Finance Director

The Stables is seeking an experienced, hands-on Finance Director to provide strategic andoperational financial leadership across the organisation’s charitable, trading, subsidiary, festivaland project activities. As a member of the Strategic Management Team, the postholder will leadfinancial planning and help shape business planning, strengthen long-term sustainability, leadrobust budgeting, reforecasting, cash flow forecasting and treasury management, and provideclear financial insight and constructive advice to the Chief Executive & Artistic Director, seniorcolleagues and the Board.The role combines senior accountability with direct, hands-on delivery. The postholder willoversee rigorous and accurate financial management; charity, company, tax, funding anddata-protection compliance; statutory accounts and audit; financial controls, records andsystems; funder reporting; investment, liquidity and risk; and agreed company-secretarial andgovernance support.They will lead and develop the Finance team, support budget holders to manage resourcesconfidently, and personally prepare, complete or cover core processes such as managementaccounts, forecasts, reconciliations, payroll, payment runs, statutory returns and year-endschedules when required.Strong practical knowledge of charity accounting – including the Charities SORP, restrictedand designated funds, Gift Aid, statutory reporting and Charity Commission requirements – isessential, together with the judgement to balance artistic ambition and charitable purpose withfinancial sustainability, control and resilience., Financial strategy, planning and performance

Responsibilities

• Lead the organisation’s financial strategy, ensuring that resources are aligned with charitable objectives, artistic plans, business priorities and long-term sustainability.
• Lead the annual budgeting process, regular reforecasting and rolling cash flow forecasting, together with reserves monitoring and scenario modelling, to support confident decision-making and early identification of financial pressures or opportunities.
• Provide strategic financial advice to budget holders and senior colleagues, helping them understand performance, manage risk and make informed decisions.
• Support business planning, fundraising strategy and applications, capital project appraisal and investment decisions through robust financial modelling, risk analysis and assessment of affordability.
• Analyse past financial and operational performance to identify trends, drivers, risks and lessons, and develop robust financial models for new business opportunities, programme activity, partnerships and income streams. Assess income assumptions, direct and indirect costs, contribution, cash flow, sensitivity, break-even points, delivery capacity and longer-term sustainability, providing clear recommendations to support investment and go/no-go decisions.

Financial reporting and operational delivery

• Oversee the finance function and ensure accurate, timely and rigorous financial management across The Stables, IF: Milton Keynes International Festival, associated projects and any trading or subsidiary activity.
• Prepare and present clear financial reports for the Chief Executive & Artistic Director, Strategic Management Team and the Board of Trustees, including management accounts, variance analysis, forecasts, KPIs and recommendations.
• Undertake hands‑on finance activity and provide practical cover for the Finance team when required, including during holidays and peak workload periods, to ensure that essential processes and statutory deadlines continue without interruption.
• Ensure accurate and timely financial reporting in accordance with funding agreements, conditions and deadlines for Arts Council England, Milton Keynes City Council, trusts, foundations and other funders, partners and stakeholders.

Compliance, controls, audit and governance

• Ensure compliance with all relevant statutory, regulatory and funding requirements, including HMRC, the Charity Commission, Companies House, Arts Council England, VAT, Gift Aid, business rates, payroll, pensions and applicable charity accounting standards.
• Lead the effective preparation of annual statutory accounts and manage the external audit, providing accurate and timely information, high-quality working papers and responses so that the agreed audit timetable and plan are delivered.
• Maintain complete and accurate financial, payroll and governance records and strong financial controls, policies, systems and processes across income, expenditure, payroll, banking, purchase ledger, credit control, reconciliations, authorisations and reporting, ensuring appropriate confidentiality, retention and compliance with UK GDPR and data‑protection requirements.
• Maintain a documented responsibility and control matrix identifying who prepares, reviews, authorises and releases each material finance process. Administer finance‑system access within approved authority levels and ensure that preparation, review and final approval are appropriately separated.
• Own the monthly and year‑end close timetable, maintaining complete supporting schedules and control accounts, investigating and resolving discrepancies, ensuring restricted and designated funds are accurately recorded, and retaining an effective audit trail for all material balances and adjustments.
• Control payroll changes, pension submissions, creditor and payment runs, bank administration and supplier amendments, ensuring dual authorisation and independent review where required, and monitor aged debtors, aged creditors and cash collection.
• Support organisation‑wide risk management, maintaining financial input into the risk register and advising on mitigation, controls and exposure.
• Coordinate the organisation’s annual insurance review, working with colleagues and advisers to ensure that declarations, asset values, business‑interruption assumptions and other material information are accurate, coverage remains appropriate, and claims or changes in risk are reported promptly.
• Carry out or oversee company‑secretarial functions as agreed from time to time, including day‑today administration for the charity and any subsidiaries, statutory filings and registers of members and directors, and governance support for the Chair, trustees and directors.

Treasury, capital planning and assets

• Oversee treasury management, including liquidity and working‑capital planning, banking, rolling cash flow forecasts, reserves and investment activity, ensuring sufficient funds are available when required while balancing security, return and proportionate risk; act as an authorised countersignatory where required, in accordance with delegated authorities and segregation‑of‑duties controls.
• Lead the preparation and regular review of the organisation’s five‑year capital plan, working with colleagues to identify, prioritise and cost investment in buildings, facilities, equipment and infrastructure. Develop capital budgets, cash flow forecasts, funding assumptions, whole‑life cost assessments and affordability scenarios to support business cases, fundraising applications and Trustee investment decisions.
• Maintain and regularly review the fixed‑asset register, ensuring that acquisitions, disposals, transfers, depreciation, useful economic lives and asset classifications are accurately recorded and reconciled to the general ledger. Work with relevant colleagues to verify assets periodically, identify impairment or replacement requirements, and ensure that the register supports statutory accounts, insurance, capital planning and investment decisions.

