The posting
An exciting role focusing on the protection of the foundation assets (c.$8bn). The Finance Manager (Group) leads, executes and provides expert advice across CIFF’s group financial control activities.
Working within the overall direction set by the Director of Financial Control, the role safeguards CIFF’s assets, protects its license to operate across relevant jurisdictions and ensures that financial operations are accurate, timely, efficient and well controlled. The role holder leads and drives the execution of the Financial Control strategy into priorities and delivery plans for a portfolio of critical functions, including external reporting and audit, tax, treasury, payroll controls, risk management, financial systems, transaction processing and endowment monitoring. They are accountable for delivery through the team, of proportionate risk management, continuous improvement and the capability and performance of the people supporting these areas.
Acting as a trusted adviser to the Head of Financial Control (Group), Director of Financial Control, CFO and wider Finance leadership team, the role holder applies expert judgement to complex and ambiguous issues, influences senior internal and external stakeholders, and recommends sustainable solutions that protect CIFF and support its long-term objectives. The role makes decisions within agreed delegated authority, escalating material, novel or organisation-wide matters to the Head of Financial Control (Group) and Director of Financial Control, or relevant governance body, and deputises for the Head of Financial Control (Group) as required.
Role’s responsibilities
Leadership within the team
- Provide full line management of financial accountant (Analyst) including task management, performance reviews and ongoing development.
- Be a role model to less experienced team members, demonstrating CIFF’s leadership behaviours and coaching them to aid their growth and build a culture of openness and trust, which embraces diverse thinking, to encourage continuous improvement and learning to elevate the capacity of the team to identify key risks and appropriate mitigations.
External Reporting and Audits
- Lead and oversee the timely, accurate production of CIFF UK annual report and the financial statements of its subsidiaries with support from outsourced providers.
- Coordinate and manage financial audits, ensuring proportionate audit evidence is provided to external auditors and resolve audit findings for a smooth audit. Negotiate with external auditor to ensure audit findings are a fair representation of CIFF operations and own resolution of issues highlighted.
- Lead on the accurate preparation of charity commission return.
- Apply advanced technical accounting knowledge to ensure financial statements meet all required accounting standards (which can often be unclearly defined requiring complex problem solving) and develop processes and policies to ensure changes in technical matters impacting financial statements are received, analysed and applied.
Tax and Compliance
- Lead on ensuring tax returns and compliance forms (CBCR) are prepared timely and accurately for review by finance leadership
- Lead on successfully dealing with tax notices received from tax authorities (HMRC), ensuring best outcomes with local advisors and authorities.
- Oversee the group transfer pricing requirements are adhered to and monitoring for organizational and regulatory changes that can impact CIFF.
- Leading on and ensuring compliance with UK HMRC requirements.
- Proactively responsible for monitoring and socialising changes to tax and other financial/accounting regulations in UK to ensure new regulations are adhered to
Treasury and payments
- Accountable for the effective control of non-charitable expenditure via review, challenge, training and effective policy management / development including business ownership of associated systems and policies.
- Monitor and ensure all accounting and payment transactions are processed by team members accurately with specific focus on non-charitable transactions
- Deputise for the Head of Financial Control (Group) where necessary to also monitor charitable expenditure payments and accounting.
- Ensure that reconciliations of all balance sheet items are completed on an appropriate periodic basis.
- Responsible for proactive multi-currency cash management, ensuring the CIFF group complies with Cash Management policy, while having sufficient cash liquidity and maximizing returns.
- Key relationship owner when liaising with CIFF’s banking operations for administration, regulations and account management.
Financial processing and Risk management
- Responsible for financial month end procedures for financial control team. Leading the reconciliation process and ensuring the financial statements are fairly stated ensuring reconciling items are investigated and resolved in a timely manner.
- Work in collaboration with the Head of Financial Control (Group) to ensure the framework for control over CIFF assets, liabilities, income and expenditure is in place and operates correctly, meeting best practice and regulatory standards. Develop new policies and frameworks where necessary to add additional control and/or efficiency.
- Responsible for maintaining the finance risk control framework, ensuring adequate controls are in place to ensure accuracy and prevention of fraud of CIFF’s funds. Proactively dealing with risk issues through root cause analysis, implementing controls and reporting to senior leadership.
