The Brilliant Club
Recruitment Pack
Finance Director
June 2026
Registered Limited Company: 07986971
Registered Charity: 1147771 (England and Wales), SC048774 (Scotland)
Finance Director
Start Date: September 2026
Salary: £65,857-£70,921 (plus £2,000 London weighting for those living in London and within the M25).
Contract Type: Permanent
About the role
This is a senior leader role and will play a key role in delivering financial strategy, having oversight of the charity’s finance function, and working with the Chief Operating Officer to ensure the charity’s long-term financial security. The role requires excellent accountancy skills, as well as previous experience in overseeing a range of finance functions and managing a team. You will oversee the charity’s financial accounts and reporting; bookkeeping and processing; budget and forecasts; and bank accounts. You will manage a full-time Finance Manager, who has two direct reports and a Senior Finance Officer who oversees tutor and staff payroll. You will champion the charity’s values and embody them in interactions with colleagues. You will be willing to learn and have a can-do attitude.
The successful candidate will be a qualified accountant, with significant professional experience across a range of areas within finance. Your work will be accurate, efficient, and transparent, setting the standard within the Finance Team. You will be comfortable working with colleagues across the charity to implement cost controls, and to collect and report on financial data. You will regularly present this data to senior members of staff, including at the quarterly Board of Trustees meetings and the charity’s Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees. You will be an adept project manager, able to coordinate actions, track progress and deliver results, alongside having strong attention to detail and people skills. Candidates for this role should be comfortable working in a busy, efficient and high-performing team.
This is a great opportunity to join The Brilliant Club Team at a time when we are moving into the delivery of our new Backing Brilliance strategy, with a commitment to financial sustainability. Over the course of the Join the Club strategy we had focused on developing new areas of work utilising a planned strategic reserves fund. Despite a challenging external environment, we are now in a position with the support of our fundraising revenue that our programmes have reached an economy of scale for long-term financial sustainability.
We are excited to meet candidates who want to join us on this journey.
About you
The role will best suit someone who
• Essential - Qualified accountant of a recognised accounting body (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
• Essential – Experience of managing accounts of £2m+
• Essential - Knowledge of accounting requirements, terminology, and processes, including UK GAAP
• Essential - Knowledge of financial controls and understanding of best practice
• Essential - Ability to deal with sensitive issues and to demonstrate strict confidentiality
• Essential - Ability to manage external financial relationships, e.g., bank, debtors, auditors
• Essential - Ability to use relevant software packages, e.g., Xero, Excel
Essential – Experience of line management
• Highly desirable - Knowledge of charity-specific reporting requirements
• Desirable – Significant experience in an accounting or other relevant financial role
• Desirable - Knowledge of charity-specific reporting requirements
• Essential – adhere to information security policies included in the charity’s ISO 27001 manual and complete information security training
• Has a demonstrable passion for furthering The Brilliant Club’s mission
About The Brilliant Club
What we do
Access to higher education and the life-changing opportunities that come from attending the most competitive universities is not equal. 28 in 100 of the most advantaged students progress to the most competitive universities. In contrast, only 2 in 100 of the least advantaged young people access these universities. Today, this mission is more urgent than ever. The Sutton Trust’s recent report, Elitist Britain, demonstrates how the most influential roles in our country – in politics, law, the army, media and even the third sector - continue to be dominated by the privately educated and graduates of the most prestigious universities
We think this is fundamentally unfair and are passionate about the transformative impact of higher education, for young people, for communities and for broader society. We want a society where every child has a fair chance to unlock their brilliance, regardless of where or how they grew up.
The Brilliant Club has supported over 140,000 students across the UK to access leading universities, boosting academic attainment and setting young people up to thrive in higher education and beyond in the world of work.
Our programmes support social mobility through a range of approaches:
The Scholars Programme, boosts attainment, supports progression to leading universities, and develops critical thinking skills essential for education and employment for 15,000 students each year.
Parent Power empowers parents and carers to become champions for higher education in their communities and address any barriers their children face, while also ensuring more families have access to high-quality advice and guidance on education pathways and how to support their child’s learning.
• Our pioneering approaches to university transition and student success ensure that less advantaged students are supported to achieve a strong degree
We hope that you’ll consider joining us, as we work to create a fairer society where no child’s education is limited by their background.
Working for us
• Hours: 37.5 hours per week Monday to Friday, flexible working with 10am – 3pm core hours, some evenings and weekends required.
Benefits include: 36 days’ holiday (inclusive of bank holidays) increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 41 days, employer contribution to pension, interest-free season ticket loan, five professional development day allowance, BUPA health cover cash plan.
• We’re happy to talk flexible working. We have offices in Leeds and London.
After your first month in this role, we expect you to be connecting face-to-face with colleagues on at least one day per week. In your first month, we’ll ask you to be in offices a little more regularly than this to make sure you’re getting to know your key colleagues and feeling connected to the organisation.
