ABOUT eLife
eLife is a non-profit organisation advancing open science by transforming how research is communicated, reviewed and assessed. By developing open tools and working with research communities, institutions and funders, we are helping to build a fairer and more effective global research ecosystem.
This is an exciting time to join us. We have set out an ambitious three-year strategy for 2026–28, bringing together our publishing model, investment in open-source technology, advocacy for better research assessment, and a continued focus on strengthening our internal capability and culture.
ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY
We are looking for an organised, proactive and finance-confident person to become our new Finance and Business Support Coordinator.
This is an opportunity to take ownership of a varied role at the heart of eLife’s day-to-day operations. You will help keep our essential finance processes running accurately and on time, while providing the practical coordination, information and administrative support that enables colleagues across eLife to do their best work.
No two weeks will look exactly the same. You might be processing invoices and reconciling transactions, helping an author with a payment query, coordinating a meeting, improving a tracker, supporting a GDPR action or making a recurring process simpler and more reliable.
Our purchase and sales ledgers are relatively small, so this is not a high-volume processing or conventional credit-control role. It is a broader opportunity for someone who enjoys combining hands-on finance with organisation, problem-solving and business support.
You will have room to take ownership, build relationships across the organisation and suggest practical improvements. It could be a particularly good next step for an experienced Finance Assistant, Accounts Assistant or Finance Administrator who would like to broaden their experience while contributing to an organisation working to change research communication for the better.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
Finance
- Manage our purchase ledger, including recording supplier invoices, obtaining and tracking approvals, applying appropriate coding and maintaining supporting documentation.
- Reconcile supplier statements, investigate routine discrepancies and respond to supplier queries.
- Manage our sales ledger, including raising invoices and credit notes, recording receipts and allocating payments.
- Monitor outstanding author payments, send timely and professional email reminders, and update payment records in the relevant system.
- Manage finance and fee inboxes, responding to routine queries and escalating issues where appropriate.
- Process staff expenses and company credit-card transactions, checking they comply with internal policies and following up missing information.
- Record and reconcile relevant online payment activity, including Stripe transactions.
- Support routine bank and control-account reconciliations, investigating differences and maintaining accurate records.
- Support month-end, quarter-end and year-end processes through timely data entry, reconciliations, schedules and documentation.
- Maintain accurate, well-organised and audit-ready finance records.
Business and operational support
- Provide practical business support across Finance and Operations, balancing recurring finance deadlines with wider organisational priorities.
- Coordinate internal meetings, including logistics, papers, minutes and action tracking where required.
- Arrange staff travel and accommodation in line with internal policies and budget expectations.
- Maintain central trackers for KPIs and key organisational activities.
- Follow up agreed actions, contributions and approvals to help work progress to deadlines.
- Maintain shared documentation and process notes so information remains current, accessible and well organised.
- Help colleagues follow agreed administrative processes and provide clear information when inputs or approvals are needed.
- Identify and contribute to practical process improvements that make recurring work simpler, more efficient and more reliable.
GDPR, risk and compliance
- Coordinate routine GDPR and data-protection administration.
- Maintain relevant data-protection records and support straightforward data-subject requests and retention actions.
- Monitor agreed GDPR actions and escalate potential breaches, complex requests or matters requiring specialist judgement.
- Administer updates to the organisational risk register, with responsibility for assessing and owning risks remaining with the relevant risk owner.
- Support documentation for financial controls, audits and other internal compliance requirements.
- Follow delegated authorities, approval processes and separation-of-duties controls, escalating exceptions or concerns appropriately.
ABOUT YOU
You do not need to have knowledge about scientific publishing or open science before joining us. What matters is that you bring practical finance experience, sound judgement, curiosity and a genuine commitment to accurate and dependable work.
You will enjoy getting things organised, following work through to completion and helping others navigate processes clearly. You will be comfortable working independently, asking questions, chasing missing information tactfully and recognising when something needs to be escalated.
Essential experience and skills
- Practical experience in a transactional finance, Accounts Assistant, Finance Assistant or similar role.
- Hands-on experience of purchase and sales ledger processes, including invoice processing, payment allocation and routine account reconciliation.
- Experience using accounting software such as Xero, Sage, QuickBooks or a comparable system.
- A good understanding of routine financial controls, approval processes and the importance of a complete audit trail.
- Strong numeracy and Excel skills, with confidence managing and checking financial information.
- Excellent attention to detail and a consistent approach to accurate and timely processing.
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to balance recurring deadlines with changing business-support priorities.
- Clear and tactful communication skills, including confidence resolving routine queries, following up information and escalating issues.
- The ability to work independently within agreed processes and take ownership of routine work through to completion.
- A proactive and collaborative approach, with an interest in making processes work better.
Desirable experience
- Experience supporting month-end processes.
- An AAT qualification, current AAT study or an equivalent bookkeeping or accounts qualification.
- Experience using Xero, Stripe or sales-data imports.
- Experience using a CRM or workflow system such as HubSpot.
- Experience maintaining KPI or organisational trackers.
- Previous exposure to GDPR or data-protection administration, such as maintaining records, supporting data-subject requests, coordinating retention actions or escalating potential breaches.
- Experience working in a non-profit, academic, publishing or mission-led organisation.
TERM AND CONDITIONS
The post is a permanent position, 37.5 hours per week, and offers a competitive basic salary of £32,000-£35,000 per annum (depending on experience) and excellent benefits.
The role is offered on a remote basis, but will require occasional visits to our central Cambridge office.
Applicants must be able to demonstrate the right to live and work in the UK to be considered for the vacancy.
WHAT WE OFFER
- Work-Life Balance: Flexible working hours, remote working.
- Time Off: 25 days of annual leave, plus all UK public bank holidays.
- Financial Security: Company pension scheme and Life Assurance (4x basic salary).
- Family Support: Enhanced maternity, paternity, and adoption pay.
- Professional Growth: Dedicated investment in your personal and career development. The opportunity to develop broader finance, business-support and compliance experience.
- Culture: A warm, inclusive team environment with regular social events.
- A varied role in which you can take ownership, improve processes and build relationships across the organisation.
- The opportunity to contribute to a non-profit organisation working to create a fairer and more effective global research ecosystem.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply, please submit your CV, referencing ID FBS/2026-08 and a supporting statement explaining:
- Your relevant purchase and sales ledger experience.
- The accounting systems you have used.
- An example of how you have organised, improved or taken ownership of a recurring process.
- Why this combination of finance and business support interests you.
- The reason why you would like to work for eLife.
Closing Date: Monday, 31st August at 5:00 PM (GMT).
Interviews: Held the week commencing 14th September via Google Meet/Zoom.
eLife is committed to building an inclusive team that reflects a diversity of perspectives. We particularly welcome applications from women, non-binary individuals, disabled candidates, and Black, Asian, and minority ethnic professionals, who are currently underrepresented across technology and scholarly publishing.
We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process, please let us know.
Pay: £32,000.00-£35,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company events
- Company pension
- Enhanced maternity leave
- Enhanced paternity leave
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Life insurance
- Sick pay
- Work from home
Application question(s):
- Do you have practical experience processing purchase ledger transactions, including supplier invoices, approvals or coding?
- Do you have practical experience with sales ledger processes, such as raising invoices, recording receipts or allocating payments?
- Are you based in the UK, able to work remotely and willing to travel occasionally to our Cambridge office?
Work Location: Remote
