Chief Financial Officer

Contract Term: This is a permanent, open‑ended position.

Location: London or Swindon. Includes regular travel across the UK and international travel on occasion.

Direct Reports: The postholder will have line management responsibility for ~7 direct reports, including roles such as Chief Information Officer, Finance Director, and General Counsel & Head of Legal.

Availability: Successful candidates will be encouraged to take up appointment ASAP following checks.

Security Level: Must hold, or be willing to undergo, Developed Vetting (DV) security clearance.

Closing Date: 23:55 on Sunday 7th June 2026.

About the Role

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is a senior strategic leader and principal adviser to the CEO and Board. As a principal decision‑maker, the CFO provides organisation‑wide leadership across finance, legal, digital and data, risk and assurance. Alongside the CEO, the CFO is an executive member of the UKRI board. The CFO is responsible for ensuring the organisation manages public money with strong governance, effective stewardship of public funds, and the highest standards of financial management, assurance and control. They provide strategic leadership on all aspects of public sector finance, ensuring financial decisions are evidence‑based and aligned with government priorities and statutory responsibilities. The CFO leads engagement with Spending Reviews and fiscal planning, ensuring resources are linked to outcomes, forecasts are credible, and management demonstrates strong financial management to stakeholders.

Working in partnership with the CEO, the CFO plays a central role in shaping and delivering UKRI’s long‑term strategic vision. The role requires deep understanding of the political, economic and societal context, translating external drivers into strategic priorities and operational plans. The CFO also manages senior leaders, building capability, and engages at the highest levels of government, industry and academia.

The CFO will be a member of the Executive Committee and the UKRI Board, leading a directorate of ~800 people through ~7 direct reports, managing a direct annual budget of ~£40 million, and overseeing finance and commercials across the UKRI portfolio worth ~£10 Bn. The CFO will establish a legally robust, risk‑based governance framework, lead engagement with the Government Internal Audit Agency and Audit Committee, serve as a non‑executive director on spin‑out company boards where required, and oversee other professional services within UKRI.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership across UKRI, working closely with the CEO and executive colleagues to shape organisational direction and represent UKRI’s interests to internal and external stakeholders.
• Guide development and execution of UKRI’s long‑term strategy, balancing DSIT objectives, financial constraints and emerging national opportunities.
• Oversee day‑to‑day executive operations as a core member of the Executive Committee, with direct accountability for finance, digital, data, risk and legal across the portfolio.
• Represent the CEO and UKRI at high‑level engagements, building trust with industry and stewarding key relationships at central and local government levels.
• Provide executive leadership over strategic partnerships to enable critical technologies and capabilities that support national priorities and global competitiveness.
• Serve as a non‑executive director on UKRI spin‑out boards where required.
• Provide robust budget stewardship to ensure UKRI maximises grant utilisation in delivering organisational objectives.

Essential Criteria

• Proven experience leading and developing diverse, high‑performing teams, set direction, delegate and deliver results through others.
• Extensive experience holding enterprise‑wide responsibility for financial probity, governance and effective delivery of financial outcomes within a large, complex organisation.
• Strong understanding of drivers of UK economic growth, including policy, sectoral and market trends shaping national research and innovation priorities.
• Exceptional relationship‑building and stakeholder management skills, establishing credibility quickly and building partnerships with industry, government, universities and external institutions.
• Highly effective communicator and influencer, operating confidently at Board and senior Government levels, challenging constructively and shaping decision‑making.
• Strong personal resilience and sound judgement, making decisions under pressure and maintaining focus on organisational priorities.
• Demonstrated commitment to personal growth, organisational learning and continuous improvement, contributing to a culture of high performance and innovation.

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