Finance Director

Term: Permanent
Hours: Full Time
Location: Chartered Accountants Ireland, Dublin 

About Chartered Accountants Ireland

Chartered Accountants Ireland is Ireland’s leading professional accountancy body, representing over 39,000 members in over 100 countries and educating 6,600 students. Its members provide leadership across both the public and private sector, bringing experience, trusted expertise, and strict standards to all aspects of their work. As the largest professional body on the island of Ireland, Chartered Accountants Ireland engages with several stakeholders including governments, policy makers, regulators, and business groups on key issues affecting the profession and the wider economy. Chartered Accountants Ireland supports members at every stage of their career from education to qualification to continuing professional development.  

The Institute is in a period of significant change with investment in roll-out of a multi-year programme with significant transformation in the delivery of education for students, replacement of the Institute’s ERP and CRM and new brand positioning and identity for the Institute. 

Purpose:

The role of Finance Director is a key executive management role. The successful candidate will be expected to provide strong financial and commercial leadership and excellent financial advice and guidance to the organisation.  This person will liaise with relevant stakeholder groups on an ongoing basis to further develop the future value proposition of the Institute as the premier all island professional accounting body. 

As a key member of the executive leadership team, the Finance director will champion the vision of Strategy 27 – Trusted Business Leadership in a Changing World – and support delivery of our strategic objectives guided by our values of Accountability, Forward-Looking, Excellence, and Openness. 

The Finance Director is responsible for the Finance & Services Function of the Institute which operates in both the North and South of Ireland. The scope of the role encompasses responsibility for managing all financial strategy and operations, enterprise risk management, data protection, procurement and facilities services for both locations. 

The successful candidate will also initiate and lead cost management projects and monitor significant investment in strategic projects and track benefits realisation. 
Organisational View:

Reporting to the Chief Executive, the Finance Director will be a key participant in the management of the Institute, providing financial and general business input to key business decisions. The Finance Director will make a significant contribution to the attainment of annual and strategic business goals and will work with the Institute’s Council, Oversight Board and Audit, Risk and Finance Board to develop and deliver sound financial performance across the organisation. 

Reports:  

Along with key Finance direct reports, the Finance Director has direct line manager responsibility for the Procurement Manager, the Risk Officer, the Data Protection Manager and the Facilities Manager.  
Going forward, the role holder will be responsible for shaping the future organisation design of the function in order to continue to support the delivery of its key objectives to the highest standards.

The key responsibilities of this role are:

Financial Strategy and Planning:
• Develop and implement long-term financial strategies aligned with Institute’s strategy. 
• Lead annual budgeting and forecasting processes.
• Conduct financial modelling and scenario testing to support the financial plans.
• Identify and evaluate opportunities for driving efficiencies and inputting into important capital expenditure projects.

Financial Operations and Reporting:
• Oversee all financial operations, including accounting, tax, treasury, and financial planning & analysis (FP&A).
• Ensure timely and accurate financial reporting to internal and external stakeholders.
• Implement robust financial controls and compliance measures.
• Manage relationships with auditors, banks, and stakeholders. 
• Preparing and communicating external and internal financial information to agreed deadlines and to high levels of integrity and accuracy.
Financial management 
• Manage working capital and ensure efficient cash-flow management and investment strategies.
• Relationship with banks.
• Communicate financial performance to stakeholders.
• Pensions planning and management.
• Engagement with the defined benefit pension scheme trustees, develop and implement liability management strategies optimising long term costs of the employer. 
• Management and engagement on the defined contribution scheme as required.

Performance Analysis and Optimization:
• Analyse financial performance, variance analysis and key metrics to identify areas for improvement.
• Develop and monitor business and financial KPIs across the organisation.
• Lead cost optimisation initiatives and improve operational efficiency.
• Provide data-driven insights to support strategic decision-making.

Technology and Innovation:
• Drive simplification and standardisation in finance operations adopting new technology solutions. 
• Implement and optimise financial systems and tools.
• Champion the implementation of the ERP implementation within the Finance function as well as the broader core systems replacement project with the Institute.
• Leverage data analytics and AI for financial insights and forecasting.
• Stay abreast of technology innovations and their potential impact on the business.

Leadership and Team Development:
• Build and lead high-performing finance teams.
• Foster a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with other departments to drive cross-functional initiatives.
• Act as a strategic partner to the CEO and leadership team. 
• Attending as required at Council, Oversight Board and Committee meetings to add value to the process of informed decision making.

Enterprise Risk Management and Compliance:
• Maintain and evolve the enterprise risk management framework 
• Designing and operating the organisation’s internal controls to the highest standard and ensuring that the Institute is compliant with all statutory obligations including financial reporting and taxation.
• Oversee internal audit activity with external IA provider. 
• Manage annual insurance programme. 

Procurement 
Oversee, the end-to-end procurement process, including requisition, sourcing, evaluation, negotiation and contract management. Ensure compliance with relevant regulations, policies, and ethical standards in all procurement activities.  This activity is in conjunction with the Procurement Manager.

Data Protection 
Lead the data protection function to ensure the organisation is protected against data risks and breaches and that the organisation is compliant with the data protection laws.   The Institute’s Data Protection Manager reports to the Finance Director. Ensure appropriate legal advice is a taken in relation to Data Protection issues. 

Facilities 
Overseeing facilities operations, including preventative maintenance, repairs, building management, procurement, and upgrades for the Institute’s freehold and leased premises.  Ensuring facility policies, procedures, and standards support a safe and effective work environment for staff, conferences and third-party tenants. 

The candidate

This is a senior role and requires an individual who can build strong relationships at Council level and with external stakeholders based upon superior performance, credible experience and high levels of ability. Accordingly, candidates should have an appropriate qualification coupled with a strong financial background and leadership ability. 

Education and Experience:
• Qualified Chartered Accountant or other appropriate qualification with a minimum of 10 years post qualification experience.
• Previous Finance Director or equivalent level experience, demonstrating a proven ability to operate successfully at a strategic level and build strong relationships with stakeholders.
• Experience of managing day-to-day financial operations, internal control systems and reporting.
• Strong strategic and commercial acumen with the ability to contribute to broader business decisions.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to engage effectively across all levels of the Institute. 
• Experience with ERP system implementation.
• Strong people management and leadership skills. 

The person will have:
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, particularly with regard to strategic oversight.
• Strong commercial orientation, ideally in a service/member environment.
• Excellent analytical and decision-making skills.
• Strong competencies in optimising business information systems.
• Analytical and strategic thinking.
• Excellent organizational and multitasking abilities.

Flexible work arrangements

 

The Institute is seeking and encourages applications from experienced candidates who may be looking for flexible work arrangements. If such arrangements are being sought please bring these to the attention of your interviewer. 

Chartered Accountants Ireland is an equal opportunities employer.

This will be a search & selection process and we are working with The Panel to manage direct applications and an executive search process. Please note applications directly through LinkedIn will not be accepted.

For an initial confidential discussion, please contact Paul McArdle at paul@thepanel.com

The closing date for applications is 5pm Friday, 13th June 2025.