Director of Finance

Director of Finance

Application Deadline: 10 May 2026

Department: Finance

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Edinburgh - Hybrid

Reporting To: Chief Executive Officer

Compensation: Director £108,129 to £128,487. Civil Service Pension with Employer Contribution of 28.97%. Flexible Working Hours. Hybrid Working.

Description

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.

The purpose of this role as Director of Finance, is to lead financial strategy, governance and assurance, enabling delivery of SFC’s objectives while ensuring the effective and proper use of public funds.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the management of all SFC budgets and expenditure with individual institutions and funded bodies, programme activities and SFC’s running costs in order to ensure financial commitments are able to be met from within the funds allocated to the SFC by the Scottish Government in each financial year. This includes the need to strategically forecast and model options for the future, to understand the implications of different outcomes for the activities and institutions funded by SFC. In delivering this and other responsibilities, you will take account of the post-16 funding reform programme, which will see responsibilities transfer from SDS to SFC and ensure that financial systems and processes can support this set of new responsibilities.
• Take lead responsibility for SFC’s financial systems, procurement and controls, to ensure SFC effectively manages and distributes the funds allocated to it in accordance with professional accounting principles and practices and in full compliance with public sector accounting and procurement practices and the public finance manual. This involves making and supporting decisions to ensure the complex financial controls and policies surrounding SFC are adhered to.
• Lead the liaison with the Scottish Government on Spending Review priorities and pressures, to influence spending allocation decisions and to ensure policy priorities and commitments are considered explicitly within decisions about the budget settlement and funding allocations for skills, tertiary education and research.
• Lead the assessment of the financial health of the tertiary education sector and individual institutions, representing SFC in negotiations and discussions drawing on professional and technical knowledge, to maintain the financial viability and sustainability of the sector and institutions.
• Support the good decision‑making and governance exercised by the CEO, Board and Committees of SFC, through provision of sound financial analysis and advice to support senior executives and Board members understand the financial context for strategy formation and for key decisions.
• As a member of the Executive Team, provide collective leadership and direction to the organisation and its people, ensuring sustained delivery of its purpose, priorities and public value.
• Oversee the production of the statutory Annual Accounts, for audit and publication and laying before Parliament by the Scottish Ministers; interact with external auditors on all audit activities to negotiate and support appropriate reporting; and provide strong professional leadership for accounting and financial management issues within the sector with other UK, European funding bodies and auditors.
• Deputise for the Chief Executive in a range of engagements with senior external stakeholders, government and across SFC functions.

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:

• Leadership – you must be a confident, visible and respected leader within and outside the organisation, setting a vision, providing direction and bringing solutions. This will include negotiating outcomes, securing results, building collaborative partnerships, and motivating and inspiring staff at a time of change and challenge to meet SFC’s strategic objectives. You should be able to demonstrate experience of leading cultural and policy change; and be able to bring constructive challenge to existing systems and processes, and secure improvements.
• Financial management – you will be a qualified accountant and have a strong track record at a strategic level of managing and accounting for the sound distribution of large multi‑million level budgets to other funded bodies or projects. You will understand the financial landscape of the sector and Scottish Government. You will have a strong track record of driving quality, efficiency and value for money in the management of organisational budgets.
• Relationship Management – you must be effective in building relationships that generate confidence, respect and collaborative working at all levels. You will be confident and effective at ministerial and senior levels within the Scottish Government and across the sector, operating with sensitivity and political astuteness. High level and excellent communication and engagement skills are required.
• Securing Results – you will translate broad strategic ambitions into clear objectives and outcomes, work with others to improve our operational effectives, system and processes and change where required. You will have a strong focus on securing results for learners, funders and other partners, creating the right culture for improvement and change.
• Strategy – successful experience of working at a senior level, developing operational and financial policy, planning ahead and contributing to the overall strategic development of the organisation; advising, supporting and setting direction in a complex policy and funding environment. You will understand relevant policy and strategy in Scotland and the wider UK context, including the Scottish Government’s key objectives for colleges and universities and sustainable economic growth.
• Evidence driven – you must be able to analyse complex data. In particular, the ability to use and interpret complex evidence, both quantitative and qualitative, to support operational policymaking and implementation. You must also be able to communicate effectively with people outwith your financial background.
• Teamwork – you will empower others to contribute positively in collegiate settings and create a culture of high performance, inclusion and belonging, and effective people management, developing skills, capacity and capability within your directorate, across the wider organisation, with partner agencies, and beyond.
• Personal Resilience – the determination, stamina and self‑awareness needed to look after yourself and those you lead, enabling you and your team to sustain effectiveness at a senior level in a political and highly complex environment, with integrity and impartiality.

Terms and Benefits

• Normal full‑time hours of work are 35 per week. We will consider flexible working arrangements.
• 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 candidate's 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.

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