Financial planning advisor jobs in Manchester
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Independent Age is the national charity focused on improving the lives of people facing financial hardship in later life. We believe no one should face financial hardship in later life.
Our Helpline and expert advisers offer free, practical support to older people without enough money to live on. Through our grants programme, we support hundreds of local organisations working with older people across the UK.
We use the knowledge and insight gained from our support services and partnerships to highlight the issues experienced by older people in poverty and campaign for change.
We would love to find individuals from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds to join us on this journey.
Responsibilities and Person Specification:
This new role is an integral part of the day-to-day delivery of our Advice and Support Service. The service is targeted at older people in or facing financial hardship, and provides information, advice and follow up support relating to a range of issues, including Welfare Benefits, Social Care and Housing.
As an Adviser (Scottish Housing, Social Care and Welfare Benefits) you will be responsible for providing specialist support to older people, their families and carers through our advice service with their enquiries relating to housing and welfare benefits in Scotland as well as providing generalist level support on a range of issues through our duty service.
You should have in depth, specialist level knowledge of Housing or Welfare Benefits in Scotland (ideally both) as they relate to older people, and experience working within a high-volume advice setting and advice supervision framework. We plan to expand our advice offer in Scotland to cover Social Care, so knowledge in this area would also be beneficial. You should be able to travel within Scotland, including to Glasgow and Edinburgh.
For full details on the role and requirements, please review the job description and person specification. If your experience doesn’t align perfectly with all of the criteria in the person specification but you do meet most of them and are excited about the role, we encourage you to apply anyway.
This role could be worked full-time, 35 hours per week, which you can choose to work over five days or a 9-day fortnight, or part-time on a minimum of 21 hours per week. We are open to the role being either homebased (with occasional travel to London) or hybrid working in London (minimum 4 days per month in the office).
Salary Information:
The salaries below are full-time (35 hours per week) and will be pro-rated if part-time.
London based: £34,493 per year
Homebased: £31,054 per year
Location: Homebased or hybrid working in London (minimum 4 days per month in the office). Travel within Scotland, including Glasgow and Edinburg
What it’s like to work at Independent Age:
We celebrate diversity at Independent Age and champion the differences that make each of us unique. We actively support and encourage people from a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to join us and help shape what we do. We aim to attract and retain a wide range of talent and create an environment where everyone can feel safe, protected, welcome and included.
We offer great benefits including 28 days annual leave plus public holidays, a generous pension scheme with life assurance, and fantastic learning and development opportunities. We also offer a number of enhanced leave provisions and benefits.
We know that a good work life balance helps us perform at our best and supports wellbeing. Flexible working hours and hybrid working is standard for all (those contracted to work in the office usually attend 1 day per week). But if you need a different form of flexibility, we are always happy to talk flexible working.
You can find out more about what it’s like to work at Independent Age by visiting the Careers page on our website.
Application Process:
To apply, please visit our website to submit a CV and a Supporting Statement, detailing how your skills and experience meet the criteria within the Job Description and Person Specification (please do not hesitate to contact us if you have specific requirements and need support to apply in an alternative format).
To support our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion our hiring managers use anonymous shortlisting. Therefore, please do not include your name, photo, or information to indicate your gender or age in your CV and supporting statement. Please do not omit dates of employment. Please ensure the title of any uploads does not contain your name.
Independent Age is committed to safeguarding and follows Safer Recruitment practices to ensure we are safeguarding those we work with. We therefore ask that you supply your full work history with explanations for any gaps in the application documents you submit and, if offered the post, we will require two employment references including your current or most recent employer. A Basic DBS or Level 1 Disclosure check will be carried out for the successful candidate.
Closing Date: Monday 15 June, 11:59pm
First Interview Dates: Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 June, online via Microsoft Teams
Second Interview Dates: Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 July, online via Microsoft Teams
Registered Charity
101 - 500
Independent Age is the national charity focused on improving the lives of people facing financial hardship in later life.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
About Adolescent Health Study
The Adolescent Health Study (AHS) is an ambitious new UKRI-funded initiative to establish a prospective, longitudinal population study that will generate a globally leading open science data platform and research resource. AHS aims to recruit at least 100,000 young people aged eight to 18 years from across the UK and to follow their mental and physical health and wellbeing over at least 10 years. It plans to collect data through questions and measures; to obtain bio-samples for a wide range of genomic and other high-throughput assays; and to capture linked data relevant to health and wellbeing from participants’ health, education and other administrative records. Recruitment will take place mainly through schools. There will be a strong emphasis on engaging with and involving young people, schools, parents and other relevant stakeholders in the design and delivery of the study, as well as on including young people that represent as wide as possible a range of backgrounds, experiences and characteristics. AHS will focus on enabling a wide range of research, including studies of the critical biological and social developments that occur during the transition from childhood to adulthood and the determinants of both mental and physical health and wellbeing in adolescents and young adults.
Purpose of the post
The Procurement Lead is responsible for developing and delivering a robust procurement and commercial strategy that ensures value for money, compliance with Procurement Act 2023 regulations in line with AHS being primarily public funded and supports AHS study and operational objectives. The role will lead on sourcing, contracting, supplier management, and commercial governance, ensuring ethical, transparent, and efficient use of public funds.