Our values
The Brilliant Club has three core values that underpin how we work. We look for people who share these values:
• We get to a solution
• We seek and act on the best data available
• We understand that little things go a long way
Diversity at The Brilliant Club
We mobilise the PhD community to support students who are less advantaged to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there. We think it is important that our charity reflects the lived experience of the communities we work with, and we want to be an organisation where employees from any background can thrive. We particularly welcome applications from disabled, Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic, Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Non-binary (LGBTQ+) candidates, and candidates from low-income families.
“I am the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Engagement Lead at The Brilliant Club. My role is to help make the charity an inclusive working environment for all of our colleagues. I work with our amazing Staff Networks and colleagues in HR to ensure everyone at the charity has a sense of belonging.”
Emily - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Staff Engagement Lead
“As the first in my family to go to university and having worked as a teacher in a
state school, I applied to join The Brilliant Club with a real passion for the charity’s mission. I am grateful every day that I work at a charity that is supportive of both professional development and flexible working, as well as
being full of kind and passionate colleagues.” Leanne, Chief Operating Officer
Safeguarding
The Brilliant Club is committed to proactively safeguarding children, beneficiaries and staff and to taking reasonable steps to protect all those who come into contact with the charity from harm. The safety and welfare of everyone affected by the charity’s activities, especially children, is a key governance priority.
As part of our recruitment and selection process and commitment to safeguarding, we will undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check of all individuals in this role. Any offer of employment will be subject to a satisfactory disclosure report.
Responsibilities
The following areas of responsibility are the core of the role. However, the role is flexible and will vary according to the needs of the team and the organisation.
Finance
• Oversee financial accounts and reporting, including monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting.
• Responsible for managing annual audit, budget preparation and reforecasting.
• Report on a quarterly basis to the Board of Trustees, in addition to the Finance and Risk Committee.
• Collaborate with Programme Leads to develop budget models for new projects and bids.
• Manage financial reporting needed for funding partners.
Oversee bookkeeping and processing, proactively reviewing processes to maximise efficiency. This includes overseeing finance processes, approving payments, approving payroll for staff and tutors, bank overview, reporting to external stakeholders.
• Manage financial policies and controls ensuring they are fit for purpose. This includes adapting according to legislative changes, training and monitoring the wider team.
• Manage bank accounts and relationships, ensuring sufficient charity reserves.
• Support the upskilling of budget holders in financial management.
• Regularly update senior members of staff on forecasted financial position, identifying risks, mitigations and opportunities.
Leadership
Manage a team to ensure excellent finance management, including individual line management and performance support, leading team meetings.
Manage the design and coordination of certain aspects of the Operations delivery cycle, including planning, implementing, quality assuring and evaluating of operational processes.
• Contribute to collective decision-making, organisational leadership and the ongoing health of the organisation beyond their individual remit
HR and Legal
• Support payroll and other issues relating to staff benefits
• Support data security, ensuring that appropriate measures are in place
• Responsible for ensuring adequate insurance coverage for the organisation
Across the charity we all pitch in to help different teams and areas of work. This may mean you attend and support with the delivery of other teams’ activities and events. From time to time, you may also work with another team for a fixed period of time, or collaborate on a project to ensure we deliver for the young people we serve. We think this is a good way to gain experiences in different areas of the organisation and enhance your professional skills
Person specification
Time and Resource Management:
Plans and manages workload effectively for themselves and their team, balancing competing priorities to meet deadlines.
• Manages organisational projects, with appropriate levels of time and resource input.
Critically analyses budget and resource use across the organisation and makes recommendations.
External Stakeholder Knowledge and Management:
Builds strong relationships with external and internal stakeholders by understanding their needs and expectations. Demonstrates sensitivity and discretion when handling confidential or complex matters.
• Maintains effective communication with colleagues across the organisation, using relationships to effectively manage financial risk.
• Using financial insight to shape organisation strategy, ensuring that senior leaders and Trustees have the information to inform decision making.
Communication:
Communicates clearly and effectively, tailoring tone and content to suit different audiences, both in writing and verbally.
• Presents information in a clear and accessible manner, ensuring that key messages are delivered appropriately for the particular partner to be relevant and understood.
• Makes sound, nuanced judgments about how, when and whether to communicate difficult or sensitive messages.
• Adhere to rules and policies for confidentiality, data protection and information security.
Initiative and Problem-solving:
Proactively identifies opportunities to improve processes and takes the initiative to implement solutions. Encourage a culture of innovation within the finance team.
• Understand the interdependencies between different parts of our work, and the implications for risk management.
• Leverages digital tools and online resources to solve problems, improve processes and organisation capability through technology and innovation.
• Interrogates data to make decisions and recommendations for the future.
• Hold tight governance and financial risk management across the organisation.
Developing Self and Others:
• Support the personal development of the team, drawing on own experience and the experience of others.
• Ensures a high level of support and challenge to their direct report to develop a culture of high performance, aligned with the charity values.
What comes next
To apply: Please submit your application by clicking here. As part of your application, you will be asked to submit your CV and complete the answers to some application questions.
AI Guidance for Candidates
Deadline: 9am on Monday 29th June
Interviews: First round Thursday 2nd July, Second round Wednesday 8th July
For more information: Visit our website or email recruitment@thebrilliantclub.org.