Funding & Assurance Senior Manager

Working part of a dynamic team and reporting directly to the Head of Funding Assurance and Evaluation, the postholder will play a pivotal role in shaping the evolution of the Funding and Assurance (F&A) department. This role is crucial in ensuring that the F&A department operates at the highest level of financial integrity, compliance, and strategic efficacy.

This includes:

• Taking the lead on internal and external grants' financial activities, encompassing accruals management, grant final financial reconciliation review, refunds management, finance system maintenance/development and both short-term and long-term financial forecasting.
• Identifying and spearheading F&A initiatives for improvement and development.
• Coordinating the annual audits of host organisations.
• Providing leadership and guidance as the line manager for funding and assurance officers.
  
  

This role demands a proactive and dedicated individual who can contribute significantly to the financial integrity and strategic advancement of our organisation.

Reports to: Head of Funding Assurance and Evaluation

Line manages: Funding and Assurance Officer

Location: Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG plus hybrid remote working

Pay Band: E

Salary: £57,870.73

Contract type: permanent

Application closing date is 1 June 2026 at 23:59.

Interviews will take place between 8 June and 16 June 2026.

Key Responsibilities And Tasks

Post Award Management:

• Serve as the primary liaison and escalation point for comprehensive grant holder finance queries and requests for additional cost and time extensions, ensuring prompt and effective resolution.
• Provide strategic oversight and direction for payment schedule monitoring activities, ensuring meticulous accuracy and timely updates.
• Take a leadership role in coordinating monthly payment runs and approval activities, ensuring strict adherence to financial policies, compliance, and efficient execution.
• Direct and oversee final finance reconciliation activities, demonstrating expertise in managing refund receivables with precision and accountability.
  
  

Financial Data and Reporting:

• Assume a leadership position in managing finance data quality activities within the grant management system, proactively resolving intricate issues that could impact forecasting and payment runs, while establishing and maintaining stringent data quality standards.
• Act as a business partner, collaborating extensively with budget holders and initiators to organise and lead finance health check meetings, solidifying monthly projections.
• Provide substantial support to the Head of Funding Assurance and Evaluation in spearheading internal and external finance reporting initiatives.
• Take ownership of maintaining the financial forecasting tools and self-service dashboards, ensuring their accuracy, relevance, and accessibility to key stakeholders.
• Assume responsibility for producing and presenting high-level financial reports.
  
  

Audit Oversight:

• Lead the management and maintenance of the organisation's finance risk register, providing strategic recommendations and playing a pivotal role in comprehensive audit reviews and risk mitigation strategies.
• Collaborate closely with the Head of Funding Assurance and Evaluation in architecting and refining the Audit Framework.
• Act as a key liaison during audit visits, ensuring seamless coordination and compliance with audit protocols and leveraging expertise to support audit-related activities.
  
  

Strategic Development, Continuous Improvement, and Knowledge Leadership:

• Take a proactive role in supporting the Head of Funding and Assurance in evolving grants finance activities and driving forward F&A funding principles, contributing to strategic decision-making and departmental advancement.
• Drive the delivery of projects aimed at enhancing transparency and consistency, such as guidance writing, updating finance FAQs, delivering advanced F&A training programs, and developing and maintaining comprehensive SharePoint pages.
• Proactively seek opportunities to develop subject matter expertise in grants management and research funding, remaining at the forefront of best practices and wider research and grant-making landscape developments, and disseminate this knowledge effectively within the organisation for maximum impact.
  
  

Management and Leadership:

• Line manage Funding and Assurance Manager and Officers, providing visionary guidance, fostering professional development, and creating a high-performance team culture to ensure the achievement of departmental objectives and individual growth.
  
  

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

• To drive activities within the F&A team aimed at increasing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion including encouraging participation from under-represented groups and supporting the development and maintenance of policies and practices to foster greater inclusivity and to ensure that those who have followed a non-standard career path are encouraged to apply.
  
  

General

• To share experience and ideas with others in the Section and the Society and contribute broadly to the Royal Society's mission and priorities.
  
  

Education/Qualifications/Knowledge

Key knowledge and skills required

• Strong knowledge of financial management principles and practices, including budget development, forecasting, and analysis - Essential
  
  

Skills

• Strong leadership and management skills, with the ability to motivate and develop a team of professionals - Essential
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills, with the ability to build and maintain relationships with diverse stakeholders - Essential
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify and mitigate financial risks and ensure compliance with regulations - Essential
• Excellent organisational and time management skills - Essential
• Meticulous record keeping - Essential
  
  

Experience

• Experience of managing financial budgets and producing financial Reports - Essential
• Experience of line managing team members, providing guidance, support, and development opportunities - Essential
• Experience of developing training material and delivering training sessions - Essential
• Experience in the not-for-profit sector, including working with funding agencies and/or government bodies - Essential
• Experience of working to timetables and meeting strict deadline. - Essential
• Experience of using Microsoft Office (in particular, Excel, Teams & SharePoint) - Essential
• Experience of using dashboard software such as Microsoft Power BI - Desirable
• Experience in a similar role - Essential
  
  

Competencies

Self-management

• Identifies difficult situations
• Recognises stress in others and takes steps to reduce it
• Controls pressurised situations
• Effectively enthuses those in the team
• Proactively sets goals and targets for own work
  
  

Working With Others

• