Financial Controller

Financial Controller
£52,744 pa plus excellent benefits
London WC1 and home-based - hybrid with expectation to work at London office 40% of the time
35 hours per week, full-time
Permanent contract

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is seeking an experienced and strategic Financial Controller to oversee the financial management, control and compliance functions of the College.

This is a pivotal leadership role within the Finance team, supporting the College s mission to improve child health by ensuring strong financial governance, sound reporting, and long-term sustainability. Working closely with the Associate Director of Finance and senior leaders across the organisation, you will take responsibility for the accuracy, integrity and efficiency of all financial operations and reporting processes.

As Financial Controller, you will lead a team of six, overseeing financial control, statutory reporting, payroll, and compliance. You will ensure that robust internal controls are in place, and manage relationships with auditors, banks and investment partners.

This role will suit a qualified accountant with substantial experience in financial management and a collaborative leadership style.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the delivery of accurate and timely month-end and year-end processes, including group consolidations and statutory accounts
• Ensuring compliance with all relevant accounting standards, tax, audit and charity regulations (including SORP)
• Managing internal and external audit processes and acting as primary contact for auditors
• Overseeing payroll, accounts payable and receivable, cash management and treasury functions
• Maintaining and improving financial systems, processes, and internal controls
• Leading, developing and mentoring a team of finance professionals to achieve operational excellence
• Working closely with colleagues across the College to provide financial insight and analysis to support strategic decision-making
• Supporting the budgeting and forecasting cycle and contributing to strategic projects and funding initiatives

Essential skills and experience:

• Degree in finance, accounting or related field, and full professional qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
• Minimum of 5 7 years experience in financial management, ideally within the nonprofit or public sector
• Proven track record of leading statutory reporting and year-end audit processes, including production of group consolidated accounts
• Experience managing financial operations in a complex organisation, preferably in the charity or healthcare sector
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with excellent attention to detail
• Advanced Excel and strong working knowledge of financial systems
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate at all levels
• Demonstrated leadership experience, with the ability to manage and motivate a high-performing team

This is an excellent opportunity to develop your finance career in a supportive and high-performing team.

The RCPCH has more than 25,000 members and fellows and employs around 200 staff, most of whom work in our London office in Holborn. We have a Devolved Nations team operating from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Our College values: Include, Influence, Innovate and Inspire, are important to us. These values ensure we bring out the best in each other, strive forward together to make the College a positive and dynamic place to work.

The RCPCH champions Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Our workplace is inclusive, offering a supportive environment where staff can thrive. The College is keen to accept applications from people with protected characteristics. We believe that our staff should represent all of the diverse communities we serve. Join us to help realise our vision of a world where every child is healthy and well.

The College operates a flexible and modern working policy, whereby our colleagues work in the office for a minimum of 40% over a 4 week cycle and the remainder from home.

The RCPCH is committed to safeguarding the children, young people and adults it has contact with in the exercise of its functions and responsibilities. The RCPCH expects all staff to share this commitment we place a high priority on ensuring only those who do so are recruited to work for us.

All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks, which can include criminal records.

Closing date: 17 November 2025

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible