Noah's Ark Children's Hospice is partnering with Robertson Bell on a retained basis to recruit a Director of Finance on a permanent basis. This is an exciting opportunity to join a highly regarded children's hospice at a pivotal stage of its development, taking a leading role in strengthening financial performance, improving organisational effectiveness and helping shape the charity's next phase of growth.
This is more than a traditional Finance Director role. Noah's Ark has undergone significant transformation in recent years, moving from a predominantly community-based service to operating a 24/7 hospice facility at The Ark. The successful candidate will join at a critical point in this journey, with the opportunity to strengthen the finance function whilst working closely with the wider Senior Leadership Team to ensure the charity is making the best possible use of its resources and delivering maximum value for children and families.
For an ambitious, commercially minded finance leader, this is an opportunity to combine strong financial leadership with genuine organisational impact, helping to shape a more effective operating model and contributing directly to the future direction of the charity.
The role
- Partner with the CEO, Senior Leadership Team and Board of Trustees to shape the charity's financial and strategic direction during a period of organisational change.
- Stabilise and strengthen the finance function, ensuring high-quality financial management, robust controls and accurate, insightful reporting.
- Lead the budgeting, forecasting and financial planning process, including modelling different care delivery approaches, investment decisions and longer-term strategic scenarios.
- Support the charity to improve its financial position, identifying opportunities to increase efficiency and ensure resources are being deployed to maximum effect.
- Oversee statutory accounts, external reporting, audit and regulatory requirements, ensuring the charity maintains strong financial governance and compliance.
- Ensure effective management of reserves, investments, cash flow, liquidity, insurance and restricted funds.
- Contribute to the development of the charity's next multi-year strategic plan, bringing commercial discipline, financial insight and a practical focus on delivery.
- Identify opportunities for cost efficiency and productivity improvements across the organisation, working collaboratively with colleagues to turn insight into action.
- Support the design and implementation of new IT and financial systems, ensuring they provide the information and controls required to support an effective organisation.
- Lead and develop a small finance team, setting clear expectations, building capability and creating a culture of accountability and high performance.
- Play an active role in wider organisational leadership, bringing constructive challenge and financial insight to decisions beyond the traditional finance remit.
The organisation
Noah's Ark Children's Hospice provides specialist care and support to babies, children and young people with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions, alongside their families. Its purpose-built hospice, The Ark, opened in 2019 and provides a unique environment where children can receive specialist care, therapy, bereavement support and family services in a safe and welcoming setting.
Rated 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission, Noah's Ark supports families across North and Central London and Hertsmere, delivering care wherever it is needed - in the family home, within the community or at The Ark.
This is an organisation with a warm, supportive culture and a strong commitment to its values of Kindness, Excellence and Courage. It is now looking for a finance leader who can combine that collaborative approach with the confidence to challenge constructively, make difficult decisions and drive meaningful improvement.
Essential criteria
- Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).
- Strong experience leading a finance function.
- Strong understanding of financial controls, governance, audit and statutory reporting.
- Demonstrable experience producing and interpreting high-quality financial information that supports effective decision-making.
- Experience leading and developing teams, with the confidence to set expectations, address underperformance and hold colleagues accountable.
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders and non-finance colleagues.
- A proactive, hands-on and self-starting appr
Registered Charity
51 - 100
We help children who are seriously unwell make the most of every day
Thank you!
Robertson Bell is exclusively partnering with Barnardo's to recruit a Group Financial Controller on a 12-month fixed-term contract. This is a significant senior finance leadership opportunity to join a complex and well-established organisation at an important point in its development, leading a large finance team and driving transformation across processes and systems.
Following changes to the Finance leadership structure, the Group Financial Controller will provide additional senior leadership capacity during a period of significant organisational development and change. Reporting directly to the CFO, you will act as a senior operational deputy, providing leadership across financial control, finance operations, treasury management, finance systems, finance transformation and legacy operations. You will lead a team of up to 7 directly, with up to 60 indirect reports, and will play a key role in strengthening financial governance, operational performance and service delivery.
Barnardo's is a leading UK charity working to support children, young people and families. Its Finance function is strengthening to support the organisation's strategy through financial stewardship, operational excellence and transformation, with a focus on improving processes and controls, modernising systems and reporting, embedding digital solutions and developing organisational capability.
The key duties of the Group Financial Controller are:
- Act as the senior operational deputy to the CFO, representing Finance at senior management meetings and providing senior leadership across the function.
- Lead key Finance transformation priorities, driving significant improvements across systems, processes, data and organisational capability.
- Act as senior sponsor for Finance systems development and optimisation, ensuring technology investments deliver measurable benefits and are accompanied by genuine process change.
- Champion automation, digital enablement and AI opportunities to reduce manual activity, strengthen controls and improve the Finance user experience.
- Support wider organisational change initiatives, ensuring Finance structures, systems and resources are aligned to future requirements.
