Director of Finance & IT

Director of Finance & IT 

4 days ideally – near to Old Street tube, hybrid working 

Speech and Language UK works to give every child the skills they need to face the future with confidence. They are the UK’s leading charity for the 1.9 million children who struggle to talk and understand words. They provide tools and training in schools and nurseries across the UK. They run two “outstanding” special schools in Surrey and in Nottinghamshire for children with lifelong and complex speech, language and communication needs. They also train teachers and early years staff so that they can change how they interact with children and young people, conduct research and run various projects and programmes to support young people and put pressure on politicians to prioritise changing these children’s futures.

They have set out an ambitious strategic plan detailing their plans to increase their scale and impact and the Director of Finance & IT will be critical to them achieving their goals.

Reporting to the Chief Executive, the post will provide inspirational leadership to finance and the IT & Data teams. As well as providing excellent financial stewardship to the charity, you will, as a key member of the SMT, develop and contribute to the overall strategy and ensure that the organisation is using technology as effectively as possible and support transformational change in all areas. 

Key deliverables will include

• Providing strategic insight on finance and IT to the SMT and Board of Trustees.
• Monitoring progress against the financial strategy and agreed budgets and consulting with the SMT on a regular basis, to discuss variances and give early warning of challenges.
• Maintaining and continuing to strengthen robust business processes, systems and controls in relation to transactional services.
• Producing financial statements and the management of the year-end and audit process.
• Ensuring that all reports and financial returns to external bodies such as the Charity Commission, Companies House, HMRC etc. are completed accurately and promptly.
• Ensuring that the partnership between the central finance team and budget managers in national teams and schools is collaborative and productive.

You will be a CCAB qualified accountant with proven leadership skills and a deep understanding of charity accounting. You must be confident with financial planning and be capable of developing and implementing policies, systems and processes. An ability to build sustainable relationships across the organisation, with the SMT, the board and external stakeholders is essential.

You can call Jan McQuaker on 0207 259 8745 or email jan.mcquaker@hays.com.Or apply here  

Closing date – 11th February. Please do not wait until the close date as applications will be reviewed on receipt.