Senior Director of Finance in Oxford

Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) is seeking a Senior Director of Finance to lead financial strategy, stewardship, and risk management during a critical phase of organisational growth and systems-level scale-up.

Location: United Kingdom (remote working permitted though proximity to London/Oxford preferred)

Benefits: Flexible remote-working, home office set-up, unlimited annual leave, professional development opportunities, enhanced pension contributions, enhanced statutory leave provisions including maternity and paternity leave.

About the role

The Senior Director of Finance is the most senior finance professional at Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH). The role provides strategic financial leadership and ensures the organisation meets its fiduciary, regulatory, and governance obligations as a UK charity, while enabling responsible growth and global scale.

Acting as the organisation’s senior finance lead, the postholder will support the CEO and Board of Trustees to meet their statutory duties under UK charity law, including duties of care, prudence, and accountability, while building robust financial systems aligned to PLH’s 2026-2028 Strategic Plan and country implementation model.

The role ensures that PLH’s resources are used exclusively to further its charitable purposes, safeguarded appropriately, and managed transparently in the public interest.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary source of financial advice to the CEO and Board of Trustees, supporting trustees to fulfil their legal and fiduciary duties under UK charity law.
• Support the effective functioning of the Board Finance Committee, including preparation of high-quality financial papers, scenario options, and risk analyses.
• Ensure trustees have clear oversight of financial performance against approved budgets, liquidity, reserves, and solvency, financial risks and mitigations, long-term sustainability and going-concern considerations.
• Ensure financial decision-making aligns with PLH’s charitable objects, governing documents, and public benefit obligations.
• Support compliance with Charity Commission guidance, including SORP (Standard Operating Procedures), CC3 (The Essential Trustee), CC12 (Managing a Charity’s Finances), and CC19 (Charity Reserves).
• Lead the costing and financial modelling of PLH’s 2026-2028 Strategic Plan and country implementation model, ensuring affordability, sustainability, and strategic coherence.
• Design, implement, and institutionalise a three-tier scenario planning framework (base, growth, and downside cases) to support prudent and adaptive decision-making.
• Develop a long-term (3-5 year) financial sustainability model projecting revenue by source (restricted and unrestricted), expenditure and staffing growth, enterprise risk management (ERM) contributions, reserves, liquidity, and risk exposure.
• Advise senior leadership and trustees on the financial implications of growth, innovation, and funding opportunities.
• Provide forward-looking financial insight to support organisational decision-making under uncertainty and changing funding conditions.
• Work closely with the Finance Manager to ensure accurate, complete, and timely accounting records in accordance with UK charity accounting standards (SORP FRS 102).
• Provide strategic oversight and assurance over organisation-wide financial reporting, using management accounts and dashboards prepared by the Finance Manager to inform executive and trustee decision-making.
• Ensure proportionate internal controls, segregation of duties, and approval frameworks are current and implemented by the Finance Manager.
• Lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive financial risk management framework covering liquidity and cash-flow risk, donor concentration and funding dependency, currency and foreign exchange exposure, contractual and grant compliance risk, contingency and downside planning.
• Oversee the annual audit process, supporting the Finance Manager’s role as primary liaison with external auditors and ensuring timely completion of statutory accounts.
• Develop and maintain clear financial policies, procedures, and approval workflows to support consistency, compliance, and accountability.
• Lead and develop PLH’s finance function, including line management of the Finance Manager and oversight of external bookkeeping and accounting partners.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Senior-level financial leadership experience.
• Strong understanding of UK charity governance, trustee responsibilities, and Charity Commission expectations.
• Demonstrated expertise in strategic financial planning, scenario modelling, and reserves management.
• Proven experience establishing robust financial controls, reporting systems, and audit processes.
• Experience working directly with Boards and Board Committees in a governance context.
• High levels of integrity, sound judgement, and commitment to PLH’s charitable aims.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications

• Financial leadership experience within a UK charity, international NGO, or comparable not-for-profit organisation.
• Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CPA) or equivalent experience.
• Experience with multi-country, multi-currency operations and restricted funding environments.
• Familiarity with UK charity accounting (SORP FRS 102).

PLH has a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity in how we work, who we work with, and what we do. Candidates from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.