Vice-President and Chief Finance and Resources Officer 

Queen’s University Belfast 
Vice-President and Chief Finance and Resources Officer

 Since 1845, Queen’s University staff, students and alumni have made a difference to societies locally, nationally, and internationally. Today, we are one of the UK and Ireland’s leading universities and continue to shape and serve the world around us through our research and teaching. Over 99% of Queen’s research environment was assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent., with Queen’s ranked 198 in the 2023 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Queen’s has always been a generator of knowledge.  We tackle the issues faced by individuals and societies at a local, regional, and global level and we are an engine of progress that is central to the socio-economic success of Northern Ireland.  When it comes to future graduate employment, Queen’s ranks 12th in the UK, and our contribution to the local and regional economy of Northern Ireland is currently estimated at over three billion pounds annually.

This is a significant moment in the history of our university, and an exciting time to join the Queen’s community. We have recently designed a new Executive Leadership team structure, to optimally align strategy vision with operational delivery - making us more agile and better equipped to achieve our goals as we move forward. We are seeking to appoint several leadership roles to ensure that Queen’s is ideally positioned to deliver on the aims and ambitions of Strategy 2030.

As part of this new structure Queen’s wishes to appoint a new Vice-President and Chief Finance and Resources Officer, reporting to the President & Vice-Chancellor and working closely with the University Management Board in sharing collective responsibility for setting strategic objectives for the institution. The Vice-President and Chief Finance and Resources Officer is accountable for the financial strategy and commercial activities of the University, leading the effective prioritisation of revenue and capital allocation and driving financial and operating performance. They are also responsible for the Finance, Estates and Infrastructure, and Digital and Information Services Directorates, including having oversight of the University’s £900m capital expenditure plans for the next 10 years. 

The Vice-President and Chief Finance and Resources Officer will provide leadership that promotes a culture of excellence, innovation, collegiality, and continuous improvement. They will develop a culture of high-performance and customer service with clearly articulated and agreed goals in the planning and delivery of services, driving creativity and introducing new ways of working.

The successful candidate will bring demonstrable success at a senior executive level with exposure to a Non-Executive Board. Strategic scale of operational and management experience plus a broad financial and commercial skills set is essential. You will be robust and resilient, with strong presence and executive impact with the ability to confidently deliver complex messages to a diverse and demanding audience.

With unprecedented change in the higher education sector, this is an opportunity for an imaginative and ambitious board level finance professional to play a leadership role in shaping the future of a national institution, and helping to shape a better world through life-changing education through the mission of the University.

Queen’s University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We have created an inclusive culture by establishing staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality.

We also subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI in addition to Athena Swan.

If you are interested in making an application for this role, please submit your cover letter and CV, outlining your relevant experience by clicking the apply button, noting the role title in the subject line.  

Closing date: Wednesday 5th April 2023