Director of Finance and Administration

About the Blavatnik School of Government

Our vision is of a world better led, a world better served and a world better governed. We are a global school committed to improving the quality of government and public policymaking worldwide, through three routes: teaching current and future leaders; generating research with impact; and engaging with governments and practitioners.

 What we offer

The School is a collaborative, friendly, and dynamic department based in an award-winning building in Oxford. More information about working at the School can be found on our jobs page

As an employer, we genuinely care about our employees’ wellbeing, and this is reflected in the range of benefits that we offer including: 

• An excellent contributory pension scheme
• 38 days’ annual leave (plus additional annual leave for long service)
• Family leave schemes and a comprehensive range of childcare services
• Cycle loan scheme and discounted bus travel and Season Ticket travel loans
• Membership to a variety of social and sports clubs
• Opportunities for remote working.

About the Role

The Director of Finance and Administration is a senior leader who excels in operational detail and risk management, while also possessing a strategic mindset and creative problem-solving skills. They are motivated to work collaboratively to improve processes and are effective at bringing people together across organisational boundaries. As a confident and empowering line manager, they know how to maximize their team's potential.

In this role, the Director will lead the School's financial and operational strategy, ensuring robust financial planning and overseeing commercial negotiations for major research programmes and new initiatives. They will provide assurance to key stakeholders about the School's financial projections and foster a collaborative, customer service-oriented mindset.

Additionally, the Director will implement a new performance and business improvement function, driving innovation and continuous improvement projects to enhance the School's impact and efficiency.

About You

The post will suit a highly motivated individual with proven flexibility, creative problem-solving approach and initiative.

You should have substantial experience of working in a finance and administrative leadership role, ideally in a fast-moving environment. Experience of the use of financial and performance data to drive strategic decision-making in a proactive way will be particularly helpful.

You should be able to demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate complex financial and operational issues to a lay audience. You should be an excellent line manager and collaborative organisational leader, highly motivated to spot opportunities for improvement and bring people together across team boundaries to deliver outcomes.

An ability to create a team culture of meeting priorities and deadlines while maintaining high levels of customer service with the highest standards of accuracy and clarity is vital.

Application Process

You will be required to upload a supporting statement, your CV, and the details of two referees as part of your online application.

The closing date for applications is 12 noon (UK time) on Monday 16 December 2024. Interviews will take place in early January 2025.

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