Treasurer Trustee (Volunteer)

What will you be doing?

Every animal deserves the chance of a safe, happy future - and behind every successful rescue and rehoming is a charity with strong financial foundations. As our Treasurer Trustee, you'll play a vital role in helping ensure we can continue transforming the lives of vulnerable cats, rabbits and guinea pigs across South Buckinghamshire.

You'll be joining a friendly and committed board of volunteer trustees who bring a wide range of skills, experience and a shared passion for animal welfare. Together, we're focused on strengthening the branch for the future, ensuring we remain financially resilient, well governed and able to respond to increasing demand for our services.

Like many charities, we're facing rising costs and growing pressures on both fundraising and service delivery. At the same time, we have exciting opportunities to develop our work, expand our impact and support even more animals in need. Strong financial oversight is essential to helping us make confident, informed decisions and plan sustainably for the future.

As Treasurer, you'll provide strategic oversight of the branch's finances, working closely with our Finance Manager, who looks after the day-to-day financial operations, and our Head of Branch. Your role is to help the board understand our financial position, review budgets and financial performance, oversee financial controls and governance, support the preparation of annual accounts, VAT returns and Gift Aid claims, and contribute to longer-term financial planning, reserves and risk management.

You'll have the opportunity to influence important decisions about how our resources are used, helping ensure every donation and fundraising pound delivers the greatest possible benefit for local animals. Your financial insight will help the branch remain sustainable, compliant and ready to meet future challenges.

This is a rewarding opportunity to use your professional experience in a way that has a real and lasting impact. You'll work alongside passionate, supportive volunteers, contribute to meaningful strategic discussions and see first-hand how good financial stewardship enables more animals to receive the care, rehabilitation and second chances they deserve.

If you're looking for a volunteer role where your expertise can make a genuine difference to both a local charity and the animals it supports, we'd be delighted to welcome you to our board.

What are we looking for?

We're looking for someone who can bring sound financial knowledge, strategic thinking and a collaborative approach to our trustee board. As Treasurer Trustee, you'll use your expertise to help ensure the branch remains financially sustainable and well governed, while supporting our mission to improve the lives of vulnerable animals.

Our ideal candidate will have experience in finance, accounting, financial management or financial governance, gained through either their professional career or voluntary roles. You might be a qualified accountant, finance manager, financial controller, auditor, chief financial officer, banking professional or someone with equivalent financial leadership experience. We also welcome applications from retired finance professionals who are keen to use their skills to give back to the community.

The most important qualities we're looking for are:

• Experience of interpreting financial information, budgets and management accounts.
• The ability to provide strategic financial oversight and help guide long-term financial planning.
• Good understanding of financial controls, governance and risk management.
• The confidence to ask constructive questions and provide appropriate challenge while working collaboratively with fellow trustees.
• The ability to communicate financial information clearly and effectively to colleagues with a range of financial knowledge.
• Good judgement, integrity and a commitment to supporting sound decision-making.

Previous experience as a charity trustee is not essential, and neither is previous charity finance experience. We will provide an induction, training and ongoing support to help you succeed in the role.

A recognised financial qualification, such as ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA or equivalent, would be advantageous but is not essential if you have relevant practical experience.

Above all, we're looking for someone who shares our commitment to animal welfare and wants to use their financial expertise to make a meaningful difference. If you're passionate about helping a local charity thrive and enabling more animals to receive the care, rehabilitation and second chances they deserve, we'd love to hear from you.

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive trustee board and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and communities. We particularly encourage applications from individuals whose perspectives are currently underrepresented on charity boards, as we believe diversity leads to stronger decision-making and better outcomes for the communities and animals we serve.

What difference will you make?

As Treasurer Trustee, your contribution will have a direct and lasting impact on the future of our branch and the animals we support. By helping to ensure our finances remain strong, sustainable and well governed, you'll enable us to continue rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming vulnerable cats, rabbits and guinea pigs across South Buckinghamshire.

Your financial oversight will give the trustee board the confidence to make informed strategic decisions about how we use our resources, invest in new opportunities and respond to the growing demand for our services. You'll help us plan for the future, manage financial risk and ensure that every donation, grant and fundraising effort delivers the greatest possible benefit for local animals.

Like many charities, we are operating in an increasingly challenging financial environment, with rising costs and greater demand for support. Strong financial leadership is essential to maintaining our long-term resilience and ensuring we can continue providing high-quality care to animals in need. Your expertise will help us safeguard the branch's financial health while supporting sustainable growth and development.

Beyond the numbers, your role will help strengthen the governance of the branch and support a culture of transparency, accountability and good decision-making. Working alongside a passionate team of volunteer trustees and staff, you'll help shape the future direction of the charity and ensure we remain well placed to meet both today's challenges and tomorrow's opportunities.

Ultimately, your contribution will make it possible for more animals to receive the care, treatment and second chances they deserve. Every sound financial decision helps protect the future of our services, supports our volunteers and enables us to continue making a meaningful difference to animal welfare in our local community.

This is an opportunity to use your financial expertise in a rewarding and purposeful way, knowing that your contribution will have a tangible impact on both the charity's future and the lives of countless animals.

Additional information

You can download the following documents:

Before you apply

We'd love to hear why you're interested in joining our board and how your skills and experience could help strengthen the financial sustainability of our branch. Please include a brief cover message alongside your CV highlighting your relevant experience and what motivates you to support our work.

Suitable applicants will be invited to an informal interview with members of our trustee board. This will be an opportunity for us to learn more about you, answer any questions you have and discuss the role in more detail. Interviews can be arranged flexibly, either online or in person.

We review applications as they are received and encourage early applications, as we may close the opportunity once the position has been filled. We aim to contact shortlisted applicants within two weeks of receiving their application.

The successful candidate will be asked to complete the standard trustee eligibility checks and become a member of the Branch before their appointment as Treasurer Trustee.