Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Services

Reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer, you will be a key member of the Senior Leadership Team. You will lead Finance and Corporate Procurement, provide authoritative advice to senior leaders and governors, and ensure that the College's resources, controls and commercial arrangements remain equal to its ambitions. Working closely with the Deputy Chief Executive and colleagues across the wider Corporate Team, you will support joined-up planning, shared priorities and effective delivery across the College. What you will lead

• Strategic financial planning that connects curriculum, workforce and investment priorities and protects the College's long-term sustainability.
• A high-performing Finance function that provides clear insight, constructive challenge and responsive support to managers across the College.
• A strategic Corporate Procurement service that secures value for money, manages commercial and supply-chain risk, and strengthens contract and supplier performance.
• Robust financial governance, regulatory compliance, internal control and assurance arrangements that maintain the confidence of governors, auditors and external stakeholders.
• A culture of financial accountability, transparency and informed decision-making across the organisation.
• The continued development of efficient systems, processes and management information across the portfolio., You will join an ambitious and supportive College with a strong financial base, a clear strategic direction and an increasingly prominent regional and national profile. The role offers genuine influence across the organisation and the opportunity to help a respected College use its resources to support growth, innovation and long-term public value.
If you would welcome a confidential informal discussion about the role, please contact Paul Bradley, Chief Financial Officer, at paul.bradley@newdur.ac.uk New College Durham offer a wide range of benefits to enhance your professional development, take care of your health and well-being and help you maintain a healthy work-life balance. On top of this, our flexible benefits scheme lets you choose from a comprehensive selection of benefits and rewards to meet your individual needs. New College Durham offers support and benefit options such as:
• Hybrid working for greater work/life balance
• Family friendly policies including Flexible Working, Maternity, Adoption, Shared Parental Leave, and Special Leave
• Generous annual leave package and option to purchase additional annual leave
• Training, support and the opportunity to develop your professional skills, including three full days each year exclusively to staff development
• Free car parking
• Reduced price for gym and beauty treatments, As an inclusive employer awarded the following recognitions demonstrate our commitment to our workforce/the community we serve:
• Disability Confident Status
• Mindful Employer
• Dying to Work
• Better Health at Work - maintaining excellence
• New College Durham have further signed up to the AOC Mental Health and Wellbeing charter, as well as the AOC EDI Charter.
We pride ourselves on our dedication to safeguarding all students; to do so we follow a strict vetting process whereby any offer of employment will be subject to the appropriate checks. Before applying for a role with New College Durham it is important to note that it is an offence to do so if you believe you are a persons whom is barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children. To read more information in relation to the DBS Code of Practice please see below; DBS code of practice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Please note that Curriculum Vitaes (CVs) will not be accepted. Supporting documents Combined Safeguarding Recruitment Policy 2026-27.pdf (917.76 KB) NewchoicesFlexibleBenefits2627.pdf (3.76 MB) Staff Benefits.pdf (1.74 MB) JDPS - Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Services.pdf (1.44 MB)

You will be a CCAB or CIMA-qualified accountant with substantial post-qualification experience in a senior strategic finance role. You will combine strong technical judgement with commercial awareness, a collaborative leadership style and the ability to make complex issues clear to a wide range of audiences. You will have led high-performing teams, strengthened systems and controls, and supported significant organisational change. Experience of procurement, commercial governance or contract management will be important, as will the confidence to exercise independent judgement, challenge constructively and build trusted relationships with senior leaders, governors and colleagues across a diverse College portfolio. Knowledge of further education or another complex, publicly funded environment would be advantageous. More important is an understanding of how excellent financial and commercial leadership enables educational success rather than simply measuring it.

New College Durham is a high-performing and financially outstanding College with the confidence and capacity to invest in its people, provision and future. We are now seeking an accomplished finance leader to help us build on that strength and deliver the next phase of our ambitions. The opportunity This is a significant senior leadership role at an important point in the College's development. Our Strategic Plan 2026-2031 is focused on transforming lives, strengthening communities and powering the future economy. We are investing in modern learning environments, expanding specialist technical provision and developing partnerships that respond directly to regional and national skills priorities. New College Durham is recognised regionally and nationally for the quality, innovation and ambition of its work. We were the first college in the North East to receive a 'Strong' skills rating from Ofsted, we are the lead institution for the North East Institute of Technology (IoT) and we are one of only four colleges nationally to hold Advanced Manufacturing Technical Excellence College (AMTEC) status. These achievements reflect our growing influence and our commitment to shaping the skills agenda well beyond the College itself., New College Durham is a great place to work. It is a high performing and financially outstanding college. We are continually investing in new facilities and resources to benefit our students, such as our new development, T.H.E HUB. New College Durham is one of the leading Further Education colleges in the North East and continues to be at the forefront of new initiatives, being one of the few colleges in the North East to offer all the new T-Level programmes. We focus on providing training and education that creates the best outcomes for our students, giving them the edge in their chosen industry.