Chayn چین is a word taken from the Urdu language that is synonymous with ‘peace of mind’, ‘tranquillity’ and ‘serenity’. Chayn believe that this inner peace is the fundamental right of every individual. It is a global nonprofit, run by survivors and allies from around the world, creating resources to support the healing of survivors of gender-based violence. It creates open, online resources and services for survivors of abuse that are trauma-informed, intersectional, multi-lingual and feminist.

‍Chayn flip the design default, and puts the experience of marginalised people at the heart of what it does, opening up access to its resources for all. It works across all forms of gender-based violence, especially domestic and sexual violence, and technology-facilitated abuse. It has reached 400,000 people across the globe, and continues to reach more every day.

Chayn was started in 2013 by Hera Hussain, who helped two friends from the UK and Pakistan escape abusive marriages and experienced significant challenges in finding the basic information they needed, like their rights and how to cope with trauma. She thought if she could put critical information online in one place and accessible language, it could change lives.

Chayn dreams of a future where:

• Women and people of marginalised genders are free from all gender-based violence, online and offline
• Feminism is anti-racist, decolonised, and intersectional
• Everyone can create intentional spaces of community, joy, and healing for all on the world wide web

Its mission is to use the power of technology to help survivors of gender-based violence heal, irrespective of language, geography, or culture, by:

1. Empowering survivors with the information and understanding they need to thrive
2. Working with survivors to design tools and resources that not only help them, but also systematically challenge patriarchal structures that enable abuse
3. Advocating for trauma-informed approaches to product design and tech development that prevent harm

For more information, please refer to the recruitment pack here.

The new Treasurer will advise on and monitor the financial health of Chayn, and will work specifically closely with the Head of Operations, Finance and People to support and advise on financial planning, as the charity's accounting practices are currently outsourced.

All trustees are closely involved in the running of the organisation, and supporting Chayn to achieve its goals. They steer the charity, hold the staff and executive teams accountable and proactively seek opportunities for the organisation. As Treasurer, the successful candidate will have ultimate responsibility for the charity’s finances, ensuring legal compliance and financial risk management.

The responsibilities of the Treasurer include to:

• Oversee the financial affairs of the organisation and ensure they are legal, constitutional and within accepted accounting practice
• Ensure thorough and accurate records are kept and that effective financial procedures are in place
• Monitor and report on the financial health of the organisation
• Oversee the production of necessary financial reports / returns, accounts and audits
• Carry out risk assessments on high-level financial decisions
• Liaise with relevant staff, committee members and / or volunteers to ensure the financial viability of the organisation
• Make fellow trustees aware of their financial obligations and take a lead in interpreting financial data to them
• Regularly report the financial position at board meetings (balance sheet, cash flow, fundraising performance etc)
• Oversee the production of an annual budget and propose its adoption at the last meeting of the previous financial year
• Ensure proper records are kept and that effective financial procedures and controls are in place
• Support the Charity’s leadership team with the development of financial plans and budgetary decisions
• Appraise the financial viability of plans, proposals and feasibility studies
• Lead on liaison with auditors / an independent examiner

Chayn is seeking a senior-level financial leader to become its new Treasurer. The successful candidate will have a solid understanding of financial, risk and governance systems, gained by serving at a senior level in either a commercial organisation or charity. Candidates do not need to be qualified accountants, but will have held responsibility for finance in their role, for example as a CFO or a Finance Director. 

The new Treasurer will ideally be familiar with charity accounting requirements and regulations. However alongside grant funding, Chayn also hold a number of corporate contracts, so experience either managing finances in the private sector or working in partnership with corporate organisations will also be viewed as beneficial. This experience could have been gained in either an executive or non-executive capacity and candidates do not need to have held previous non-executive positions.

Candidates should demonstrate their commitment to Chayn's mission and align with its intersectional feminist values. Candidates should have a passion for gender equality and a belief in co-designing with, not for. Chayn is an intersectional feminist organisation that believes in women and non-binary people’s rights and gender, religious, racial and class equality. Candidates should therefore demonstrate their belief in people’s rights to agency and to make their own choices and decisions, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, economic activity and religion.

The full composition of the Board can be viewed here. 

This role is unremunerated, and reasonable, pre-agreed travel expenses will be reimbursed. Candidates should be based in the UK.

There are four Board meetings per year, held in London with the option to join in-person or virtually. At the beginning of the appointment, the Treasurer will also meet regularly (either weekly or fortnightly) for short meetings with the Head of Finance, which can also be held virtually. It is estimated that the total time commitment would be c. 6-8 hours per month.

The appointment is for a three-year term, which can be renewed twice at the discretion of the Board.

Chayn welcomes applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, belief or disability. Applications from people of colour, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and people who have experienced other exclusion or marginalisation are encouraged. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process. In line with the Equality Act 2010, however, the organisation may employ positive action where candidates from underrepresented groups can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.

Inclusion and accessibility are core to Chayn's work. It has tried to make this recruitment process as accessible as possible, but it knows that there might be more that it can do, particularly if you have experienced exclusion, disadvantage or discrimination, or if you have particular accessibility needs. It is happy to provide any further support that you may require - please get in touch with Nurole via the Q&A box if there is anything that would make this process easier for you.