Director: Finance, Resource and Planning

Reporting to: Director, V&A Dundee

Background

V&A Museum of Design Dundee will open in summer 2018. Its mission is to enrich lives through design, manifested in a spectacular new building by renowned Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, and the first ever UK design museum to be built outside London.

The museum - its building, galleries and programming - will be a celebration of design both internationally and nationally, setting Scotland in context and demonstrating its outstanding contribution to design practice, past present and future. Kengo Kuma describes the new building as a ‘living room for the city’: a place for all to enjoy, be inspired, and be welcome.

The museum’s mission is to enrich lives through design. Through a programme of major exhibitions and events, drawn from the V&A and elsewhere,it will inspire visitors, celebrate design heritage, promote contemporary talent, and encourage design innovation for the future.

V&A Dundee is being delivered by Design Dundee Ltd (DDL), a ground-breaking partnership between the V&A itself, the University of Dundee, Abertay University, Scottish Enterprise and Dundee City Council. It is a flagship part of Dundee’s waterfront development symbolising the city’s new confidence and regeneration.

Role

This newly created senior role will be responsible for the financial, planning and control environment within which the project is delivered and operated, extending to IT environment, business systems and HR. The role includes overall responsibility for budgetary allocation and management, financial controllership within a complex funding environment, resource allocation and risk and contingency management. The role will oversee the preparation and reporting of annual financial accounts and quarterly management accounts and steer cost management with individual cost centre owners, providing context and ensuring consistency of approach to expenditure. Responsibilities will cover procurement, contracts and provision of external legal/counsel as and when required. HR, payroll and remuneration will be managed from here.

In 2017-18 the role will focus on ensuring the project is adequately resourced to deliver in line with Board and wider expectations, and guiding financial decision making to that end. The role will involve developing a robust 5-year financial framework for all activity, and establishing the necessary control processes to manage ongoing operations effectively, easily and within budget. There will also be the opportunity to define, develop and recruit supporting departmental resource within allocated budget.

Thereafter the role will focus on financial control and implementing the ongoing resources, systems, HR and risk environment required to support a major cultural project and its stakeholders’ investment.

Key Objectives

To lead on financial reporting to Board
To develop, implement and oversee the key financial controls that permit the executive team and Board to make the strategic financial decisions required to operate the business
To produce accounts and financial reporting the permit timely and effective financial management
To evaluate and advise on competing financial priorities when required
To manage organisational risk
To oversee audit
To develop a robust and transparent financial environment, in line with requirements by Board, stakeholders and auditors
To manage business systems and office support environment, including necessary licenses, leases and compliance requirements
To commission and implement effective, consistent HR policies, through recruitment, remuneration, management, performance and development
To deputise for the Director when required

Specific responsibilities

To uphold and implement financial management and planning on a day-to-day basis

To work closely with the full senior team to agree budgetary parameters, including cost allocations and revenue generation targets as appropriate

To develop and implement reporting formats and controls to coordinate, direct and manage departmental spend

To model scenarios and options that enable effective decision-making between competing priorities

To develop P&L by activity and to coordinate with funding partners with support in kind

To manage expenditure, revenue and cash flow in partnership with DCC and other funding partnerships

To ensure staffing, recruitment and remuneration is managed consistently across departments, and to establish provision for staff development, training and succession planning

To develop IT and systems environments appropriate to size and nature of project, and to manage same

To work with funding partners to establish and abide by parameters of various financial sources

To work with revenue-generating departments and colleagues to define effective financial forecasts,optimising opportunity for enterprise and financial initiative

To be responsible for Health & Safety policy, ensuring compliance with legal requirement

To implement processes for, and record, Terms of Reference and other policy in relation to museum activity

To coordinate strategic and business planning activities for the organisation

To undertake any all and any related activity as required by the Director or Board

Skills & Experience required

Essential

Proven successful strategic financial leadership in a complex organisation
Qualified with full CCAB recognised qualification accountant, or ICSA qualified, ideally with experience within a charity within the arts sector
Proven successful experience of strategic and business planning
Strong experience of both financial and management accounting
Developed and implemented a program of internal compliance and control within a Charity
A proven track record of managing a finance team within a medium sized organisation
Excellent commercial acumen
An analytical mind, capable of interrogating accounts and explaining accounts
Excellent written and verbal communication skills as well as demonstrably strong negotiation skills will be key in this role
Strong, proven, management skills
Experience of report writing for senior management
Excellent Excel skills and office IT skills including a good understanding of databases
High integrity and openness combined with commitment to good governance
Team player, committed to working with and for colleagues, and to supporting wider goals

Desirable

MBA or equivalent business qualification
Successful experience of working in a cultural venue or equivalent