Job Openings Head of Finance

About the job Head of Finance

Our client, a well-established and nationally recognised charity, is seeking an experienced Head of Finance to lead its commercial finance and business partnering function.

This is a strategic and hands-on leadership role, focused on strengthening financial modelling, project costing, forecasting, reporting, and systems improvement. The position plays a critical role in supporting income generation activities, ensuring financial sustainability, and partnering closely with senior stakeholders across service delivery, business development, and fundraising.

The successful candidate will combine strong technical accounting expertise with commercial insight and the ability to influence decision-making across non-finance teams.

The Role

As Head of Finance, you will lead the commercial finance agenda, ensuring robust financial governance across projects and commissioned services. A strong emphasis will be placed on bid support, margin and cost recovery optimisation, cashflow oversight, and enhancing financial reporting systems.

This role is ideal for a commercially minded finance leader who thrives in a purpose-driven organisation and enjoys translating financial data into meaningful operational insight.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead commercial finance support across project and income-generating activities

  • Provide insight on profitability, cost recovery, and cashflow, identifying risks and recommending actions

  • Partner with Business Development and Fundraising teams on financial bid inputs, from development through to submission

  • Own and continuously improve the project costing model, ensuring governance and timely sign-off

  • Deliver bespoke financial modelling for complex commissioning and funding requirements

  • Produce monthly project reporting, analyse variances, and support budget holders in managing performance

  • Lead forecasting through to end-of-contract and consolidate into the rolling organisational forecast

  • Improve ledger integrity for projects, including journals and adjustments where required

  • Deliver accurate commissioner and donor reporting within strict deadlines

  • Support finance systems improvements, including self-serve reporting, dashboards, and coding accuracy

  • Conduct financial due diligence as required

Essential Requirements

  • Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)

  • Proven experience business partnering with senior non-finance stakeholders

  • Strong track record of systems and process improvement

  • Advanced Excel skills and confidence handling large datasets and complex reporting

  • Demonstrated experience in financial modelling and supporting bids/tenders

  • Strong communication skills with the ability to translate financial data into practical, commercial decisions

Desirable Experience

  • Experience within charity and/or non-profit environments

  • Exposure to Sage or similar reporting tools and dashboards

  • Experience supporting regional or national service delivery models

What’s on Offer

  • Competitive salary (£65K–£70K)

  • Hybrid working arrangement

  • Extensive benefits package

  • Opportunity to contribute to a mission-driven organisation delivering meaningful social impact

  • Strategic cross-functional leadership exposure


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