- Responsible for developing appropriate group accounting policies and adherence to policies for group and regional entities.
Payroll
- Responsible for Finance review of global payrolls and payroll tax compliance ensuring the final output is accurate and complete. Providing proportionate challenge and control over the outsourced provider and HR, compromising between robust audit trails and confidentiality with stakeholders.
Systems, data and Process Improvements
- Responsible for maintaining all key CIFF finance systems (Business Central, Emburse, Monday.com) to ensure they support and meet the need for finance reporting and analysis as well as ensure system controls remain appropriate.
- Own and develop appropriate policies to ensure an appropriate chart of accounts and an orderly accounting filing system is in place.
- Standardise and streamline group process and where appropriate, implementing process improvement, improving control to be robust and mitigate risks and automate processes through development of system and AI tools.
- Facilitate training and materials to upskill members of the CIFF support and program teams on finance and tax regulatory matters.
Other
- Supporting monitoring and reporting on the endowment funds as directed by the Head of Financial Control (Group) to ensure funds are appropriately safeguarded and administered.
- Support in the preparation of papers for subsidiary board meetings and the Finance, Audit and Investment Committee papers.
- Support the annual calculation of the CIFF Carbon Footprint, ensuring accurate and consistent calculation by CIFF or third parties including continuous improvement of scope population and methodology adhering to the latest standards. Ensure latest developments in methodology are tracked and applied to the CIFF footprint.
- Collaborate with the CIFF Head of Compliance to manage the assessment and control of modern slavery risks within the Operating Expenditure vendor population
- Support Carbon reporting requirements including inputs into the calculation of carbon offsets collaborating with the FP&A and climate teams of acquiring carbon offsets, reporting requirements for disclosure in the Annual Report and ensure appropriate accounting and payments are adhered to.
Requirements
Skills & Experience
To be considered for this role you must have the following:
- Qualified accountant with robust post-qualification experience pertinent to the role.
- Advanced technical ability, knowledge and experience of complying with complex income tax and financial regulations. Understanding of FRS102 and/or SORP accounting as well as Charity Commission requirements.
- Understanding and experience in tax filings returns for UK based companies.
- Understanding of the financial and tax risk and charity commission environment in UK and the implementation of proportionate mitigating controls.
- Operational mindset and attention to detail to manage day to day activities swiftly and accurately while maintaining appropriate supporting documents.
- Treasury experience including cash management.
- Great organisational skills, with the capability to deliver in a time-pressured environment, whilst managing multiple work-streams.
- Good qualitative and quantitative analytical skills, including advanced IT proficiency (most specifically in Microsoft Suite, particularly excel and Copilot but experience in Business Central and Emburse desirable).
- Skilled in relationship building and strengthening; able to influence others, work collaboratively. Confidence to challenge senior stakeholders (external and internal) where necessary to ensure adherence to CIFF policies and relevant external standards.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work well as a team player.
- Ability to solve problems and initiate improvements.
- Take ownership, anticipate ‘customers’ needs and flag potential issues early.
Meeting the requirements below would also be desirable:
- Experience working with Business Central, JET reporting and Power BI.
- A proven self-starter, who works with pace and resilience with a strong personal motivation to work in the not-for profit sector.
- Project experience developing financial systems to automate processes.
- Experience working within a range of different sized organisations (SMEs and large).
Key Working relationships
- Financial Control team
- CIFF staff analyst to directors and operations senior leadership team.
- Bank, tax authorities, tax advisors, accountants, and auditors
Benefits
CIFF operates a hybrid work policy across all locations, which means employees work in the office and some of the time from home. We are happy to provide more information on this as part of the recruitment process.
Alongside a competitive salary, starting at £63,790, we offer a generous benefits package here at CIFF that includes, but is not limited to the following.
- Annual leave - 25 days per annum. Increasing by 1 day after each year of service to a maximum of 30 days.
- Bonus - CIFF currently operates a discretionary bonus scheme.
- Training allowance
- Wellbeing allowance
- Life insurance
- Medical insurance
Please submit your application on or before Monday the 5th October 2026. CIFF reserves the right to close the job advert early if we receive a high number of suitable applications.
