Operations and Finance Coordinator

Full time or part time (3-4 days per week)

Salary £38-45k (full time, pro rata for part time)

About us

We are a small, friendly and ambitious team of people passionate about using cutting edge technology to trace big ideas on their journey from conception into real world policy. We have the world’s largest database of policy documents from around the world and find where they reference academic work, individual researchers and other policy documents. Our clients include leading global universities, government agencies, top think tanks, UN agencies, academic publishers and others.

What we're looking for

We are looking for a detail-oriented, reliable and proactive Operations and Finance Coordinator to join our team. We’ve been growing our client base quickly over the past few years and admin has grown alongside it, so we’re looking for someone incredibly organised and efficient to take on the finance and contracts processes as well as support the COO with recruitment, HR, office management and a whole range of other operations tasks that arise.

Day to day, you’ll be responsible for ensuring all the invoicing happens promptly and accurately, liaising with our lead contacts at client organisations to understand their processes for being invoiced and to confirm pricing details and provide contract extension paperwork at renewal time, collaborating closely with customer engagement and sales colleagues. Often this will entail registering us as a supplier on the client’s internal systems, providing documents for additional tax/financial checks, and requesting PO numbers. You’ll use our CRM Pipedrive to keep client records and data up-to-date.

Aside from the invoicing and contracts, you’ll also help with our team expenses, facilitating supplier payments and getting receipts to the accountants when needed, as well as helping monitor our budgets and expenditure. 

On the HR side, we run regular recruitment processes so you’ll provide support in organising these, liaising with candidates, and organising interviews, and you’ll help keep our health and safety policies up to date too.

And then there are lots of general operations and office management things to help with, including organising our company meetings and socials, reporting on our ethical commitments and anything else that might arise.

You’ll be based in our London Euston office at least 2 days per week – we coordinate to be in on the same days. We have staff who work remotely so we have quarterly in-person team meetings in London and we have an annual all-company retreat in a European city (2 days).

About you

This role would suit someone who is incredibly organised with an eagle eye for detail, who likes having a mix of internal and external facing work, who thrives in a small team and can operate with a lot of autonomy. You will be comfortable collaborating with colleagues closely and able to liaise with external stakeholders in a friendly and professional way. 

This is a high trust position, so you’ll need to operate with transparency at all times, owning your mistakes and always asking questions if needed. You’ll be entrusted with confidential client, business and candidate information and will be the external face of the company through your interactions with clients and others, so you’ll be someone who demonstrates professionalism, discretion and empathy.

We can consider part time applicants who want to do 3 or 4 days per week. In this scenario, the role would have a greater weighting towards the finance and contracts side, with less of the general operations work.

About the role

Each week will be different but here are some examples of things you might be involved with:

Finance, contracts and client admin support - 60%

• Owning the invoicing process - creating, sending and chasing invoices using Xero
• Working closely with the sales and customer engagement teams to provide renewal pricing to clients and handling the contract renewal paperwork
• Liaising with clients around supplier setup processes and registering on supplier portals
• Keeping CRM data up to date
• Handling team expenses and ensuring suppliers are paid
• Sending receipts and invoices to the accountants
• Monitoring company budgets and our expenditure

HR - 20%

• Running recruitment processes - writing job ads, advertising roles, headhunting candidates, organising interviews and managing the applicant pipeline
• Helping with onboarding new staff
• Ensuring our health and safety and fire procedures are up to date
• Helping with internal communications and company announcements 

General operations - 20%

• Liaising with the building manager around our office contract and day to day issues
• Organising company meetings and events
• Assisting with strategic reporting - eg longer term forecasts, sales pipeline, quarterly sales reports, customer retention etc
• Assisting with maintaining and renewing company insurance policies
• Reviewing and updating company policies
• Staying up to date on best practice in HR, legal, cyber and other business areas
• Assisting with our regular reporting on ethical commitments
• Booking accommodation and travel for colleagues
• Improving and scaling our internal processes
• Proactively finding and fixing problems
• Liaising across the company to understand colleagues’ needs, challenges and blockers

Application process

Apply with your CV and a non-generic cover letter that explains why you are right for the role and why you want to work for Overton. We will review applications on a rolling basis and we will endeavour to reply to you as soon as we can but there may be a wait of a few weeks due to the volume of applications. We will set up a 15 minute call to discuss your application, followed by an hour long interview and a practical task.

We welcome applicants from all walks of life and strive to create an inclusive workplace where different perspectives are valued. We want to make sure everyone feels fully able to participate in the application process and in the role itself so if you need any adjustments or there’s anything else we should be aware of, just let us know when you apply!

If you have any questions, reach out to operations@overton.io

Essential:

• At least 4 years of experience in a similar role, for example in an operations or finance team or as an executive assistant
• Experience creating, sending and chasing invoices using a system such as Xero (you don’t need to know accountancy or bookkeeping)
• Excellent administrative and personal organisation skills
• Comfortable interacting with clients and other external stakeholders in a friendly and professional manner
• Experience owning business-critical processes and handling important documents and information
• Experience using a sales CRM (eg Pipedrive or Salesforce)
• Incredible eye for detail
• Ability to spot problems and suggest innovative solutions
• Comfortable with responsibility and accountability
• Thrives in small teams 
• Comfortable with ambiguity and change
• Strong digital literacy

Desirable:

• Experience handling and reviewing contracts 
• Experience running recruitment processes
• Office management experience
• Experience organising company meetings and events

Overall, we’re looking for someone who brings a positive attitude and a problem solving mindset – your ability to learn quickly and be a team player is more important to us than specific experience. 

• Hybrid and flexible working
• A supportive, friendly work environment within a company that cares about its staff and its impact on the world (we are accredited by the Living Wage Foundation and the FSB Good Business Charter and we’re Net Zero!)
• Enhanced employer pension contribution of 6%
• 28 days leave plus 8 bank holidays (36 total), pro rata for part time
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave and pay policies
• Private health insurance with Bupa
• Lovely central London office with in-house gym, rooftop terrace and free hot drinks and snacks (it’s wheelchair accessible and has a prayer/wellbeing room)