- Provide visible and effective leadership across a large Finance function, promoting a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement and high performance.
- Provide leadership and oversight across statutory reporting, taxation, audit, technical accounting and group consolidation, maintaining strong financial governance and control.
- Oversee finance operations including transaction processing, income management, accounts payable, accounts receivable, Gift Aid and related services, driving operational excellence and improved service standards.
- Oversee treasury activities, including cash, liquidity and investments, while strengthening processes, systems and internal capability.
The successful candidate will have:
- Significant post-qualification experience in a senior finance leadership position (E), ideally operating at or close to Finance Director, Deputy CFO, Group Financial Controller or equivalent level.
- Experience leading financial control and finance operations within a large, complex organisation (E), with previous charity experience highly desirable.
- A fully qualified accountancy qualification such as ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent (E),
- Strong technical accounting experience, including statutory reporting, audit management, taxation, financial governance and controls.
- A proven track record of leading and developing high-performing teams, with the ability to coach and support permanent team members.
- Demonstrable experience delivering organisational change, service improvement and finance transformation programmes across people, processes and systems (E).
- Experience working effectively with senior stakeholders, including executive and board reporting.
- Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to convey complex financial information clearly to senior audiences (E).
- A pragmatic, resilient, collaborative and emotionally intelligent approach, with the ability to build trust quickly and integrate effectively into an established team
- A proactive and solutions-focused mindset, with the ability to challenge constructively, identify opportunities for improvement and deliver against complex priorities.
This is a 12-month fixed-term opportunity paying up to £92,892 per annum and will be largely home-based with occasional days in the London office.
Applications close on Tuesday 15th September, with fir
Thank you!
Imperial College London is partnering exclusively with Robertson Bell to recruit a Head of Management Accounting on a permanent basis. This is an exceptional opportunity to join one of the world's leading universities in a senior finance leadership position at a pivotal time for the them. Imperial is investing significantly in the future of its Finance function through the implementation of Oracle Fusion, bringing enhanced business intelligence capabilities and the modernisation of their management accounting processes.
As Head of Management Accounting, you will play a central role in shaping this transformation whilst leading a high-performing team responsible for delivering financial insight across the University's extensive non-academic portfolio.
The role
- Lead and develop a high-performing management accounting function of 11 finance professionals, creating a collaborative, high-performing culture centred on continuous improvement and exceptional customer service.
- Oversee management accounting and financial reporting for more than 30 support service departments, responsible for approximately £320m of annual expenditure and £185m of capital investment programmes.
- Lead budgeting, forecasting and month-end reporting, ensuring timely, accurate and insightful financial information that supports strategic decision making across the University.
- Act as the finance lead for the continued optimisation of Oracle Fusion, driving process redesign, standardisation, automation and the adoption of AI to improve efficiency and reporting capability.
- Oversee financial accounting and statutory reporting for key University subsidiaries, whilst leading external audit activity and ensuring compliance with FRS102.
- Partner with senior leaders across Finance and Professional Services, providing commercial insight, challenging assumptions and influencing strategic decision making.
- Work closely with the Finance Business Intelligence team to further develop reporting capability through Power BI and data-driven insights.
- Champion continuous improvement by reviewing existing processes, strengthening controls and embedding best practice across the management accounting function.
Essential criteria
- Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CPA or CCAB).
- Proven leadership experience managing and developing finance teams.
- Strong management accounting, budgeting and forecasting expertise within a large, complex organisation.
- Experience leading process improvement, harmonisation and finance transformation initiatives.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and challenge senior leaders.
- Strong technical accounting knowledge, including FRS102.
- Excellent analytical skills, attention to detail and the ability to communicate complex financial information clearly.
Experience within Higher Education, knowledge of TRAC, Oracle Fusion or Power BI would be advantageous but is not essential.
Why join Imperial?
The opportunity to continue your career at a world‑leading institution and be part of our mission to deliver world‑class teaching and learning. You'll benefit from an outstanding working environment, genuine opportunities for professional development and a comprehensive reward package designed to support your career, wellbeing and work-life balance.
Benefits include:
- Hybrid working (2-3 days per week office based working)
- Competitive pension scheme.
- Generous annual leave (27 days plus campus closures and Bank Holidays), with the option to purchase additional leave.
- Comprehensive health and wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, discounted sports facilities and occupational health services.
- Excellent family-friendly policies, enhanced parental & carers leave &childcare initiatives.
- Extensive learning and development opportunities to support your long-term career progression.
- A wide range of employee discounts, travel schemes and lifestyle benefits.
Apply now
If you're an ambitious finance leader looking for an opportunity to shape the future of management accounting within a world-renowned institution, we'd love to hear from you.
This is a permanent, full-time position based at Imperial College London's White City Campus, operating on a hybrid working model.
Applications close on 6 September, with interviews scheduled for 16 September.
