Head of Finance and Operations

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership 

• Be an active member of the Senior Leadership Team, steering the strategic direction of the charity and leading your teams in a high-performance culture.
• Have overall responsibility for the Students’ Union’s compliance with legal and legislative requirements within finance and HR, maintaining our policies and procedures to ensure compliance with relevant legal standards.
• Develop and maintain positive relationships with colleagues, University staff, external partners, and other stakeholders, in particular, work closely with the University regarding the Students’ Union’s block grant.

Financial Leadership and Management

• Lead, manage, develop and expand the financial management and controls of the Students’ Union including book-keeping, budgeting, cash flow management, and invoicing, in accordance with legislation and best practice.
• In consultation with the Chief Executive, develop and prepare the annual budget and multi-year forecasts, in a timely manner, ensuring financial plans align with our overall strategic direction.
• Provide regular budget monitoring reports (such as monthly management accounts, quarterly accounts, and our annual financial statements), cash flow statements, analysis of performance against budget, and insights into risk, ensuring this is understandable to our stakeholders.
• Oversee payroll and pensions, ensuring compliance with PAYE and legal requirements.
• Manage and develop financial systems and internal controls, and to provide advice and training to budget managers and staff on finance related procedures and issues.
• Act as the main point of contact for the appointed auditor and be responsible for the preparation of records and reports for the annual external audit. 
• Have an understanding of accounting processes around charity governance. 
• Complete and deliver operational information/payments to HMRC, ONS and other government and regulatory bodies including pension and VAT returns. 

People and Culture

• Oversee the development and delivery of our People and Culture Plan, developing our organisational behaviours and performance framework to ensure our values and culture are embedded throughout the organisation.
• Lead the development and implementation of our recruitment processes, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and a first-class onboarding and induction process.
• Lead on the review and development of our HR systems, policies, and procedures, ensuring they meet the values of the Students’ Union and establish clear standards for our staff team that contribute to their wellbeing and success.
• Ensure compliance with employment laws and regulations through liaison with our HR consultants.
• Support staff training and development programmes.
• Act as the senior management lead for HR, undertaking day-to-day HR tasks where required.

Service Development and Delivery

• Lead on the delivery of change projects across the organisation which may sit outside of the typical realm of finance and HR.
• To be the Union’s service improvement champion promoting excellent and consistent process and procedure that enables people to engage with us with ease and clarity.
• Lead on the delivery of internal and external compliance reporting e.g. gender pay gap.

Staff & Financial Responsibilities

• Deputise for the Chief Executive Officer in their absence on matters relating to Finances, HR, and Service Delivery.
• Manage and develop direct reports, ensuring effective recruitment, induction, and on-going development within the organisation.
• Effectively provide coaching, 1-2-1 support and performance management in line with the Union’s policies and procedures.
• Recruit and induct staff within the organisation as appropriate.
• Supervise and/or manage team members in line with the organisation’s policies and procedures, supporting them to grow personally and professionally.
• Work within an agreed budget, in line with the organisation’s scheme of delegation and financial procedures.

As a Senior Manager

• Be personally responsible and accountable for projects and results, leading work that spans the entire organisation.
• Build effective working relationships with local, regional and national partners that furthers the work of the Students’ Union.
• Work with colleagues to identify additional revenue streams and ways to reduce costs that can fund the further development of the Students’ Union.
• Support and mentor elected student Officers, helping them achieve their agreed objectives.
• Ultimately our Senior Managers are accountable for the delivery of our strategy and ensuring the Students’ Union delivers our mission.

Organisation Wide Responsibilities

• Comply with relevant equality and diversity policies, promoting a healthy working environment where all individuals are valued.
• Comply with relevant health and safety policies, seeking to minimise hazards for others.
• Support the development and implementation of sustainability initiatives within the organisation.
• Comply with relevant data protection policies, ensuring the Data Protection Act 2018 is considered when making plans and decisions.
• Establish and maintain excellent working relationships with students, volunteers, staff and individuals outside of the Students’ Union (for example the University). 
• Comply with the Students’ Union’s articles of association and other governing documents, recognising and celebrating the contribution of members to leading our work.
• Work as part of a wider team, undertaking any other reasonable duties appropriate for the grade that may be required by the organisation.