Main responsibilities
Procurement Strategy & Leadership
- Develop and implement a procurement and commercial strategy aligned with organisational goals and funding requirements.
- Lead procurement planning across research programmes, operations, and corporate services.
- Act as a subject matter expert on public procurement policy and best practice.
- Drive continuous improvement in procurement processes, systems, and capability.
Tendering and Contract Management
- Oversee end-to-end procurement processes including tendering, evaluation, and contract award.
- Ensure compliance with UK public procurement regulations (e.g., Procurement Act and associated guidance).
- Draft, review, and negotiate complex contracts, including research, clinical, and grant-related agreements.
- Manage contract lifecycle including performance monitoring, renewals, and extensions.
Commercial Governance & Compliance
- Establish and maintain procurement policies, procedures, and governance frameworks.
- Ensure all procurement activities meet audit, transparency, and reporting requirements for public funding.
- Identify and mitigate commercial risks across supplier engagements.
- Support internal and external audit processes.
Supplier & Stakeholder Management
- Build and maintain strategic supplier relationships, ensuring high performance and innovation.
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders (research teams, finance, legal) to understand needs and deliver value-driven procurement solutions.
- Work with external stakeholders including funders, partners and strategic advisors to develop optimum outcomes
- Provide commercial advice and guidance to senior leadership and project teams.
- Promote sustainable and ethical sourcing practices.
Financial & Value Management
- Deliver value for money through effective sourcing and negotiation strategies.
- Monitor procurement spend and identify cost-saving or efficiency opportunities.
- Contribute to budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes.
- Ensure funding is used appropriately, ethically and in line with public funding requirements.
Knowledge, skills and experience
Essential
Professional qualification in procurement or supply chain e.g., CIPS Level 5 or equivalent
Degree or comparable experience in business, finance, law, or related field.
Proven track record of managing complex procurement exercises and contracts.
Experience in procurement or commercial roles within regulated procurement environments, specifically those classed as a public authority
- Strong understanding of UK public procurement regulations and best practice.
- Commercial acumen with strong negotiation and contract management skills.
- Experience of drafting and reviewing heads of terms and commercial agreements.
- Knowledge of intellectual property (IP) considerations in research contracts.
- Strong experience in supplier and stakeholder management.
- Excellent analytical, financial, and problem-solving abilities.
- Strong communication and influencing skills across all levels of an organisation.
- Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities effectively.
Desirable
- CIPS Level 6 or equivalent
- Membership of a professional body (e.g., MCIPS or FCIPS).
- Experience managing high-value and complex contracts, including collaborative or partnership agreements
- Experience in procurement or commercial roles within charity and/or research sectors
- Detailed understanding of intellectual property (IP) considerations in research contracts.
- Detailed knowledge of the UK Procurement Act (or Public Contracts Regulations 2015 historically) and transitions between them.
- Experience of drafting and reviewing heads of terms and commercial agreements.
- Understanding of subsidy control, state aid, or funding compliance frameworks.
- Ability to analyse procurement data and generate insights using tools such as Excel, Power BI, or similar.
- Experience leading organisational change or transformation programmes in procurement.
- Ability to build procurement capability across a non-procurement stakeholder base.
Dimensions
- This is a full-time role, 37.5 hours per week, offered initially as an 18-month fixed-term contract with potential route to permanency.
- Flexible working across several geographical locations in the UK. Travel may be required to AHS locations and partner organisations.
- AHS is a national organisation, and our activities take place across the UK.
Application Process
All candidates are required to complete the application form which can be found when clicking 'Apply Now' via Charity Job.
Please refer to the ‘How to Apply’ section of the downloadable application form.
Please note that only applications submitted directly to Gravitate HR will be accepted for this position.
The closing date for applications is 11:00pm on Sunday 12th July 2026.
Interviews are currently expected to take place on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st August 2026.
Equal Opportunities Policy Statement
AHS is an equal opportunities employer, and as such aims to treat all employees, consultants and applicants fairly. It is our policy to provide employment equality to all, irrespective of:
- Gender, including gender reassignment
- Marital or civil partnership status
- Having or not having dependants
- Religion or belief
- Race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins)
- Disability
- Sexual orientation
- Age
We are opposed to all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination. All job applicants and employees who work for us will be treated fairly and will not be unfairly discriminated against on any of the above grounds. Decisions about recruitment and selection, promotion, training or any other benefit will be made objectively and without unlawful discrimination.
Values
It is an exciting time for the Adolescent Health Study (AHS) as we establish our senior leadership team and begin to plan the pilot studies. As the senior executive team evolves, the AHS values will be grounded in inclusivity, integrity, accountability, and collaboration.
All candidates are required to complete the application form which can be found when clicking 'Apply Now' via Charity Job, within Supporting Documents.
Please refer to the ‘How to Apply’ section of the downloadable application form.
Please note that only applications submitted directly to Gravitate HR will be accepted for this position.
The closing date for applications is 11:00pm on Sunday 12 July 2026.
Interviews are currently expected to take place on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 August 2026.
