Finance Manager

Organisation

British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS)

Salary

£46,000 - £52,000 (GBP)

Location

Hybrid, self-funded travel to London office twice a month

Contract type

Permanent (Full time)

Closing date

13 August 2026

Job Description

Lead and continuously develop BUCS' finance function, providing high-quality financial management, insightful reporting and strategic business partnering that supports excellent organisational decision-making.

Working closely with the Director of Business Operations and Senior Leadership Team, you will ensure the organisation has robust financial planning, forecasting, controls and governance while playing a pivotal role in improving financial sustainability.

This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of finance at BUCS.

As Finance Manager, you won't simply maintain an established finance function, you'll help transform it. You'll play a central role in delivering BUCS Strategy 2030 by modernising finance systems, improving processes, enhancing financial insight and helping build a more digitally enabled, efficient organisation.

If you're excited by combining excellent management accounting with meaningful organisational change, we'd love to hear from you.

Main duties and responsibilities

Finance

Lead the day-to-day finance function, ensuring the delivery of accurate, timely and high-quality financial services across the organisation.

Produce monthly management accounts, financial analysis and insightful reporting for the Senior Leadership Team, Board, Finance Audit and Risk Committee, budget holders and wider staff.

Lead the annual budgeting and reforecasting process, working collaboratively with managers across the organisation to develop robust financial plans.

Monitor organisational performance against budget, providing meaningful variance analysis, challenge and recommendations to support informed decision making.

Develop cash flow forecasts and monitor organisational cash management to ensure strong financial resilience.

Maintain robust financial controls, reconciliations and accounting processes, ensuring compliance with accounting standards, charity regulations and internal governance requirements.

Manage the annual audit process, acting as the primary contact for external auditors and coordinating the timely preparation of audit information and statutory reporting.

Optimise BUCS' cash, investments and other financial assets, making recommendations that maximise returns while maintaining an appropriate balance between risk, liquidity and organisational objectives.

Oversee the preparation of annual statutory accounts, working alongside external accountants where appropriate.

Manage the financial elements of the annual member subscription process, ensuring calculations are accurate, transparent and aligned with BUCS regulations.

Manage BUCS' banking arrangements, payment authorisation processes and investment activities, making recommendations that maximise financial efficiency and value.

Oversee the financial management of BUCS Trading Limited, ensuring accurate reporting, tax efficiency and appropriate governance.

Develop financial models and business cases to support strategic projects and organisational investment decisions.

Finance Transformation and Continuous Improvement

Lead the continual improvement of BUCS' finance systems, processes and controls to improve efficiency, accuracy and user experience.

Drive the transformation of key finance processes, including purchase-to-pay, reducing manual administration and embedding best practice.

Identify opportunities to automate financial processes and improve reporting through better use of technology, systems and data.

Work collaboratively across BUCS to support wider organisational digital transformation initiatives, ensuring finance plays a leading role in enabling organisational efficiency.

Review existing financial processes and implement improvements that strengthen governance, productivity and value for money.

Develop accessible and intuitive financial reporting that enables managers to make informed decisions using high-quality financial insight.

Promote a culture of continuous improvement, innovation and evidence-based decision making across the finance function.

Leadership

Line manage, coach and develop the Finance Assistant, creating a high-performing, customer-focused finance service.

Foster a collaborative and continuous improvement culture, supporting professional development and knowledge sharing.

Build strong working relationships across the organisation, acting as a trusted financial adviser to colleagues and senior leaders.

Other

Professionally represent BUCS with external stakeholders including auditors, banking partners, advisors and suppliers.

Always carry out duties and responsibilities in compliance with BUCS policies and guided by the BUCS values of inclusion, respectfulness, innovation and dynamism.

Undertake any other duties appropriate to the level and responsibilities of the role.

This role will involve supporting at least one BUCS sporting event per year, which could include weekend and evening work and overnight stays.



PERSON SPECIFICATION
BUCS is a Disability Confident Committed and Equal Opportunity Employer. We value diversity and are committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment. We make all employment decisions without regard to age, national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, belief, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Research shows that some people don’t apply for a role if they feel they do not meet 100% of the person specification. We encourage you to apply for this role if you feel you meet the key skills and knowledge listed below, even if you feel you do not have all of them. We are passionate about identifying the right people to help us develop and thrive.



Essential knowledge or experience

Fully qualified CIMA/CGMA accountant.

Significant experience in management accounting, budgeting and financial planning.

Experience producing high-quality monthly management accounts and financial reporting.

Experience leading budgeting, forecasting and cash flow management.

Strong business partnering experience, supporting managers with financial decision making.

Experience managing year-end processes and working with external auditors.

Experience developing and improving financial controls, processes and systems.

Experience identifying and implementing finance process improvements and efficiencies.

Experience managing or developing members of a finance team.

Strong understanding of financial governance within a charity, not-for-profit or similarly regulated environment.

Essential skills and abilities

Excellent analytical skills with the ability to interpret financial information and communicate clear recommendations.

Strong commercial awareness and the ability to balance financial control with organisational ambition.

Ability to build effective relationships with colleagues at all levels.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presenting financial information to non-finance audiences.

Highly organised with excellent attention to detail.

Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.

A proactive approach with a passion for continuous improvement and innovation.

Strong systems aptitude with advanced Microsoft Excel skills and confidence working with finance systems (e.g. Xero).

A collaborative leadership style with the ability to coach and develop others.

Desirable knowledge or experience

Experience working within the charity, membership or not-for-profit sector.

Experience leading finance transformation or digital improvement projects.

Experience implementing or improving finance systems and reporting tools.

Experience redesigning procurement or purchase-to-pay processes.

Experience using data visualisation or business intelligence tools to improve reporting.

How to apply

Apply via https://app.beapplied.com/apply/yoegvihhdt

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