DIRECTOR, FINANCE & SHARED SERVICES CANDIDATE BRIEF

Transcription

1 DIRECTOR, FINANCE & SHARED SERVICES CANDIDATE BRIEF Join our team.

2 WHY ARE WE HIRING? THE VACANCY HAS ARISEN DUE TO THE RETIREMENT OF THE CURRENT DIRECTOR OF FINANCE, MEREDITH COOMBS Meredith has been with St John Ambulance since 2007 and has been part of the SMT that has driven and implemented a huge amount of change in both organisational and financial management. When he joined, the charity was running at a c 8 million deficit. In 2014 the charity achieved a small surplus, which represents a significant milestone. He will leave St John Ambulance at the end of June Meredith runs a large team, including the SSC and property departments. There is a very capable and experienced team to inherit, including business accountants in each of the recently created regions. Despite the charity being in a better financial position at this point, the successful candidate will still face the ongoing challenges to improve income and decrease costs, allowing the charity to grow and develop. They will also need to look at how they can strive to improve support services such as IT, maximising economies of scale to ensure value. The role provides an opportunity to allow a new individual to bring some different ideas to the team and to also join at a time when there is a significant change in the way the charity is being marketed, including the launch of the new values and related TV advertising campaigns, such as the highly popular and successful The Chokeables campaign. There is also an opportunity for the new Director of Finance to help the heads of the businesses and regions to run their respective areas more effectively. The strategic aim for the charity is to create a significant surplus in 2016 to allow some investment in areas such as the IT infrastructure, as well as increase charitable impact. The successful candidate can help make a significant impact to ensure this strategic aim becomes a reality. Join our team.

3 YOUR INTEREST & APPLICATION THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN THE POST OF DIRECTOR, FINANCE & SHARED SERVICES AT ST JOHN AMBULANCE Some background information, a job description and person specification are included within this candidate briefing pack. For a confidential discussion about the position, please feel free to contact the Managing Director at Grays Executive, Simon Bell on Application is by CV and a covering letter, explaining how you fit the brief, and why this role appeals to you. The preferred method of application is via to stjohnambulance@graysexecutive.com. The closing date for applications is Friday 24th April We look forward to receiving your application and thank you for your interest in St John Ambulance. KEY DETAILS: SIMON BELL Join our team. APPLICATIONS TO stjohnambulance@graysexecutive.com CLOSING DATE Friday 24th April 2015

4 JOB DESCRIPTION PLEASE READ THE PERSONAL SPECIFICATION AND JOB DESCRIPTION CAREFULLY You should ensure that you meet the essential criteria before submitting an application. Only pertinent information will be considered when short-listing applicants for interview. DIRECTOR, FINANCE & SHARED SERVICES REPORTING TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SJA ROLE OVERVIEW Helps the charity achieve its objectives by developing and delivering financial strategy. Monitoring and reporting on current and prospective financial performance, providing related advice and guidance to senior management and board members. Responsible for around 80 staff who provide a range of financial, property and administrative services. MAIN DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES 1. Ensures sound financial planning and budgeting for the charity, including treasury management and tax planning. Responsible for the preparation of the annual audited accounts of the charity. 2. Agrees both short - and longer - term financial strategy in conjunction with the senior management team and both boards. 3. Monitors financial performance, highlighting areas of concern where action may be required, ensuring that the trustees and senior management are kept informed as to financial performance of the charity. 4. Prepares papers for and attends board meetings. 5. Ensures the provision of expert advice and volunteer engagement working with the Investment Advisory Group, Audit & Risk Committee and Finance Advisory Join Group. our team. 6. Oversees accounting systems and controls, ensures that the charity meets its legal and regulatory obligations relating to financial and taxation matters and safeguards the charity s financial assets. 7. Partners with operational management on the development of business strategy and the identification and resolution of finance-related business issues. 8. Works to identify areas for improving costeffectiveness through centralised procurement, managing the supplier tender process and implementing new procurement arrangements. 9. Provides administrative services through the Shared Services Centre and works with senior management to identify, develop and implement additional processes where SSC can add value. 10. Ensures the charity s property portfolio is fit for purpose, in line with operating requirements, advises on and implements property disposals and acquisitions. 11. Act as sustainability champion for the charity, coordinating and monitoring activities in this area, including energy use, fuel consumption and waste management, as well as promoting internal awareness. 12. Perform any other duties commensurate with these responsibilities, the band of the post and skills and level of qualification

