Assistant Director of Finance

⚔️ ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Royal Armouries | Leeds (Hybrid) | Circa £75,000 | 18-month fixed-term contract

The Royal Armouries is the UK's national museum of arms and armour, keeper of the world's oldest national collection, with sites in Leeds, the Tower of London and Fort Nelson. Behind the galleries sits a genuinely interesting finance operation: charity accounting, a trading subsidiary, public sector governance, DCMS reporting and real commercial ambition, all under one roof.

As our most senior finance professional, reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, you'll lead Finance, Procurement and Assurance, and act as the finance lead for our Executive Board. It is strategic and operational in equal measure - you'd be setting the multi-year financial plan on Monday and fixing a stubborn process on Tuesday.

WHAT YOU'LL ACTUALLY BE DOING

🏛️ Lead the function

• Lead Finance, Procurement and Assurance, line-managing the Head of Finance, Procurement Manager and Executive Support Officer - Assurance & Planning
• Act as the finance lead for the Executive Board (EB), with a high degree of delegated authority from the Chief Operating Officer
• Ensuring the timely and effective generation of financial reports, projections and performance data for EB, Trustees and DCMS other statutory bodies as required
• Build a confident, supportive finance culture, the kind of team colleagues come to for help rather than approval

📈 Own the numbers, and the story behind them

• Develop and deliver the long-range, multi-year financial plan in a demanding economic and commercial climate
• Lead the annual budget and in-year forecasting, reporting key movements to Exec Board, Trustees and DCMS
• Give budget holders analysis and reporting tools that make their jobs easier, not harder
• Translate complex financial information for an audience that includes curators, conservators and committees

🛡️ Hold the line on governance

• Lead the year-end process, statutory accounts and the annual audit
• Act as organisational lead on all tax matters - employment taxes, corporation tax and VAT
• Support the Procurement Manager on compliance with the Procurement Act and Procurement Contract Regulations
• Support the Executive Support Officer - Assurance & Planning on wider governance and regulatory compliance

⚙️ Improve how everything runs

• Drive continuous improvement in financial processes, systems and controls — inside Finance and right across the museum. You'll be pushing the service forward and using strong improving and modernising instincts wherever practicable and feasible to improve departmental efficiency, and contain and manage costs and overheads within the department and across the organisation.
• Test the assumptions behind investment proposals and business cases, constructively and with evidence
• Find opportunities to grow income, reduce cost and stretch resources without diluting quality

🤝 Build allegiances

• Work with DCMS, HMRC, museum partners, auditors and professional advisers
• Influence colleagues, challenge established thinking where it needs challenging, and build real commitment to shared goals
• Stay plugged into the sector for benchmarking, intelligence and your own development

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

✅ Essential

• A professional accountancy qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA or equivalent)
• Senior finance experience supporting colleagues across an organisation and reporting to Board level
• A strong grasp of the concept of the internal customer. You'll be serving and supporting line managers and budget holders with information and other finance needs as well as enabling and supporting their empowerment and independence
• Experience of leading the annual budget and ongoing forecasting process
• Experience of leading on the production of statutory accounts and managing the annual audit
• Previous track record of implementing and developing finance IT systems
• Evidence of developing effective, efficient policies, processes and controls
• Experience across a range of sectors, commercial, not-for-profit and public sector
• Experience of employment taxes, corporation tax and VAT

⭐ Desirable

• Charity accounting experience
• Public sector procurement and knowledge of the Procurement Regulations
• Knowledge of HM Treasury governance and public financial management frameworks — Managing Public Money, the Functional Standards, the Orange Book and the Green Book
• A background in the cultural or heritage sector (welcome, but not a deal-breaker, there are people around who can teach you the difference between a gauntlet and a vambrace!)

WHAT'S ON OFFER

💰 The package

• Salary c£75,000, on a 18-month fixed-term contract, potential scope beyond this for a candidate with extensive relevant experience
• Pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 9%
• 27.5 days' annual leave plus bank holidays
• Company sick pay scheme

🕓 Hours and flexibility

• 36 hours per week, 5 days out of 7
• Occasional evening, weekend and bank holiday working, this comes with the territory in a museum, not every weekend, but invitations to support new exhibitions and events - a fun benefit!

📍 Where you'll be

• A hybrid role, Leeds-based, in a building where there's always something interesting happening, with travel to our other sites, very comfortable to support a balance of remote and on-site working
• Discounted staff parking and the Bike2Work scheme

🍰 The little extras

• 25% off in the staff shop and 10% off in the on-site café
• Free online learning and professional development
• Free Employee Assistance Programme

🚀 READY TO APPLY?

The Royal Armouries has been looking after extraordinary objects and extraordinary stories for centuries. The next chapter needs someone who can bring financial rigour worthy of a national museum and enjoy the role while they do it. Closing date 16th October 2026.

If that sounds like your kind of challenge, we'd like to hear from you. For a confidential conversation before you apply, please get in touch.

The Royal Armouries is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are happy to discuss adjustments at any stage of the process — the best teams, like the best collections, have always been varied ones.