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Help Shape the Financial Future of One of the UK's Most Beloved Living Museums
Commitment: 3 Days per Week, 3 Months Fixed Term Contract with a view to 6 Months
Compensation: 65,000 FTE (Pro Rata)
Start Date: ASAP
Application Deadline: 23rd May 2025
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Make Your Mark During an Important Financial Transition
Beamish Museum is seeking an experienced, proactive Interim Finance Director to provide essential strategic leadership during a pivotal period of transformation. This is a unique opportunity to make a significant impact on one of Britain's most cherished cultural institutions as we implement our ambitious new strategic plan and strengthen our financial foundations.
About Beamish
Beamish is the North East's award-winning open-air museum where history truly comes to life. Set across 350 breathtaking acres, we immerse over 800,000 visitors annually in authentic experiences spanning from the 1820s to the 1950s.
With around 90% of our income generated from visitor admissions and on-site spending, we're focused on diversifying our income streams and enhancing our commercial strategy.
The Role
As our Interim Finance Director, you'll provide crucial financial leadership and strategic guidance during this key transition period. Reporting directly to the CEO and working closely with both the Executive Leadership Team and Board of Trustees, you'll help steer our financial direction while we prepare to appoint a permanent Finance Director.
This is a hands-on and collaborative role where your expertise will help inform key decisions. With a recently appointed Finance Manager and a stable finance team in place, the day-to-day operations are well-covered - freeing you to focus on strategic input, governance, and forward planning.
You'll be a visible and engaged leader, helping to shape the organisation's future while living and embedding Beamish's newly launched values of Brave, Inclusive, Collaborative, and Excellence.
Key Areas of Focus
* Provide financial leadership and board-level guidance during the strategic transition period.
* Oversee compliance, risk management, governance, and assurance.
* Provide guidance for pensions and insurance, and overview of the financial aspects of trust and foundations income generation.
* Support income diversification and commercial strategy development.
* Guide and support the finance team.
* Oversee technology and infrastructure, highlight innovation and opportunities.
* Engage collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders including supporting procurement and value for money decisions.
About You
You will be a fully qualified accountant (ACA, CIPFA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with significant post-qualification experience, including operating at board level. Your background will demonstrate a strong track record in both strategic and operational finance. You will bring a deep understanding of financial management, planning, and governance, and have the credibility to influence executive leadership and trustees alike.
More important than any one area of knowledge is your ability to hit the ground running, apply your financial acumen to new challenges, and support the museum's leadership team and trustees through a period of transition and strategic change.
You will be offered a fixed term contract for a period of 3 months, with a view to extending to 6 months, working on average three days per week. A flexible approach to working patterns will be considered, but there's a preference that you spend the majority of your time on-site at the museum, which is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable parts of working for Beamish.
For an informal discussion or more information, please contact Robyn at our retained recruitment partner Paul Card Recruitment or click "apply". Early applications are encouraged.
