Assistant Director - Financial Management; Grade M1

Final date to receive applications: 15 November 2026

Department: Finance

Employment Type: Permanent
- Full Time

Location: Edinburgh
- Hybrid

Compensation: Grade M1 £ 66,924 to £78,930. Civil Service Pension with Employer Contribution of 28.97%. Flexible Working Hours. Hybrid Working.

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).

• 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.

It is important through your CV / Cover Letter that you give evidence of proven experience of each of the following essential criteria:

Essential:

• CCAB accounting qualification or qualified by experience with significant relevant experience covering both financial and management accounts.
• High level analytical skills.
• Proven leadership skills – to deal with change management and enable the teams to be developed and sustained creating a strong customer focussed team‑working environment.
• Strong written and oral communication skills including experience of explaining financial information to non‑finance staff.
• Flexibility, ability to co‑ordinate a diverse range of priorities, and react positively to change.
• Significant experience of finance and management accounting procedures and IT systems.
• Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Word and Excel

Desirable:

• Experience of SUN accounts and budget management packages

• Normal full‑time hours of work are 35 per week. We will consider flexible working arrangements. A flexi‑time system is in operation.
• Annual leave entitlement of 30 days pro‑rata, plus public and privilege holiday entitlement of 13 days pro‑rata.
• A flexible approach to hybrid working, giving you flexibility to work from home anywhere in the UK for some of the time while also maintaining regular in‑person contact with…