Finance systems, data and continuous improvement

• Lead the effective implementation, development and use of iPlicit and related finance, payroll, banking and reporting systems, ensuring that system design, the chart of accounts and reporting structures support the organisation’s charitable, trading, festival, project and subsidiary activities.
• Maintain high standards of financial data quality, integrity and security, including appropriate system access, approval workflows, audit trails, master‑data controls, reconciliations and interfaces with other organisational systems.
• Develop clear, timely and useful management information, dashboards and reporting tools, working with colleagues to improve the consistency, accessibility and interpretation of financial and operational data.
• Identify and deliver proportionate process improvements, automation and systems integration, ensuring that key finance procedures are documented, tested and supported by effective business‑continuity and recovery arrangements.

People leadership and organisational capability

• Lead, manage and develop the Finance team, ensuring clear responsibilities, effective supervision, resilience and continuous improvement, and undertaking recruitment, induction, objective‑setting, appraisal, training and performance management as required.
• Champion good financial understanding across the organisation by ensuring staff understand relevant financial policies, practices and procedures and by providing training and practical support so that budget holders and colleagues can manage budgets, systems and processes effectively.
• Undertake any other duties reasonably commensurate with the seniority, scope and responsibilities of the role, as required to support the effective operation and charitable objectives of the organisation.

Qualifications

• Fully qualified accountant – ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA Experience within an arts, cultural, and work- or equivalent – with substantial post-qualification venue, live-events or comparable related experience. Applications from candidates qualified multi-activity environment. experience by experience may also be considered where they
• Experience of companycan demonstrate equivalent technical expertise and secretarial or HR administration senior-level responsibility. responsibilities.
• Significant experience of leading a finance function Experience of wider organisational and team in a complex organisation. change, restructuring or systems
• Strong technical knowledge and practical experience integration. of charity accounting, including the Charities SORP,
• Working knowledge of iPlicit would restricted and designated funds, statutory accounts, be advantageous, although training audit, Charity Commission reporting, VAT, Gift Aid, can be provided. management accounts, budgeting, forecasting and cash flow management.
• Recent hands‑on experience in an SME, charity, owner‑managed or similarly lean environment, with the ability to prepare detailed financial outputs personally and operate effectively without large specialist teams.
• Experience of payroll oversight, trading‑subsidiary arrangements and maintaining effective financial controls, including segregation of duties and delegated authorities.
• Experience of finance‑systems implementation or development, data‑quality improvement, process review and management‑information design.
• Strong working knowledge of contemporary cloudbased accounting software, with experience of using finance systems to improve controls, workflows, data quality, reporting and management information.
• Experience of annual budgeting, rolling forecasts, capital budgeting, business cases, investment appraisal and financial modelling for new activity or income streams.
• Experience of working with boards, senior leadership teams, auditors, banks, funders and statutory bodies.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Criteria Essential Desirable

Personal

• Ability to operate strategically and practically, moving confidently between advice to the Board and detailed financial delivery.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex financial information clearly to non‑finance colleagues and support confident decision‑making.
• Strong leadership and people management skills, with the ability to support, develop and motivate a small finance team.
• High levels of accuracy, integrity, confidentiality and professional independence.
• Ability to work flexibly in a busy, creative environment where artistic ambition, public benefit and financial sustainability must be balanced.
• Positive, calm and resilient approach, with the confidence to advise constructively and challenge appropriately.
• Collaborative and supportive working style, with an interest in helping colleagues strengthen their financial understanding.

Other

• Commercial awareness and sound judgement, with Knowledge of Arts Council an understanding of earned income, fundraising, England reporting requirements project-based activity and financial risk in a creative or other public/funder reporting organisation frameworks.
• Interest in the arts and commitment to the charitable Understanding of the opportunities purpose of Wavendon AllMusic Plan, The Stables and and pressures facing regional IF: Milton Keynes International Festival.
• Commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion, good governance and safe working practices.

The Stables is based in Milton Keynes and is one of the UK’s leading music venues with a vision to engage the widest range of people with music in all its diversity. We enrich people’s lives by offering opportunities to access, participate in and experience live music and the arts more broadly. We present around 400 concerts and events each year across all genres, alongside an extensive programme of learning and participation. We also founded and produce IF: Milton Keynes International Festival, a multi‑artform biennial event that transforms the city into a stage. The Stables and IF: Milton Keynes International Festival are operating names of Wavendon AllMusic Plan, a registered charity. We are proud of our reputation for world‑class music and events, a warm welcome and high standards of customer service. The Stables is located in one of the UK’s fastest growing and most economically vibrant cities and is part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.

Responsible for: A small, part‑time Finance team and any agreed finance, payroll, accounting or company‑secretarial support. Hours: Part‑time, up to 30 hours per week. The weekly hours and working pattern will be agreed with the successful candidate and may be arranged flexibly to meet both individual and organisational needs. Salary: Circa £60,000-£65,000 per annum full‑time equivalent, depending on experience and the agreed scope, pro‑rated for the successful candidate’s contracted hours. The role is eligible for workplace pension auto‑enrolment in accordance with statutory requirements. The employer contribution is currently 3%. These arrangements may be amended in accordance with legislation and organisational policy. The appointment will be permanent, subject to satisfactory completion of a four‑month probationary period. Following successful completion of probation, the postholder will be eligible to participate in the organisation’s discretionary performance‑related bonus scheme, in accordance with the scheme rules in force at the time. Full terms and conditions will be provided with the formal offer of employment and set out in the employment contract.

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