Job Description

We have an exciting Executive Director of Finance position, for an exceptionally talented, dynamic, and experienced accountant who will lead the financial and commercial developments across an exceptional schools group.
You need to be agile and resourceful with an ability to work within a complex stakeholder environment, a track record in delivering financial sustainability across a multi-million-pound business and driving commercial growth. In our context, this will mean ensuring that we have a sustainable infrastructure, finances and resources needed to unlock the academic and personal potential of the school community.
You will need to be forward thinking and extremely comfortable working collaboratively with other senior leaders to drive the high performance of the schools. We would expect that you have a real and genuine pride in excellence and an unwavering commitment to achieving success. You will inherit a strong and high performing finance team and will be expected to drive effectiveness and efficiency across the service in the pursuit of excellence, maintain high professional standards and a positive customer experience. We are several years into our exciting ten-year strategic journey, you’ll be joining an executive team that has a governing body mandate to build upon our existing success and achievements whilst delivering transformative programmes of change. You will need to be comfortable about moving between ‘business as usual’ as the Director of Finance and transformative strategic space as an Executive Programme Sponsor.
We are therefore searching for someone that provides both the safe pair of hands that are required from a financial accounting and statutory compliance perspective, but someone that has a strategic, and commercial outlook, a curious and innovative thinker that is comfortable working in a co-operative and collaborative environment. It will be a wide and varied role; guaranteed that no day will be the same and you’ll need to be comfortable with a fast paced and fully immersive campus environment.
The individual should have a proven track record of success and must have can-do and motivated attitude.

Key priorities of the role:

• An active member of the Executive Committee with financial oversight, management, and monitoring of the short-, medium- and long-term strategic plan for the schools, and reporting to the governing body through the Finance and Resources Committee and Board.
• Lead, manage and develop the finance strategy and financial function in partnership with the Executive, ensuring full compliance with the requirements for effective financial governance and prudent management of funds.
• Lead, manage and monitor Financial KPIs in line with sector-specific benchmarks and report variances to the Executive and Governing Body.
• Build and lead a highly effective and cohesive finance service that builds upon the best practice, collaborative approaches, ‘team ethos’ and can-do approach that exists.
• Lead on the design, development and delivery of financial and budgetary policies, protocols and process to enable leaders to make informed and effective decisions based on real time financial information.
• Oversee and lead the effective use and implementation of the financial system(s) and the efficient application of automated processes and procedures.
• Drive a culture of continuous improvement, embed best practice, promote shared learning and ensure robust quality assurance arrangements in place across the finance function.
• Financially lead and manage the capital investment, special projects and commercial finances of the group that; drive growth, development and innovation; secure best value for money, aggregated benefits and efficiencies; and positions them as a beacon of excellence in the sector.
• Lead the design, development and delivery of a clear and coherent commercial procurement strategy, focused on sourcing, category management and supplier management frameworks. Working collaboratively with colleagues and external providers to ensure best value for money.
• Establish an effective and accurate database of contracts, leading the review and potential rationalization of suppliers through centralization of contracts to ensure best value for money, sustainability and suitability.
• Lead, manage and deliver the commercial strategy, undertaking financial modelling and analysis of demand and need for products and services within the organization, contributing to the development of a deliverable business model.
• To manage the timely and accurate preparation of consolidated management accounts and other appropriate financial management information.
• To manage the year end process, ensuring that year end timetable deadlines are met, and year end statutory accounts are free from material errors.
• To provide lead liaison with external Auditors and the Haberdashers’ Company to ensure an efficient audit process.
• To oversee the production of the annual statutory financial statements and consolidated accounts ensuring that all charity, legal and financial obligations are met.
• To oversee fixed assets recording and reporting including approving treatment of expenditure such as capital and calculating depreciation.
• Overall responsibility for working capital management (cash flow forecasting, debtor management).
• Overall responsibility for managing the long-term investments.
• Understanding the key income and cost drivers to allow budgets, forecasts and sensitivity analysis to be undertaken to inform decision making by the COO, Heads and the Governing Body.
• Reporting on key capital and infrastructure projects.
• To support charitable objectives by overseeing the extensive bursary programme to provide financial assistance to students whose parents would ordinarily not be able to afford to send their children to the schools.
• To be responsible for managing and supervising the operations of the finance, procurement and commercial functions to ensure the effectiveness of the service.
• Manage centralized finance team providing real value added to governors and senior leadership.
• Ensure that an appropriate professional development programme is provided, and appropriate job specific training is provided for all members of the team.
• Ensure annual staff development reviews are undertaken.
• Oversee established data protection and data management regimes (GDPR compliance etc).
• To oversee the management of financial and non-financial risk, driving through planned upgrades to proven risk management regime.
• Provide the Director of the Schools‘Foundation and Director of Partnerships to ensure that financial guidance, advise and support is provided in helping to fulfil these charitable aims and objectives.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• You will be a degree holder and a qualified accountant.
• You will have at least 5 years’ experience of managing a finance function in a complex environment.
• You will be a highly talented and exceptionally capable individual who has the drive, enthusiasm and motivation to support the ongoing development of the finance function within the dynamic and innovative environment focused on the pursuit of excellence in education.
• You will have a strong background in building a robust financial modelling framework.
• Considerable experience of developing third party procurement and contract relationships.
• Be able to lead and manage a finance team to deliver the production management and statutory information.
• Have had experience operating at board or executive level, with excellent influencing and coaching skills, together with a track record of building relationships with all levels of an organization.
• You will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• A dynamic and talented individual who has the charisma and gravitas to advise and support the Executive team.
• The individual should have a proven track record of success and must have can-do and motivated attitude.