Chief Financial Officer
If the following job requirements and experience match your skills, please ensure you apply promptly.
- Hibernia Colleges Group Hibernia Colleges Group seeks to appoint a Chief Financial Officer to be responsible for the financial stewardship, operational effectiveness and long-term sustainability of the Group and its constituent Colleges working as part of the executive team and closely with the parent company (Folens Group).
The central purpose of this appointment will be to act as a trusted advisor to the CEO, Board, Executive Team, ensuring strong financial systems and controls to enable academic quality, student experience and growth.
This represents a unique opportunity for an experienced finance professional to impact on the future success of a business uniquely positioned in the developing education sector.
The group is broadly broken down into the following divisions: Hibernia College
- Hibernia College is Irelands leading private teacher training college, also focused on the Healthcare sector, pioneering new education technologies and embracing change in the ever-evolving world of education.
Accountancy School
- Accountancy School offers intensive accounting courses leading to qualifications in professional accountancy exams for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
IICP College
- IICP College is a leading Irish institution specialising in counselling and psychotherapy education.
Located in Tallaght, Dublin, the college offers a comprehensive range of accredited programmes, from certificate to master's level, designed for individuals pursuing careers in the helping professions.
The Chief Financial Officer is a senior executive of the Group, responsible for the financial stewardship, operational effectiveness and long-term sustainability of the Group and its constituent Colleges.
The CFO acts as a trusted advisor to the CEO, Board, Executive Team, ensuring strong financial systems and controls to enable academic quality, student experience and growth.
The CFO will be responsible for commercial financial management and control, planning and analysis, reporting, financial control, driving the Group's financial strategy, supporting long-term growth and transformation.
Key responsibilities Strategic Financial Leadership Lead the development and delivery of the Group's financial strategy.
Provide clear strategic advice and reporting to the business, CEO, Board, and executive team on financial performance, risk, investment, growth opportunities, financial sustainability.
Develop and maintain robust multi year financial models to support business planning and decision making, growth and development, capex investment.
Support the delivery of the annual business plans and performance targets across the Group.
Work closely with Commercial Director to support the development of new programmes, products, revenue streams, supporting decision making with rigorous review of initiatives.
Support the Group wide treasury management and banking relationships in collaboration with the wider Group Finance Leadership.
Provide commercial and financial insight to the academic and professional teams across the Group.
Financial Management, Control & Reporting Oversee all financial operations across the Group, including budgeting, forecasting, management reporting, consolidation accounting, statutory accounts and cashflow management, in line with Group reporting timelines.
Lead in identifying and delivering a procurement process to support cost management and efficiency opportunities to drive the continued growth and operational effectiveness of the group business.
Identify and lead the delivery of digital transformation programmes across the finance team and wider business that enhance the student experience and operational effectiveness of the organisation.
Leads the preparation and execution of the budgeting and planning cycles, with appropriate management and operational engagement.
Lead the design, implementation and continuous improvement of financial systems, management reporting, and financial performance reporting.
Ensure strong financial controls, policies and frameworks are consistently applied across the Group and its subsidiaries.
Develop and lead on programme level costing and in life revenue/margin performance models to support decision making on programme viability.
Operational Oversight Lead and support change programmes across the College, strengthening processes, systems, and cross-functional collaboration to support the end-to-end academic delivery and student journey.
Drive efficiency, value for money, and cost management initiatives, including programme cost reviews where required.
Support wider IT and capital expenditure projects, providing operational and financial insight to the transformational change processes.
Responsibility for the procurement, contracting and ongoing management of academic assets and resources.
Governance, Risk and Compliance Responsibility for all relevant financial, regulatory and funding requirements across entities, including Tax, VAT, banking, PEL, Insurance, and other sector relevant regulations.
Responsibility for financial risk and assurance, overseeing internal process reviews for the finance teams and business operations, as necessary.
Principal contact for external stakeholders, including auditors, legal and tax advisors, insurers, bankers, Revenue authorities.
Oversee company secretarial responsibilities and Group corporate governance requirements.
Transactions, M&A Responsibility for all tax, financial, legal DD work for any transactions as required by Group.
Prepare detailed financial models, business cases as required to support transactions and banking processes.
Work closely with Board, Shareholders and advisors through transaction processes.
Work closely with Group CFO on all treasury aspects of transactions.
People Management Lead, develop, and motivate a highperforming Group Finance and Operations function.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, and professional excellence.
Ensure the finance function has the capability and capacity to support the Group Positively manage performance through clear objective setting, review, coaching and feedback.
Criteria Recognised accounting qualification, ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CPA or equivalent.
Proven record operating at CFO, Finance Director level, with at least 10+ years progressively senior experience.
Demonstrate a strong collaborative and high energy approach to building successful outcomes and high functioning teams aligned to clear goals and values.
Outstanding leadership qualities, with the ability to work collaboratively, inspiring and energising teams and colleagues.
Prior experience in supporting organisational transformation.
Demonstrable experience in shaping and leading the implementation of strategy across businesses.
Sound knowledge and expertise in accounting, treasury and tax matters, best practice in corporate governance, audit, risk management and financial processes.
Experience within the Higher Education sector an advantage but not essential.
To be considered for this role you will be redirected to and must complete the application process on our careers page. xsokbrc
To start the process click the Continue to Application or Login/Register to apply button below.