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Help us protect the legal rights of children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and strengthen SEND Support in law
Job title: Head of Finance and Resources
Location: Home-based or Hybrid (with occasional travel to our office in Takeley, Essex, and other locations in England for events and meetings)
Reports to: Chief Executive
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: Part-time (up to 28 hours per week considered)
Salary: £48,000 – £55,000 per annum (FTE, pro-rata for part-time)
Who we are
IPSEA is a national charity working to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the educational support they are legally entitled to. Since we were formed in 1983, we have helped to improve the education experience of thousands of children and young people across England. We do this by providing free and independent legal advice and casework support for families, undertaking policy work and delivering training on the SEND legal framework.
What you’ll do
We are seeking a Head of Finance and Resources to provide strategic leadership and operational management across IPSEA’s finance, HR and Fundraising functions, ensuring the charity has robust financial management, effective systems, and sustainable infrastructure to deliver its mission. This role focuses on organisational management, financial integrity and coordination across functions, rather than providing specialist Fundraising or HR expertise.
This is a hands-on role. While the postholder leads on financial strategy, planning and control, they are also responsible for delivering key financial processes and day to day operations. The role oversees key organisational functions including HR and fundraising.
They line manage the Finance Administrator, HR Manager and Fundraising Manager, ensuring alignment, coordination and effective use of organisational resources across the organisation.
Professional expertise and delivery within HR and fundraising remain the responsibility of the relevant managers. The role does not carry responsibility for income generation targets but ensures robust financial and operational support for fundraising activity.
As Head of Finance and Resources, you will be responsible for:
- Financial systems, control and operations
- Financial reporting and Management Accounts
- Budgeting, forecasting and financial strategy
- Restricted funds, compliance and governance
- Fundraising and income support
- Leadership, resources and organisational operations
This role offers the opportunity to make a real difference as part of a small, friendly, and dedicated team. If you are passionate about helping children and young people with SEND and have the skills and experience needed, we would love to hear from you.
Who are we looking for?
You’ll need to be a fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA or equivalent) with a strong understanding and experience of charity finance, SORP, compliance, risk management and governance.
Significantly experienced in charity finance and financial management or organisational resources, you will be able to prepare management accounts, budgets, forecasts and financial reports and support budgeting and longer-term financial planning.
You will have experience of managing and motivating staff while working with senior leadership teams and/or trustees.
You have strong organisational and analytical skills and can analyse financial information and translate it for non-financial stakeholders. Experience improving systems, processes or digital infrastructure would be preferred but is not essential.
It would be desirable if you had experience overseeing HR, fundraising or wider operational functions, or managing multi-disciplinary teams.
IPSEA should also reflect the communities we support. We would particularly like to hear from candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ people, under-served communities and disabled people, as well as those with lived experience of the SEND system, either as a child or as a parent/carer.
What we can offer you
- 5% employer pension contributions
- Healthcare cash plan
- Flexible working arrangements
- 5 weeks annual leave plus bank holidays and an additional day off for your birthday
To apply
Please visit our website to download a recruitment pack and application form.
Deadline for applications: 9am on 15 June 2026
First-round interviews: week commencing 22 June 2026 in either London or our offices in Takeley (to be confirmed)
Registered Charity
21 - 50
We help children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) get the education they are entitled to by law
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
DFN Project SEARCH is looking for an experienced charity finance professional to take on the newly-created Head of Finance role. As a well-established and successful UK charity, we are operating in a period of continued growth and require a Head of Finance who combines reliable financial insight, robust control and strong governance with hands-on delivery. This role will work closely with the Finance Director and wider executive team while remaining directly involved in month-end, reporting, controls, cash flow and systems improvement. This role has a requirement to travel to London an average of twice monthly as well as other UK travel to support away days and programme visits.
Key responsibilities include:
- End-to-end ownership of the finance function, ensuring accurate, efficient and compliant day-to-day operations.
- Working closely with the Finance Director to deliver management reporting, annual budgeting, statutory accounts and audit support.
- Strengthening cash flow forecasting, treasury oversight, credit control and financial planning to support organisational growth.
- Principal owner of the charity’s financial controls, policies, procedures and systems, further developing the use of Xero for real-time insight.
- Supporting the charity’s funding model through strong oversight of restricted funds, grant reporting, contract support and funder compliance.
- Build financial understanding across the organisation by supporting budget holders and translating financial information for non-finance colleagues.
- Clear reporting relationship with the Finance Director and line management responsibility for the Finance Administrator.
Essential criteria
The successful candidate should be a fully qualified accountant who is comfortable leading and doing in a small charity environment. They should be technically strong, confident with hands-on financial operations, and able to work credibly with the Finance Director, executive colleagues, trustees, external advisors and non-finance budget holders.
- Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA or equivalent).
- Proven experience in a finance management role with end-to-end responsibility for a finance function.
- Strong working knowledge of Charity SORP and charity accounting requirements.
- Experience preparing management accounts, statutory accounts and board-level financial reports.
- Strong cash flow management, balance sheet reconciliation and month-end close capability.
- Experience of restricted funds management, grant reporting and supporting budgets for funding applications or tenders.
- Confident using accounting systems, ideally Xero, and advanced Excel.
- Ability to explain financial information clearly to non-specialist audiences and partner effectively with budget holders.
- Strong leadership and collaboration skills, with the ability to line manage and develop a small finance team.
- Proven experience in developing and implementing Financial Instructions in a charity setting
Desirable criteria
- Experience of leading change and process optimisation
- Experience in a remote or distributed organisation
- Experience of working with complex stakeholder groups across education, public sector, social impact or donor settings
- Experience of payroll oversight, VAT returns and finance systems/process improvement would be highly valuable.
Remuneration and Offer Considerations
Over and above the salary range offered, we also offer:
- Flexible working arrangements considered including jobsharing and part-time (minimum of 4 days per week) work as well as a condensed hours working pattern of 10 working days over 9.
- Annual leave buy-back.
- Remote role with travel as required.
- Wellbeing benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme and NHS top-up support.
To apply for this role you must have the right to work in the UK.
Please send a copy of your CV with a maximum of two pages, and a supporting statement outlining why you would like to work for DFN Project SEARCH, why you are interested in this role, how you meet the essential and where applicable the desirable criteria, and what experience you would bring if you were to be successful.
Final panel interview date is scheduled for 30 June 2026.
DFN Project SEARCH is a disability confident employer. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments during your application process.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.