5 PERSON SPECIFICATION QUALIFIED, POSITIVE & OUTGOING You will be a qualified accountant with the required level of seniority, technical and commercial ability required for a role of this breadth and profile. You will need to be a positive and outgoing individual who is able to work effectively with colleagues at all levels. You will also be able to work in an environment that is populated by full time employees and volunteers that commit a great deal of time and energy to the charity. You will need to be patient and diplomatic in style and be an individual who likes to be accountable and to lead from the front. You will have broad breadth of experience and may come from either the voluntary or commercial sector. DATA PROTECTION The information supplied from your application will be held confidentially, with restricted access and will only be used to create a short list for interviews. Personnel outside the recruitment process will not have access to your data. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES MONITORING FORM St John Ambulance is committed to equality and promotes equality for all employees, workers and applicants. We continuously review all aspects of our service to ensure we treat everyone equally. To help us review our policies at St John Ambulance, please take the time to fill in our equal opportunities monitoring form, by clicking here Your form submission will not be used during the short listing process. This information is confidential and will only be used for reviewing, monitoring and analysing equal opportunities policies. Join our team.

6 A MESSAGE FROM THE CEO Dear applicant Thank you for your interest in the role of Director, Finance and Shared Services with St John Ambulance. We are England s leading first aid charity. Our vision is that everyone who needs it receives first aid from those around them, and that no one should suffer from a lack of trained first aiders. Over the last five years the charity has gone through unprecedented change. We have: Created a highly successful and profitable workplace training business Reorganised from 41 counties to eight regions Made a step change in the quality and consistency of our services Built a large and rapidly growing ambulance services business that supports the NHS Expanded our life-saving work in promoting, providing and teaching first aid Launched a new initiative RISE to teach first aid to young people in inner cities Turned around our financial performance from substantial deficit to small surplus Meredith Coombs, our Director of Finance and Shared Services, has decided to retire after eight years of being at the heart of the transformation process. When Meredith joined St John Ambulance we had more bank accounts and payrolls than we could count, a plethora of HMRC and financial control issues and no shared services capability. Eight years on it is a very different picture! Transformation has created a robust platform for us to operate from. The challenge now is to continue to find ways to improve income and reduce costs so that we stay at break-even while significantly expanding our charitable output, and investing in our infrastructure, particularly in IT. It will also involve finding ways to help and support our 2,500 employees and 40,000 volunteers, so they are equipped to support our charitable aims. If you have the skills, the energy and passion to be part of St John Ambulance s exciting journey, we very much look forward to hearing from you. SUE KILLEN, CEO ST JOHN AMBULANCE Sue Killen has been the Chief Executive of St John Ambulance (SJA) for seven years. She has led strategic change at SJA and during a Civil Service career which involved responsibility for a major review of the rail sector, the restructuring and privatisation of companies including British Energy, and the development of the government s strategy for tackling drug misuse. Immediately before joining St John Ambulance she led an independent review of children and young people s palliative care for the Department of Health. She has over 20 years experience of being a Trustee at a range of charities and public bodies and is currently a member of the Affinity Sutton Group Board and is Chair of their Housing Board. Sue Killen, Chief Executive

7 ABOUT ST JOHN AMBULANCE ST JOHN AMBULANCE IS THE NATION S LEADING FIRST AID CHARITY Every year, more than 800,000 people learn how to save a life through our training programmes, including hundreds of thousands of young people. Our volunteers provide first aid in their communities, keeping people safe at events, and work alongside the NHS in response to 999 calls. We re also always campaigning to raise awareness of first aid and directly educate the public. First aid is such a simple skill, but it has an incredible impact. We want everyone to learn it, so that they can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved.

8 TRANSFORMED FINANCES IN 2014, WE ACHIEVED AN OPERATING SURPLUS OF OVER 500,000, EXCEEDING THE BUDGET FOR THE YEAR This is fantastic news. It is the first time the charity has achieved an operating surplus since 2005 and will enable us to be even more effective at delivering our vision that everyone should receive first aid from those around them. This achievement represents an important step towards securing the charity s long-term future. We have been increasing the amount of income we generate, while at the same time becoming more cost-effective in how we do things and more effective at delivering our charitable goals. This has been achieved through a collective effort by volunteers and employees at all levels of the organisation. Transformation set us up to increase our total income to over 100 million, particularly from the provision of work place training, first aid supplies and patient transport services. Following our reorganisation into regions and related review of national functions, we are also operating more efficiently and effectively, with expenditure under tight control. AS DIRECTOR, FINANCE & SHARED SERVICES, YOU WILL PLAY A KEY ROLE IN GUIDING THE CHARITY FORWARD IN THIS EXCITING NEW PHASE.

