Fixed-term maternity cover, six months

Reports to the Chief Operating Officer

Contract Fixed-term, six months, with the possibility of extension

Start date As soon as possible. The sooner you start, the more handover you get before the postholder goes on leave in December

Salary £40,000 per annum, pro rata for the fixed term

Hours Full time, Monday to Friday

Location: Hybrid, London. Office and site days each week with some remote working.

 

ABOUT LINA

Lina Stores has been on Brewer Street since 1944. What started as a Soho deli is now a group of restaurants, bars and delis in London and Manchester, an online shop, a central production kitchen and a wholesale business, with a food and drink range brought in directly from Italian producers.

The finance team is small and hands-on, so this role sees the whole business rather than one corner of it.

THE ROLE

This is a six-month contract covering maternity leave, and it is first and foremost a finance role. You will own supplier payments, bank reconciliation and the weekly cash position, and be the person the wider team comes to with day-to-day finance questions.

A smaller part of the role, roughly a day a fortnight, involves coordinating deliveries from our Italian suppliers. Full training is given on this, and no import or customs experience is needed. If you are strong on the finance side, we will teach you the rest.

We are looking to fill this as soon as possible. The current postholder goes on leave in December, so an early start means a longer, calmer handover. We will work around notice periods for the right person.

THE FINANCE WORK

• Owning the weekly payment run, from processing supplier invoices through to setting up payments and sending remittances

• Reconciling the bank accounts and keeping the short-term cash flow picture up to date

• Reconciling company card spend and processing expense claims

• Raising and sending customer invoices, chasing payment and issuing statements and credit notes

• Reviewing supplier statements and resolving anything missing or disputed

• Supporting month end, including stock and internal transfers, fixed assets and recharges across the group

• Reviewing the management accounts each month, and helping with the annual audit and budget

• Looking after user access on our finance systems and helping colleagues across the group with queries

THE IMPORTS WORK

This part of the role runs to a simple fortnightly rhythm, and you will be shown it end to end before you pick it up.

• Prompting site managers for their orders and placing them with our Italian suppliers

• Coordinating the despatch with our warehouse in Italy and letting sites know what is arriving and when

• Keeping the paperwork in order and sorting out anything short or damaged

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Essential

• Solid accounts payable or finance assistant experience, ideally somewhere with more than one site or entity

• Comfortable with cash flow reporting, and happy being the person who knows what is going out this week

• Confident on Excel and quick to pick up cloud accounting software

• Well organised, so that a couple of regular cycles both stay on track

• A clear, friendly communicator, since a good part of this role is chasing people politely and keeping colleagues informed

• Able to start as soon as possible, and to commit to the full fixed term

Nice to have, but genuinely not required

• Some Italian. It makes the supplier side easier, though our suppliers are used to working in English and it will not count against a strong candidate

• Hospitality, retail or food and drink experience

• Exposure to month end, stock or fixed assets

• AAT qualified, part qualified or qualified by experience

SUPPORT AND HANDOVER

You will not be dropped in at the deep end. Your first weeks are spent alongside the current postholder, covering the payment run and cash flow, a full import cycle and a month end. After that you own it, with the wider finance team and the COO close at hand.

TO APPLY

Please send a CV and a short note on your availability, including your earliest start date. We are reviewing applications as they come in and interviewing straight away.