Head of Finance - Faculty Finance Manager (Faculty of Social Science and Faculty of Science)

Join to apply for the Head of Finance - Faculty Finance Manager (Faculty of Social Science and Faculty of Science) role at The University of Sheffield.

Base pay range

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits and join us to become part of something special.

Overview

The University’s vision is to be one of the best universities in the world, renowned for the excellence, impact, and distinctiveness of its research and teaching. The Department of Finance provides a wide range of financial support across the whole University. You will be part of a Financial Management team within the Department of Finance, aligned to the Faculties of Social Science and Science.

The role is varied with a focus on the provision of high‑quality business partnering and is an opportunity to develop leadership skills and experience across both teams and a variety of functions. You will need to work across existing boundaries and develop strong collaborations with staff across the University at all levels. Together with the Head of Finance, you will provide management and leadership to the Finance Teams for the Faculty of Social Science and the Faculty of Science and have experience of managing and developing the skills of a diverse team.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Provision of expert financial support, guidance, and management information across all activity areas including core School operations, research and other external funding streams.
• Support the Head of Finance to ensure that the Faculty Finance team are delivering a comprehensive and robust financial management support service to meet the needs of the faculty, its constituent Schools and external stakeholders.
• Ensuring financial management information is prepared, interpreted and utilised as appropriate within School’s visions corporately, to monitor performance and to influence change.
• Support and enable Finance staff to work to the highest professional standards and encouraging a culture of continuous improvement and professional development.
• Improve efficiencies of existing working practices, working with colleagues across the University as appropriate.
• Managing and supporting specific projects and initiatives within the Faculty to facilitate business process improvements and the delivery of excellent customer service.
• Contribute and lead collaborative working groups or initiatives as required, taking an active role in the implementation of any changes.
• Plan and review workload allocations across the team, ensuring all objectives and deadlines are achieved and that productivity is optimised.
• Lead colleagues in the continual challenge to activities and processes, and identification and delivery of improvement in order to maximise effectiveness.
• Advise on the financial implications of strategic and operational decisions to ensure that the Faculty Schools maintain a strong financial position, challenging decisions where appropriate to improve financial performance.
• Review financial documents, including contracts, agreements and policy documents to ensure full understanding of financial consequences.
• Act as a coach and mentor to less experienced staff both within and outside the team.
• Foster and support constructive communication and relationships with colleagues at all levels within the Finance Department and across Schools.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Person Specification

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and is respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role’s criteria, your contribution is valuable and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.

Criteria

• Professional accounting qualification (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA) or equivalent experience.
• Proven experience in delivery of high standards of financial management, financial planning, monitoring, analysis and reporting.
• Ability to operate effectively, comfortably and across boundaries in a complex, challenging and changing environment.
• Ability to facilitate and encourage development and change, delivering enhancements and improvements to meet organisational needs, proactively driving forward any changes.
• Experience in preparation of timely, transparent, and effective financial information with high attention to detail and levels of accuracy.
• Excellent IT skills, particularly with Microsoft Office, Google applications, accounting and other business systems.
• Strong leadership skills in managing and developing the skills of a diverse team and the ability to motivate high performance in others.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to express complicated financial information meaningfully to a non‑finance audience.
• Experience of working with external funding streams, with the ability to efficiently assess contractual requirements & manage any associated risk.
• Experience supporting a business partnering approach to service delivery (desirable).

Grade: 8
Salary: £48,822 - £58,225 per annum
Work arrangement: Full time
Line manager: To be confirmed
Direct reports: To be confirmed

Next steps in the recruitment process

It is anticipated that the selection process will take place during the week commencing 19th January 2026. This will consist of a presentation and interview. Candidates will be notified of progression to the selection stage on the week commencing 12th January 2026. If you need any support, equipment or adjustments to enable you to participate in any element of the recruitment process, you can contact Joanne Ward at j.e.ward@sheffield.ac.uk.

What We Offer

• A minimum of 41 days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
• Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
• Generous pension scheme.
• A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.
• A variety of staff networks, providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development (for example, Race Equality, LGBT+, Women’s and Parent’s networks).
• Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
• A commitment to your development, access to learning and mentoring schemes; Professional Services Shared Skills Framework.
• A range of generous family‑friendly policies
  • paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies
  • support for those going through menopause
  • paid time off and support for fertility treatment
  • and more

More details can be found on our benefits page: https://sheffield.ac.uk/jobs/benefits.

We are a Disability Confident Employer. If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to take part in the next stage of the selection process.

Criminal record

A basic DBS check will be needed for this role. Possession of a criminal record is not an automatic bar to employment at the University of Sheffield.

We are a research university with a global reputation for excellence. Our vision (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/vision) outlines our commitment to building a diverse community of staff and students that recognises and values the abilities, backgrounds, beliefs and ways of living for everyone.