Director of Finance & Corporate Services

Director of Finance & Corporate ServicesThe Institute is named in honour of Alan Turing, whose pioneering work in theoretical and applied mathematics, engineering and computing is considered to have laid the foundations for modern-day data science and artificial intelligence. The Institute’s goals are to undertake world-class research, apply its research to real-world problems, driving economic impact and societal good, lead the training of a new generation of scientists, and shape the public conversation around data and algorithms.After launching in 2015 with government funding from EPSRC and five founding universities, the Institute has grown an extensive network of university partners from across the UK and launched a number of major partnerships with industry, public and third sector. Today it is home to more than 500 researchers, a rapidly growing team of in house research software engineers and data scientists and a business team.BACKGROUNDThe Director of Finance and Corporate Services is a senior role at The Alan Turing Institute and is part of the Executive Leadership Team. The role reports to the CEO and is responsible for four key areas of the Institute’s management: Finance, IT and Information Security, The Office of the General Counsel and Facilities. The postholder plays a critical role in ensuring the financial and operational integrity of the Institute, helping to ensure the Institute meets its key strategic missions. In the past 12 months or so the Institute published a new strategy, reformed its governance and been validated by rigorous external review which found that our work has been high-quality, wide-reaching and impactful. The panel’s recommendation to commit a multi-year funding settlement to The Turing was accepted by EPSRC and we were recently awarded £100m for the next 5 years of our evolution. The next three years will be a critical and exciting next phase for the Institute as we complete a transformation programme to reorient the organisation to deliver its new more focussed mission to push the boundaries of data science and AI for the public good. The Director of Finance will play a key role in ensuring a successful transition.ROLE PURPOSEAs Director of Finance and Corporate Services you will be a key member of the Executive Leadership team, responsible for the leadership of the Institute’s corporate activity in relation to finance, legal, governance, IT and facilities. Given the recent addition of legal, governance and IT teams to the directorate it will be important to bed in these changes and create synergies and efficient working both within your directorate and with teams across the Institute. Sitting on the executive leadership team, you will have the opportunity to contribute broadly to the leadership of the institute, will be expected to drive organisation-wide collaboration and contribute outside of their immediate area. This is a broad leadership role and the postholder is expected in contribute positively to our values led, high-performance culture and play a proactive role to our equity, diversity and inclusion objectives. You will be responsible for embedding robust cross-Institute operating systems and processes in these areas to support the smooth running of the Institute and meet our charitable objectives. You will take the lead on strategic financial planning and monitoring for the institute, regularly reporting to the Audit and Risk Committee and Board of Trustees. You will be responsible for leading and prioritising your teams across all existing and new strands of work to help drive and deliver the Institute’s strategic aims in this area. You will be able to set a culture of collaborative relationships between your directorate and teams across the institute which combines appropriate challenge and rigour with positive partnership and a strong commitment to enabling the organisation to take action to achieve its goals.DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY• Provide leadership to the Deputy Director of Finance, Director of IT and Information Security, General Counsel and Operations Manager and their associated teams, promoting a supportive working environment.• Provide oversight of the above areas of the business.• Build and develop robust, but collegiate, internal relationships with colleagues and stakeholders across the organisation, influencing where needed, and enabling a culture of agility and innovation, partnering with the business as the Institute drives towards its next phase of growth and success.• Ownership of external financial reporting, reporting regularly to senior committees such as ELT and the Audit and Risk Committee of the Board.• Take ownership of Institute costings, pricing, budgeting and reporting along with longer term investment and procurement strategies.• Continue to drive the improvement of processes, controls, discipline and awareness of financial and operational discipline across the Institute.• Ownership in the delivery of a new ERP financial solution (project already underway) and subsequent optimization of the tool to drive further organizational efficiencies.• Effective liaison with relevant external stakeholders such as auditors, bankers, funders, landlord etc.• Demonstrate a flexible attitude to change to support the organisation to meet existing and future needs.• Identify risks and implement any mitigations to those risks.• Maintain a detailed understanding of all legal, regulatory, ethical, political and commercial issues relevant to the role.• Support the CEO, Chief Scientist and other colleagues in the delivery of the Institute’s strategy and missions.• Leads and promote high-performance culture and play a proactive role to our equality, diversity and inclusion objectives.• As an executive leader, sponsoring and championing organisational-wide projects, for example, to drive organisational effectiveness and efficiency , employee development and engagement, and equity, diversity and inclusion.• Contribute to the life of the Institute as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, including hosting and being a panel member at our regular staff catch ups and Town Halls, actively participating in Turing’s mentoring programme and representing ELT at various focus groups and review/selection panels.APPLICATION PROCEDUREIf you are interested in this opportunity, please click the apply button below. You will need to register on the applicant portal and complete the application form including your CV and covering letter. If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please contact us on 020 ##### ##### or 0203 862 3340, or email ##### DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Sunday 16 June 2024 at 23:59 (London, UK BST)We reserve the right to close this vacancy early or to interview suitable candidates before the closing date if enough applications are receivedTERMS AND CONDITIONSThis full-time post is offered on a permanent basis with an annual salary starting from £120,000 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSIONThe Alan Turing Institute is committed to creating an environment where diversity is valued and everyone is treated fairly. In accordance with the Equality Act, we welcome applications from anyone who meets the specific criteria of the post regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.We are committed to building a diverse community and would like our leadership team to reflect this. We therefore welcome applications from the broadest spectrum of backgrounds.Reasonable adjustments to the interview process will be made for any candidates with a disability.Create a job alert and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.
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