finance professional

Help shape the future of Coventry University Students' Union by providing financial leadership, independent oversight and constructive challenge as an External Trustee., Coventry University Students' Union is looking to appoint an External Trustee to join its Board of Trustees and chair the Finance and Audit Sub-Committee. As a Trustee, you will provide independent oversight, strategic guidance and constructive challenge. You will help set the direction of the organisation, monitor performance and ensure resources are used effectively for the benefit of students across the Coventry University Group. As Chair of the Finance and Audit Sub-Committee, you will play a key role in reviewing budgets, financial reports and audits, overseeing financial controls and reserves and helping the Board identify and manage risk. You will bring strong financial judgement, analytical skills and the ability to communicate complex information clearly. You will also act as the Whistleblowing Trustee, championing openness and helping ensure that Coventry University Students' Union has safe, fair and effective processes for raising and handling concerns. This is an opportunity to contribute to the governance and long-term sustainability of a growing, values-led Students' Union at an important stage in its development.

We are looking for an experienced finance professional who can bring independent judgement, strategic insight and constructive challenge to the Board. You will have a strong background in finance and risk management, with the confidence to review budgets, financial reports, audits, controls and reserves. You will also be able to explain complex financial information clearly to trustees and stakeholders with different levels of financial knowledge. Experience of governance within a charity, Students' Union, membership body or higher education setting would be valuable but is not essential. Wider experience in areas such as leadership, legal and regulatory compliance, people management, safeguarding or project management would also be welcomed. You will bring professional integrity, sound judgement and the ability to think strategically and creatively. You will be an effective communicator, skilled at building relationships and comfortable offering both support and challenge. Above all, you will share Coventry University Students' Union's commitment to improving students' lives and be willing to champion its values of being helpful, inclusive and ethical. Applications are welcome from professionals based both within and beyond Coventry, with hybrid arrangements available to support participation from further afield.

Coventry University SU is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of students across the Coventry University Group. Founded in 1960, the Students' Union has a proud history of supporting, representing and creating opportunities for students. It is student-led through elected Student Officers, who represent members and work to deliver the changes they want to see. The Officers are supported by a dedicated team of staff who provide a wide range of services, including advice, representation, sports clubs, societies, skills development and campaigning. Coventry University Students' Union also operates a trading subsidiary, CUSU Services Ltd, which helps generate income to support the charity's work and diversify its funding. Its activities include catering outlets, partnerships, merchandise, a creative agency and student entertainment venues. With turnover approaching £5 million and around 100 permanent members of staff, Coventry University Students' Union is entering an important stage of development. Strong governance, financial oversight and strategic leadership will be essential as it continues to expand its impact and support students across the Coventry University Group., Placing purpose and quality before profit, Peridot Partners is a values-led third sector executive recruitment agency transforming leadership and inspiring change with organisations that have a social purpose. We're a close-knit team of exceptional people and we're proud of developing an ultra-flexible, empowering and fun culture. We focus on long-term, deep-rooted relationships that bring added value. We challenge the status quo about what makes good leadership, and this is reflected in our exceptional clients, candidates and close community of change-makers. Since 2009, we have worked with organisations that want to grow and who appreciate and value good leadership, across the public, third and private sectors. The strength of our organisation comes from our cross-functional networks, our exceptional research team and our experience attracting people from all sectors to organisations with a social focus. We recruit to boards, executive positions and specialist functional roles such as fundraising, finance, and marketing and communications across a range of sectors, from social justice and health charities, foundations, grant-making organisations and think tanks to awarding bodies, training providers, schools, multi-academy trusts, colleges and universities, and student unions., "The Executive Team recruited by Peridot are fantastic! The team are one of the best I have seen and have successfully taken on the challenge of an organisation facing insolvency and led a turnaround in our fortunes, and into a successful merger that will safeguard further education in the city of Brighton." - Chair of the Corporation at Greater Brighton Metropolitan College We're driven by our values:

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Our intentions are clear: to achieve the best outcomes for our clients, our candidates, our people and our business. We are known for third sector executive recruitment underpinned by high standards, quality service and creating social impact. We develop long-term, deep-rooted relationships that bring real value to our partners across socially focused sectors. Diversity at our heart We do not believe in throwaway statements about diversity. Instead, diversity is at the heart of everything we do and is crucial to our success, reputation, and the organisations and people we work with. We understand that it is not good enough to simply not discriminate and we must do more to create positive change. With this in mind, we are proud that we have been actively working to become an Anti-Racist and more inclusive organisation. We recognise that unconscious bias exists and must be minimised. We have put processes in place to manage them. We have a position of influence as a recruitment company to make our positive contribution to change the systems that perpetuate discrimination, and with that comes a responsibility to do better. We work tirelessly to ensure we lead inclusive campaigns and projects that can encourage all members of society to apply and know that they will be treated with decency and respect. We support equal opportunities in employment and oppose all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination based on gender, age, ethnic or national origin, religion, sexual orientation or disability. We believe that a diverse not for profit sector will provide better leadership to accelerate positive change in society. We are proud to have an exceptional track record of leading inclusive recruitment campaigns that enhance diversity of leadership teams and boards. As a recruitment partner, you can expect us to:
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Our commitment to building diverse organisations starts with us, and we are proud that women, LGBTQ+, disabled and people from ethnic minorities consider Peridot a great place to work.