Director of Finance

About Make-A-Wish

Right now over 134,000 children in the UK are eligible for a wish because they are dealing with the gruelling daily reality of life with a critical illness. When it comes to their dreams, they deserve to wish for more than a life defined by their illness. We are granting a record number of wishes yet we face an urgent challenge. The demand for wishes is far outpacing our best efforts to keep up, so it’s taking longer than ever to grant once-in-a-lifetime wishes. But the heart-breaking reality is that many families simply can’t wait this long.

We can’t keep asking families to wait for a wish that could bring joy, healing, and strength during their toughest times because for children who don't have long to live, there is no time to wait. When it comes to the dreams of children battling critical illness, they deserve to wish for more than a life defined by their illness.

Wishes have the power to rescue the magic of childhood and provide a much-needed escape from the gruelling daily reality of a life defined by ongoing treatments, endless hospital stays and their critical illness.

Jason Suckley

Chief Executive, Make-A-Wish

About the Role

Location & Contract: This is a full-time, permanent role. The role is hybrid working, with travel required to our Reading hub at least once per month.

Closing Date: Sunday 23rd February*

Acting Agency: Prospect - us

*We reserve the right to close this advert earlier if we receive sufficient applications. If you are interested in this role, please submit your application as soon as possible.

As the Director of Finance, you will play a critical role in enabling us to deliver more wishes by guiding the development and implementation of our financial plans and operational strategy. You will model and ensure the embedding of a business partnering approach, to support a working environment and internal operating systems that deliver against our strategy. You will join a dynamic senior leadership team that fosters collaboration, innovation, and excellence in all aspects of our work.

We are looking for a visionary leader with a proven track record of strategic financial management, business partnering experience and a passion for making a positive impact.

If you are motivated by our cause, and possess strong interpersonal skills, a commitment to building effective relationships with stakeholders at all levels and across a range of contexts and an ability to coach and develop teams we would love to hear from you.

To view the full job description for this role, see our website.

At Make-A-Wish, we believe that agile working gives everyone an opportunity to have their own work pattern that suits their role and individual needs. We believe this is the most effective way to give our best to wish children and supporters, and as a result deliver our charitable mission in the most effective way; whilst ensuring we create a happy workplace.

The organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Relevant level of DBS check will be required for this role. Employment is subject to positive references and proof of the right to work in the UK.

Make-A-Wish is also committed to attracting and recruiting diverse people as it’s vital that we strive towards ensuring that our trustees, employees, ambassadors and volunteers reflect the communities we seek to serve.

To apply for this role:

To apply for this role, please submit your CV, drawing out relevant experience for the role, and supporting statement (Cover Letter) via our website.

Supporting Statement

A supporting statement of up to 1,000 words that addresses the following two questions:

1. Why you are interested in Make-A-Wish and how you align to our 3 core values.
2. Please highlight an example that demonstrates your strategic financial management and business partnering experience and the transferable learning you would bring to this role.

Applications without both documents will not be considered for this position. Please ensure all questions are answered within your Cover Letter.

Due to the number of applications we receive, please ensure your Cover Letter does not exceed 2 A4 pages at size 12 font. We will not be able to consider Cover Letters that exceed this limit.

Interviews: w/c 10th March onwards