible.
Life is increasingly challenging for the households in Mabel Luke Place. We have permanently employed, intermittently employed, self-employed, and unemployed households, many accessing Universal Credit or other benefits, some with fluctuating incomes. We don't directly provide support beyond the provision of good quality housing but we can help by directing residents to local organisations that can provide support.
Inevitably, some households fall into arrears from time to time. We manage this proactively. The finance role is key here – spotting problems early on and collaborating with other directors to help residents through.
The bottom line is: we need to make sure our housing is managed and maintained to a high standard, giving our residents one less important thing to worry about.
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