Head of Finance in Reading

Location: Reading, Hybrid (at least twice a month to Reading Office)

Hours: Full time, however will consider 0.8 FTE

Salary: £75,000 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Campaign Closes: 12th February 2026

First Stage Interviews: 19th & 20th February 2026

Second Stage Interviews: 25th & 26th February 2026 - there will be an informal meet with our CEO.

At Make‑A‑Wish UK, every role plays a part in creating life changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. We are seeking a Head of Finance who will lead the operational delivery of our finance function, ensuring accurate financial reporting, robust financial controls and full compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. In this vital role, you will support the Finance Director in delivering our strategic financial objectives and act as a key liaison between finance and the wider organisation.

Core Purpose

To lead the operational delivery of the charity’s finance function, ensuring accurate financial reporting, robust financial controls, and full compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements. The Head of Finance supports the Finance Director in delivering strategic financial objectives and acts as a key liaison between finance and other departments. As a member of the Extended Leadership Team (ExLT), the role contributes financial insight to organisation‑wide decision‑making and plays an active part in delivering cross‑charity priorities and operational goals.

To be successful in this role you will need:

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with minimum 3 years PQE
• Experience in a similar role.
• Excellent excel and financial modelling skills
• Proven experience in finance business partnering & management reporting.
• Proven ability to manage and develop a finance team.
• Experience of preparing consolidated financial statements from general ledger
• Solid understanding of VAT
• Analytical mindset with ability to problem solve, interpret data and to see the bigger picture, identifying inter relationships between different departments
• Strong attention to detail.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience of process improvements and automation
• Uses initiative, with ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Proactive, organised, and able to manage competing priorities.
• Collaborative with ability to work cross functionally
• Confident in using Microsoft Office tools and accounting software (e.g., Xero, Sage, QuickBooks)
• Integrity and discretion.

Desirable Criteria

• Similar experience with medium to large charity highly desirable
• Similar experience of business partnering with areas of fundraising highly desirable
• Strong technical knowledge of charity accounting and financial reporting.
• Experience of operating under partial exemption for VAT
• Experience with restricted/unrestricted funds and grant reporting.
• Experience with digital transformation or finance system upgrades.
• Experience of working with Xero and Salesforce

Key Responsibilities:

Finance operations

• Oversee day-to-day financial operations including accounts payable/receivable, payroll, and bank reconciliations.
• Ensure timely and accurate production of monthly management accounts and financial reports.
• Complete monthly balance sheet reconciliations in line with agreed timelines – balance sheet account ownership as agreed
• Process month end journals as required
• Review monthly balance sheet reconciliations in line with agreed timelines
• Ensure processes & procedures are documented and kept up to date, and recommend improvements to drive continuous improvement
• Maintain and improve financial systems, processes, and internal controls.
• Review finance policies on an annual basis and update in line with current legislation and best practice
• Support the organisation with any finance related queries

Management Accounting

• Prepare consolidated management accounts, including variance analysis, risks and opportunities, and advise budget holders as required.
• Design financial reports, processes and training guides to drive budget holder self service
• Recommend solutions to streamline month end reporting and other financial processes

Budgeting & Forecasting

• Coordinate the annual budgeting & forecast process across departments.
• Produce the consolidated annual budget and quarterly reforecasts for review by FD, in line with agreed timeframes, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and funding requirements (currently excel based).
• Review budget & forecast submissions, and challenge appropriately. Perform variance analysis (actuals vs budget/forecast) and explain key drivers.
• Monitor performance against budget/forecast and provide appropriate reports including variance analysis dependent on stakeholder.
• Ensure finance system and all associated systems are updated with budget / forecast information accordingly
• Recommend solutions to streamline budgeting and reforecasting process

Business Partnering

• Work closely and build strong relationships with operational teams to provide financial insight and support decision-making.
• Influence strategic decisions through clear communication of financial insights.
• Undertake financial evaluation of new projects, business cases, funding bids, and contracts, as required.
• Produce written reports on performance, highlighting key financial risks and opportunities.
• Upskill budget holders in financial awareness and management
• Own the finance business partner relationship and role with some of the more complex profit centres

Treasury & Cash Management

• Lead cash flow forecasting and liquidity planning across the organisation.
• Manage relationships with banks and investment managers, ensuring compliance with treasury policies.
• Oversee restricted and unrestricted fund reporting and ensure appropriate allocation and usage.
• Support the development and implementation of treasury strategies, including reserve management and ethical investment policies.

Financial Planning & Analysis

• Support the Finance Director & budget holders in preparing financial models, as required.
• Partner with budget holders to provide financial models and insightful financial analysis and to support decision-making.
• Monitor and report on financial performance against budgets & reforecasts, identifying risks and opportunities
• Deliver high-quality analysis to support new initiatives.

Finance Systems & Process Improvement

• Lead on the implementation and optimisation of finance systems (eg. Xero).
• Monitor and manage any payment and other system interfaces
• Drive automation and efficiency in financial processes & reporting.
• Support the integration of finance with wider organisational systems - finance representative on technology SCRUMS and SPRINTS

Compliance & Reporting

• Ensure compliance with charity accounting standards (SORP), Companies House, HMRC, and Charity Commission requirements.
• Responsible for accurate and timely submission of HMRC returns, including quarterly VAT returns, annual employee benefits and Corporation Tax.
• Prepare statutory accounts and lead on the external audit process.
• Quarterly reporting to Make-A-Wish International - APD reporting
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of financial regulations and best practices.

Team leadership & Support

• Manage and develop the finance team, ensuring high performance and continuous improvement.
• Provide training and support to non-finance staff on budgeting and financial procedures to improve financial literacy across the organization.
• Create Finance resources to encourage self-service for common queries

General and ad-hoc Support

• Deputise for Finance Director in their absence
• Provide cover for finance team members during periods of absence, ensuring continuity of service and workload management.
• Take on additional duties as appropriate to the level of the role and contribute to team objectives.
• Support fundraising events from a finance perspective.