Open City Seeks Treasurer

May 10

Open City Treasurer Recruitment

Open City is looking for a treasurer to join its trustees and help to provide oversight of the charity’s finances.

Open City

Open City makes London and other cities more open, accessible and equitable. We help all citizens of all backgrounds to understand and engage with how the urban landscape has been made, and have a role in shaping its future.

We achieve this in multiple ways:

We run a rich public programme opening up dialogue about the city in creative ways including events, podcasts, publications, courses and tours throughout the year.
Our international network of festivals, Open House, unlocks physical buildings and important conversations in cities from New York to Lagos for large celebrations of architecture and city-making. In London, the first Open House festival is now in its 30th year and is one of the largest cultural events in the country attracting around 250,000 visitors to explore the city and the stories behind it.
We also run a number of pioneering education programmes equipping children and young people, particularly from under-represented backgrounds, with skills and routes into careers in citymaking and design.

Our Trustees

Open City trustees work closely with the staff offering strategic support and advice throughout the year, supporting fundraising and programming to ensure that Open City is sustainable in its operations and pioneering in its mission.

We are looking for a trustee with financial expertise to chair a finance and audit committee, helping to ensure good financial management to support the charity’s work.

We believe organisations engaged with empowerment of communities to effect change in the urban landscape should be representative of the society they serve. As such, we particularly welcome applications from communities who have been traditionally under-represented in architecture and other built environment professions.

The successful candidate will be:

A finance director, cost consultant, or with similar financial experience
Able to lead discussion of the charity’s accounts at board meetings
Able to advise on the financial implications of the charity’s strategic plan
Experienced in ensuring proper accounting records, and control of financial resources
Interested in the intersection of architecture and society issues
Enthusiastic about engaging people in urban dialogue
A proud ambassador for the work of Open City
Committed to diversity and equality
Experience of charity accounts and audit would be an advantage

Key Responsibilities

Attending quarterly trustees meetings including the charity’s Annual General Meeting (for the time being these are two in person and two digital meetings held generally on week days between 4pm and 6pm)
Chairing a quarterly Finance and Audit Committee (generally held online)
Overseeing and presenting budgets, internal management accounts and annual financial statements to the board of trustees
Leading in the board’s duty to ensure that proper accounting records are kept, financial resources are properly controlled, invested and economically spent, in line with good governance, legal and regulatory requirements
Liaising, where applicable, with the appropriate member of staff responsible
for the financial activities of the organisation
Advising on the financial implications of the charity’s strategic plan.
Supporting the director and staff team with strategic issues facing the charity throughout the year.
Attending a reasonable number of Open City events.
Taking an active role in ensuring the sustainability of the charity by supporting fundraising efforts throughout the year.
Championing the organisation and its programmes across your networks.

The appointment is unremunerated but reasonable expenses will be paid. Appointments are made for an initial term of 3 years.

Application Process

Candidates will be asked to provide a CV and complete an application form, which can be requested from trustees@open-city.org.uk. The deadline for expressions of interest is Tuesday, 23 May at 5pm. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to meet the Open City Chair and fellow recruitment trustee, together with a representative of the Open City staff team in May 2023. If you are interested but have questions or would like an informal discussion please email trustees@open-city.org.uk.