Director, Financial Management

The Director, Financial Management, will lead the development and delivery of robust financial management practices across the organisation. This role ensures effective systems, processes, and controls are in place to support global operations, drive compliance, and enable informed decision‑making. They will provide strategic oversight of secretariat wide financial transactions (unrestricted core funding), global audits, financial policies and procedures including those relating to procurement management, financial systems and compliance, ensuring alignment with organisational objectives and safeguarding requirements.

Context of Role: Reporting to the Director of Finance & Technology, this position sits within the integrated Finance, Admin & IT function. The role plays a critical part in shaping and implementing global financial frameworks, supporting organisational evolution, and maintaining high standards of governance, transparency and accountability. This role requires close collaboration across functions and adherence to safeguarding reporting and monitoring obligations.

Deliverables

• Policies & Procedures: Conceptualise, design, and keep up to date in line with the SROP guidelines, the global financial policies, frameworks, processes, and systems that enhance service delivery that is aligned with IPPF's financial strategy, internal resources, and donor requirements. This would include overseeing the implementation of all these policies/ frameworks/ processes/ systems.
• Accounting: Continually conceptualise, build and review frameworks and processes to improve overall financial Key performance indicators (KPIs). Build budgets and oversee their utilisation for the finance function in line with the journey developed to strengthen the finance and other functions. Advise and collaborate with the Director – Financial Planning and Analysis and Donor Reporting Global manager for all planning and budgeting processes and specific financial processes and policies, applicable to restricted projects, respectively. Influence and galvanize a strong culture of transparency and financial control across the Secretariat by setting clear expectations, develop reporting and oversight tools and adequate follow up. Design and oversee implementation of regular review and approval systems in line with the policies and procedures. Design, update and oversee a robust month end and year end closure procedure across Secretariat. Conceptualise, design and oversee implementation of a strong treasury and investment management system, optimizing returns on investment. Conceptualise, design and oversee implementation of a risk based forex management system. Ensure timely review and sign off, of monthly payroll transactions, ensuring all compliances in line with internal policies and HMRC requirements.
• Procurement: Conceptualise, design and oversee implementation of procurement policies and processes to ensure value for money, which includes speed, quality and timeliness of the delivery. Conceptualise and design vendor management solutions to efficiently and transparently manage procurement across the secretariat.
• Statutory Reporting & Compliance: Oversee and direct implementation of systems/ processes to ensure timely and accurate statutory compliance directly in the UK (VAT / PAYE / Gift Aid). Oversee compliances in line with the requirements of the UK Charities Commission, HMRC, US Internal Revenue Service and Donors. Oversee financial compliance across all secretariat offices. In doing so Conceptualise and direct the team in putting together a system to ensure oversight of financial compliance.
• Financial Systems Oversight: Conceptualise, design and manage financial systems for efficiently and transparently manage financial transactions across the secretariat. Conceptualise, design and manage, time sheet management system to ensure fair allocation of costs across different sources of funding across the secretariat. Conceptualise and design accounting systems to help in lead consolidation of accounts for the Charity Group ensuring timely closure of statutory audits.
• Audit and Oversight: Conceptualise and design a system for generating timely and accurate year-end statutory financial statement. Influence and oversee implementation of the external audit process on an annual basis to ensure timely closure of audits. Be the focal person for oversight and follow up on fraud and mismanagement complaints from across the finance function within the Secretariat. Advise Director Finance & Technology and where needed the internal audit to ensure efficient responses and follow up to the internal audit recommendations. Assist the Director Finance & technology in preparation work (including preparation of documents) related to the DLT, Finance, Audit and Risk committee and Board of Trustee meetings. Lead the global financial responses to internal/external audit requests. Attend and participate, as required by DLT, Finance, Audit and Risk Committee, Board of Trustees and the annual Donor Meeting.
• People Management: Mentor and guide the team through all engagements ensuring a building a strong culture of accountability, collaboration and mutual sharing. Advise senior management and staff on financial policy/process/system changes that embed new ways of working and improves financial management within the wider workforce. Champion change within the team and with stakeholders on adopting new financial approaches that positions IPPF at the forefront of innovation.

Expertise/Skills:

• Fully qualified Chartered Accountant
• Strong knowledge of UK Charities Commission, SORP and other statutory requirements (including VAT).
• Experience of turning around a Finance function
• Proactive problem-solver
• Hands‑on without getting lost in the weeds
• Great interpersonal skills and works well across different cultures
• Holds people to account
• Experience in ensuring value for money decision making processes.
• Experience of working with global systems & processes
• Experience in the Charity Sector
• Evidence of setting and managing robust standards of performance and compliance to tight deadlines.
• Evidence of creating an environment of visibility, transparency, integrity, learning and improvement
• Understanding of NetSuite and used to working with various currencies.
• Demonstrates good judgment and decision‑making.
• Excellent analytical skills with a keen eye for detail
• Excellent excel skills
• Writing and reporting skills in English.
• High level of organisation skills, planning, time management.
• Ability to adapt to changing needs and a champion of change.
• Collaborative and open style of working.
• Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to safeguarding in local and international context.

Your Ethos:

• Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to safeguarding in a local and international context.
• Demonstrates ability and willingness to work in a diverse, multicultural, multilingual and intergenerational environment that is anti‑racist and respectful of others.
• An intersectional (pro) feminist passionate about sexual reproductive health care rights + justice, including safe abortion.
• Supportive of people’s rights regardless of sexuality or gender identity/expression and supportive of workers’ rights and access to health care in sex work.

IPPF is an equal‑opportunity employer. As a leading global human rights organisation focused on equality, empowerment, ending discrimination, and poverty eradication, we internally reflect social justice principles. We, as IPPF, strongly oppose racism in all its forms and resolutely go for a cultural change that will shift the existing imbalances in power and process. We are a multi‑cultural, multi‑lingual, intergenerational and diverse work environment. Applications are particularly encouraged from women, people living with HIV, people living with disability and people with diverse SOGIESC. IPPF is committed to protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults, and our safer recruitment and selection procedures reflect this commitment. We expect all employees, volunteers, contractors, and partners to share this commitment, and anyone employed by IPPF agrees to sign up for our Code of Conduct and Safeguarding (Children and Vulnerable Adults) Policy.