9 BECOMING THE DIFFERENCE BECOMING THE DIFFERENCE IS OUR FIVE-YEAR PROGRAMME TO TRANSFORM ST JOHN AMBULANCE, DURING It aims to ensure the organisation can better meet its charitable vision: that everyone who needs it should receive first aid from those around them. No one should suffer from a lack of trained first aiders. THE PROGRAMME FOLLOWED THESE TEN STEPS: 1. Reform governance 2. Restructure management and administration As part of this programme, we developed our four pillars which underpin all of the work we do, and are reflected in our 2015 business plan: Charitable output Quality and service Finances People 3. Reorganise NHQ to support regions 4. Develop events and ambulance businesses 5. Increase income: commercial and fundraising 6. Reduce costs through national procurement 7. Review asset utilisation/productivity 8. Enhance quality assurance and compliance 9. Teach more people first aid skills 10. Reach more young people with first aid training & delivery.

10 WHAT WE SPENT 2013 OUTGOINGS IN m Total spend on charitable activities 97.1m Total resources expended 1.8m OTHER CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES 3.5m COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROGRAMMES 8.9m FIRST AID PRODUCTS 8.5m 26.3m FIRST AID - AMBULANCE & TRANSPORT SERVICES COST OF GENERATING FUNDS & GOVERNANCE COSTS 34.1m FIRST AID TRAINING 14.0m FIRST AID PROVISION & YOUTH DEVELOPMENT 96.9% of our incoming resources was spent on charitable activities in 2013 OUR INCOME IN 2013 First aid training 38.8m (40%) First aid provision and youth development 8.3m (9%) First aid ambulance and transport services 18.7m (19%) First aid products 8.3m (9%) Community support programmes 1.5m (2%) Voluntary income 11.9m (12%) Investment income 1.0m (1%) Activities for generating funds 1.4m (1%) Other 1.5m (2%) Reserves utilised during the year 4.0m (4%) Total incoming resources: 91.4m A fuller picture of our financial performance in 2013 is provided in our audited Annual Report and Accounts for the year ending 31 December m TOTAL SPEND ON CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES 91.4m TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES IN 2013

11 Strategy on a Page 2015 Business Plan VISION: Everyone who needs it should receive first aid from those around them. No one should suffer for the lack of trained first aiders WE WILL: Increase our charitable impact through teaching, treating, transporting and supporting people in line with our vision. VALUES: Humanity, Excellence, Accountability, Responsiveness, Teamwork CHARITABLE OUTPUT QUALITY & SERVICE FINANCES PEOPLE Train more adults and young people Establish and deliver benchmark levels of service and customer confidence. Achieve the revenue targets Engage our people, through excellent leadership and communications, building on feedback Increase the number of people benefitting from our services Optimise efficiency and consistency throughout the organisation Achieve the cost and surplus targets Provide the processes, support and opportunities to use and develop our people's skills and experience Implement innovative ways to increase awareness of and demand for First aid Implement policy and operational standards ensuring compliance with external regulations and customer requirements Grow our customer base; increase the number of relationships which span SJA Promote and demonstrate the values of SJA Identify strategies, products, markets and channels for future growth. Focus where evidence shows we have the greatest impact Use information, technologies and systems to improve our current and future services Make the organisation more costeffective in the long term including property and fleet Ensure we have enough people with the right skills to deliver our goals; now and for the future

12 VISION & VALUES VISION: EVERYONE WHO NEEDS IT SHOULD RECEIVE FIRST AID FROM THOSE AROUND THEM. NO ONE SHOULD SUFFER FROM A LACK OF TRAINED our values FIRST AIDERS H umanity Treating others with compassion and respect e xcellence Pride in doing an excellent job a ccountability Delivering what we promise r esponsiveness Continuously learning and improving t eamwork Working together effectively our OUR vision VALUES Everyone who needs it should receive first aid from those around them. No Our one new should values suffer were for launched the lack in of March trained 2015 first after aiders. consultation throughout the organisation, right down to the front line. The five values - Humanity, Excellence, Accountability, Responsiveness and Teamwork - collectively spell out HEART, an important reminder that our people and shared values are at the heart of our organisation. Chosen Heart icons A4 posters.indd 6 16/01/ :58 The values are more than a set of words and phrases. We re integrating them into our people and organisation processes so they become something that we all live and breathe, every day. The values will shape our culture and define the way we do things, whatever role we have and wherever we work or volunteer.

