Cornerstone is one of Scotland’s largest social care charities and a leading provider of care for children, young people and adults with disabilities and additional support needs.
This position is responsible for the management and development of the Finance function ensuring the provision of accurate, reliable, and timely financial information and analysis to support the whole of the organisation in its activities, working with all departments and liaising with both financial and non-financial stakeholders.
Working with the Director of Finance, you will establish and maintain effective financial management and business support and ensure appropriate financial policies and management information systems are in place to allow Cornerstone to make well informed decisions which will guarantee ongoing stability and growth.
You will have responsibility for the preparation of monthly financial reporting, ensuring that reporting is fit for purpose and developing new reporting where required, analysing performance, and taking mitigating steps where necessary. The post holder will support the Director of Finance in the preparation of annual budgets, monitoring reports, forecasts, and annual accounts. Additionally, you will be called on to find solutions to complex funding issues, managing deficits, and, where new work is taken on, ensure this does not strain existing limited resources.
You will operate within a range of organisational policies and procedures and regulatory requirements including the Companies Act, Charities SORP and HMRC. Knowledge and experience of the legal and charitable framework is highly desirable although not essential.
As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, you will contribute towards the delivery of the Organisation’s strategic, operational, and departmental plans. This is a varied and hands on position and may require some essential travel throughout the UK; therefore, the post holder must be willing to occasionally travel.
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Professional delivery of the finance service covering all finance department activities and ensuring they are in line with the organisation’s strategic and operational plans.
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Coordinate and manage the timely production of accurate and detailed financial information including management accounts with supporting narrative and variance analysis, ensuring such accounts accurately reflect the organisation and its needs.
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Lead responsibility for the preparation of the annual budget and plans including income and expenditure budgets, salary budgets, balance sheet and cash flow forecasts.
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Preparation of the annual accounts and providing the supporting documentation for the annual audit. Liaising with the auditors ensuring compliance with all relevant charitable and financial legislation.
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Lead in the development of processes and procedures relating to grant and contract management for income and expenditure ensuring financial management processes are robustly embedded to ensure effective governance.
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Provide financial support to colleagues in Operations and Development with tender submissions, contract reviews, and contractual compliance.
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Effective use of project management tools and best business management practices to continue to innovate and improve Cornerstone’s systems, policies, and procedures. Use new and emerging technology and reporting tools to adapt financial reporting and analysis.
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Lead on cash flow and treasury management, managing working capital to ensure sufficient cash is available and all restricted expenditure is managed appropriately.
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Management of restricted grants and income, working with colleagues to ensure compliance and monitoring of expenditure.
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Assist the Director of Finance with the preparation and delivery of the organisation’s strategic and operational plans, the development and delivery of KPI’s, ensuring they are incorporated within the departmental plan and work schedule.
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Promote and sustain a constructive, supportive, and friendly working relationship with all customers, internal and external, as well as colleagues at all levels.
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Managing, coaching, mentoring, and supporting the finance team to enable them to perform to the highest standard to contribute towards achievement of organisational goals and objectives.
Candidate Requirements:
The Head of Finance position requires an experienced Finance professional preferably with a minimum of 5 years’ post qualification experience gained working in a charity, industry, the profession or financial services. Regardless of background, you will be passionate about adding value to the charity as well as demonstrating energy, drive and enthusiasm for the role and a commitment to Cornerstone’s vision and values.
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Degree level qualification or equivalent experience and relevant professional qualification (CA/ACA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent).
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Skilled in the development and maintenance of financial controls, policies, and procedures.
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Good analytical and evaluation skills with the ability to understand and carry out complex numerical and financial calculations and analyse data. • Meticulous attention to detail, delivering accurate, reliable, and timely outputs but retain the ability to see the bigger picture.
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Ability to identify and implement quality processes and procedures and communicate these clearly verbally and in writing.
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Comfortable learning new systems, developing and implementing new procedures and proposing solutions for problems with systems.
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High level strategic thinker with the ability to transfer strategy into operational and departmental work plans.
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Effective communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to develop relationships and communication with staff at all levels.
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Strong organisational skills with the ability to plan and organise work, working to tight deadlines simultaneously managing several initiatives.
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Experience of developing, managing, and leading a finance team to deliver high quality performance and service.
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Experience of supporting organisational change and implementing new finance systems
For more information of to discuss the role in confidence, please contact Georgie – [email protected]
