Assistant Director - Financial Management (Grade M1)
- Hiring from
- United Kingdom
- Work type
- Hybrid
- Posted
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Our ambition is for Scotland to be the best place in the world to learn, educate, research and innovate, so that all of our nation can flourish.
Our purpose is to create and sustain a world-leading system of tertiary education, research and innovation that changes lives for the better, enriches society and supports sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
Leading the Budgeting & Reporting and Payments & Procurement teams, the successful candidate will play a pivotal role in the Scottish Funding Council's (SFC) Finance Directorate, which has responsibility for the overall management of effective accounting, budgeting and payment processing of £2 billion of programme funds and £8 million of running costs.
Virtual interviews will be held week commencing 23 November 2026 (via Teams).
Our purpose is to create and sustain a world-leading system of tertiary education, research and innovation that changes lives for the better, enriches society and supports sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
Leading the Budgeting & Reporting and Payments & Procurement teams, the successful candidate will play a pivotal role in the Scottish Funding Council's (SFC) Finance Directorate, which has responsibility for the overall management of effective accounting, budgeting and payment processing of £2 billion of programme funds and £8 million of running costs.
Virtual interviews will be held week commencing 23 November 2026 (via Teams).
Key Responsibilities
- Overall responsibility for (ownership of) the financial and budget ledgers and application of SFC’s scheme of delegated financial authority.
- Management of the production of annual accounts, responsibility for format, accounting policies and securing approvals.
- Pro-active management and review of annual budget (for programme funds and running costs) including formal in-year re-forecasts before release to senior management.
- Critically review management reports prepared for senior management and Council Committees ensuring significant issues are highlighted.
- Main contact for internal and external audit on all financial and budgeting matters.
- Overall management of month-end activities, approval of bank transactions and approval of drawdown requests.
- Review and checking of the application of internal controls, including exception reports and audit logs.
- Strong understanding of the Budgeting and Reporting and Financial Accounting functions including the ability to cover in the absence of Senior Budgeting and Reporting Officer.
- Building an integrated team to manage the financial and management accounting and procurement functions, and ongoing management and development of that team and the SUN finance system.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
It is important through your CV / Cover Letter that you give evidence of proven experience of each of the following essential criteria:
Essential:
Essential:
- CCAB accounting qualification or qualified by experience with significant relevant experience covering both financial and management accounts.
- High level analytical skills.
- Proven leadership skills – to deal with change management and enable the teams to be developed and sustained creating a strong customer focussed team-working environment.
- Strong written and oral communication skills including experience of explaining financial information to non-finance staff.
- Flexibility, ability to co-ordinate a diverse range of priorities, and react positively to change.
- Significant experience of finance and management accounting procedures and IT systems.
- Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Word and Excel
Desirable:
- Experience of SUN accounts and budget management packages
Terms and Benefits
· Normal full-time hours of work are 35 per week. We will consider flexible working arrangements. A flexi-time system is in operation.
· Annual leave entitlement of 30 days pro-rata, plus public and privilege holiday entitlement of 13 days pro-rata.
· A flexible approach to hybrid working, giving you flexibility to work from home anywhere in the UK for some of the time while also maintaining regular in-person contact with colleagues.
· Annual pay review: approved within the framework of the Scottish Government’s Public Sector Pay Policy and negotiated with our recognised trade union, Unite. Salaries are reviewed annually in April for employees who commence employment prior to 1 October in the preceding year.
· Eligibility to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme. With its low member contribution rates and generous employer contributions, this gives you a secure, inflation-proof pension for life with no investment uncertainty. Details of contribution rates together with further details of the pension benefits are available on the Civil Service Pensions website. There is also the option of a Partnership pension account.
· Support for continuous professional development: as a part of SFC, we are dedicated to providing comprehensive support for continuous learning and professional development. Civil Service-Learning curriculum has thoughtfully designed to cater to various learning preferences, allowing employees to engage in a manner that best suits their needs. All our educational resources are conveniently accessible through the CSL website.
· Support for health and wellbeing, including generous occupational sick pay, free access to confidential advice and support through our 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, Special Leave (paid and unpaid), a contribution to learning outside work through our Lifelong Learning Fund, free winter flu vaccination, and access to occupational health support.
· We provide support to SFC employees with Volunteering Days.
· Support for travel to and from work, including a salary sacrifice cycle loan scheme, cycle storage and shower facilities, an interest-free loan for bus or rail season tickets and free office car parking for employees on a first-come basis.
Although most salaried roles are advertised as full time positions (35 hours a week), we are happy to discuss part-time or compressed hours to suit a candidates circumstances. We also operate a flexible working scheme to work around a candidate's other commitments such as caring responsibilities.
We will consider secondment applications for most salaried fixed-term or temporary positions and in many cases also for salaried permanent positions. If you are interested in applying on a secondment basis and this option is not explicitly mentioned in the job advert, please contact recruitment@sfc.ac.uk for further information.
Although most salaried roles are advertised as full time positions (35 hours a week), we are happy to discuss part-time or compressed hours to suit a candidates circumstances. We also operate a flexible working scheme to work around a candidate's other commitments such as caring responsibilities.
We will consider secondment applications for most salaried fixed-term or temporary positions and in many cases also for salaried permanent positions. If you are interested in applying on a secondment basis and this option is not explicitly mentioned in the job advert, please contact recruitment@sfc.ac.uk for further information.
