Assistant Director - Financial Management (Grade M1)

Our ambition is for Scotland to be the best place in the world to learn, educate, research and innovate, so that all of our nation can flourish.

Our purpose is to create and sustain a world-leading system of tertiary education, research and innovation that changes lives for the better, enriches society and supports sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

Leading the Budgeting & Reporting and Payments & Procurement teams, the successful candidate will play a pivotal role in the Scottish Funding Council's (SFC) Finance Directorate, which has responsibility for the overall management of effective accounting, budgeting and payment processing of £2 billion of programme funds and £8 million of running costs.

Virtual interviews will be held week commencing 23 November 2026 (via Teams).

Key Responsibilities

Overall responsibility for (ownership of) the financial and budget ledgers and application of SFC’s scheme of delegated financial authority.

Management of the production of annual accounts, responsibility for format, accounting policies and securing approvals.

Pro-active management and review of annual budget (for programme funds and running costs) including formal in-year re-forecasts before release to senior management.

Critically review management reports prepared for senior management and Council Committees ensuring significant issues are highlighted.

Main contact for internal and external audit on all financial and budgeting matters.

Overall management of month-end activities, approval of bank transactions and approval of drawdown requests.

Review and checking of the application of internal controls, including exception reports and audit logs.

Strong understanding of the Budgeting and Reporting and Financial Accounting functions including the ability to cover in the absence of Senior Budgeting and Reporting Officer.

Building an integrated team to manage the financial and management accounting and procurement functions, and ongoing management and development of that team and the SUN finance system.