13 THE CHOKEABLES THE CHOKEABLES IS OUR LATEST BRAND CAMPAIGN It s aimed at parents, and with the help of David Walliams, David Mitchell, Johnny Vegas and Sir John Hurt - teaches how to save a choking baby. In just over two months, the video has been watched by an estimated 29m people and, best of all, been credited with saving the lives of over 30 babies. YOU CAN WATCH THE CHOKEABLES TV ADVERT BY CLICKING HERE: BACKGROUND TO THE CAMPAIGN Parents told us that over 40% of them have witnessed their own baby choke, and when we quizzed them on the first aid, we found that almost four-fifths don t know what to do in this situation. We know parents have their hands full so we made a short, memorable video that shows how to help a choking baby. In The Chokeables, the celebrities take on the characters of animated objects that could potentially choke babies. They ve joined together because they ve had enough and want to show how easy it is to save a choking baby s life. The campaign was supported by other first aid resources for parents, including dedicated first aid advice videos, a download and keep first aid poster, the St John Ambulance app, and an essential first aid course.

14 SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM PETER SAVAGE Chief Operations Officer Workplace Training, SJA Supplies, Ambulance Services, Event First Aid and Regional activities. STEVE FOSTER Director, People & Organisation HR, Volunteering, Safeguarding, Health & Safety. GARY MAYDON Director, Corporate Services Company secretary, legal, Priory of St John, Museum of St John. WENDY HUMAN Director, Charitable Initiatives & Training Training strategy and curricula, young people s programmes, social inclusion programmes, community projects. KARL HEYDENRYCH Director, Information Systems & Processes IT systems & hardware, project management, telephony. ALAN WEIR Head of Clinical Services Clinical strategy, policy and standards, development of clinicians. FIONA MCKENZIE Head of Audit & Assurance Quality assurance, internal audit. ALISON STEVENS Head of Strategy & Business Performance Measurement Strategy, business planning, performance metrics, risk management. STEVE CONWAY Director, Brand Marketing, Communications & Fundraising Brand management, PR, internal comms, public affairs, fundraising. Join our team.

15 GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE The parent board for the charity is the Priory council. Its focus is on the heritage assets, the museum and honours and awards. It also oversees the St John Ambulance board which works with the Chief Executive and senior management team to set strategy and monitor its achievement for the operational charity. Chapter is a volunteer body with representatives from all parts of the organisation. It plays an important consultative role in, for instance, the agreement of budgets. FINANCE FUNCTION There are several committees which assist with the running of the charity and are particularly relevant to the Finance function: Finance Advisory Committee Audit & Risk Committee Investment Committee

16 FINANCE & SHARED SERVICES ORGANISATION CHART DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & SHARED SERVICES Meredith Coombs PA/FINANCE ASSISTANT Sharon Baillie HEAD OF FINANCIAL REPORTING HEAD OF SHARED SERVICE HEAD OF REGIONAL BUS ACCOUNTING HEAD OF PROPERTY Gordon Sutton Richard Simpson Sarah Reed David Heelas

17 RECRUITMENT PROCESS THIS IS A PERMANENT POSITION AN ATTRACTIVE SALARY IS AVAILABLE TO THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE CONTRIBUTORY PENSION SCHEME SJA will pay double the employee s contribution. The maximum contribution that SJA pays is 10% where the employee pays 5%. PRIVATE HEALTHCARE Is provided (currently through PruHealth). Employees may pay for coverage for their immediate family. HOLIDAY ENTITLEMENT Is 25 days holiday plus the 8 bank holidays rising to after 5 years. Up to 5 days may be carried over into the following year. SEASON TICKET LOANS Interest-free season ticket loans are available up to 5,000 per year. NOTICE 3 months on either side apart from during probation when it is one month either side. WORKING HOURS 35 per week. WHERE? The location is at the St John Ambulance head office in Clerkenwell, London. KEY DATES: CLOSING DATE Friday 24th April 2015 FORMAL SHORT LISTING INTERVIEWS with Grays Executive Search w/c 27th April - 1st May 2015 FIRST INTERVIEWS WITH SJA w/c 11th May 2015