Head of Operations & Finance

Our commitment to you

Subak is committed to creating a working environment that maximises the potential of all our people and partners, providing equal opportunities in all aspects of recruitment and employment. 

What do we do?

Subak is a tech accelerator and data cooperative for climate change not-for-profits and experts. Subak’s mission is to address the climate crisis by accelerating an ecosystem of innovative not-for-profits using data and technology to influence policy and mass-market behaviour.

What do we mean by data cooperative?

Our data cooperative makes data connected, searchable and trusted to accelerate impact. We have 3 stages in our approach, 1). we pool, aggregate and share climate and consumer data for our members, 2). we distill by making opaque and decentralised data open and accessible, 3). we irrigate and supply members with clean, connected data ‘on tap’ and equip them to mobilise information and accelerate their impact

What is the scope of the career challenge on offer?

You will report into our CEO, Amali de Alwis, to deliver the following key priorities, to enable the growth of Subak: 

• Operational foundations to support growth: as Subak scales, we need to establish appropriate business processes and policies, and implement operational systems that support strategic objectives for our team and community 
• Financial framework: as a regranter, we allocate funding to our members and fellows and we require a robust financial framework to ensure we can report on financial activities and provide transparency to all stakeholders including our board and funders
• International expansion: you will partner with the CEO to establish the next International node for Subak; this will be a full lifecycle project which will require full operational set-up. 
• Fundraising: again, partnering with the CEO, you will support the preparation for the next funding round while implementing a funder reporting mechanism to provide transparency to all our key stakeholders. 
• People management: you will people-manage the Business & Community Manager, and support them to develop effective team and community management processes, as well as advise the Programmes team and Subak members community on Operational best practice. 

What are we looking for in you? 

As a C-suite or Head of Operations and Finance, you will have a commercial background that illustrates the following skills, experience and knowledge:: 

• you will have a successful track record as a Head of Operations or Chief Operating Officer in a tech startups or scaleup, or growth/accelerator programme 
• you are an expert at designing and implementing business operations including operational audit, planning, processes and policies, that have delivered successful company improvement and growth
• you will be able to create, report and contextualise financial information and data, with strong financial acumen & literacy 
• you’ll be able to demonstrate your knowledge and experience of working across a myriad of operational business functions that could include finance, HR, operations, tech platforms, communications and workspace management 
• you will have previous experience of business reporting and working with performance and operational related data and making decisions on the insights
• previous experience of grant fundraising and/or equity investment 
• we are looking for in the individual who is an owner, who is comfortable making decisions, solving problems, supporting team members to find solutions whilst always aiming to build trust through transparency and collaboration
• you’ll have a BSc or MSc in business administration or another relevant qualification or equivalent experience  

Nice to have:

• an Accountancy of Finance Qualification (ACA, CFA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
• formalised project management experience would be beneficial (e.g. PRINCE2 Foundation or Practitioner certification)
• previous experience of working in the not-for-profit and/or climate change sector

Benefits

• Basic salary: circa £85,000 - £95,000 per annum 
• Annual leave: 25 days per year pro rata (excluding bank holidays) + 2 weeks additional holidays over the Christmas period
• Pension
• Hybrid working (in-office and remote)
• A friendly and supportive team of colleagues

Diversity and Inclusion statement

We are especially keen to encourage applications and interest from individuals underrepresented in the climate and tech space. Climate change and climate justice is a social and inclusion issue. We welcome applicants with lived experience across all equality and inclusion challenges. 

Our interview process

• Stage 1:  Pre-screening interview
  • A pre-screening interview with a member of our talent acquisition team (duration: 30-minutes)

• Stage 2: CEO Interview 
  • An interview that requires the interviewee to prepare a 1-pager to present in the interview based on a specific task. This will form the basis of the interview with our CEO, Amali de Alwis (duration: 75-90-minutes)

• Stage 3: Senior Leader, Key Stakeholder & Team Member Interview
  • The 3rd stage, or interview loop, includes 3 x 45-minute interviews with our Head of Technology, one of our Key Stakeholders and a Manager-level Interview; all the interviews will offer a unique perspective of Subak (total duration: 135-minutes)

UK Sponsorship: Unfortunately, at this stage of our growth, we are unable to offer UK sponsorship to applicants. All applicants are required to have the Right to Work in the UK without any restrictions.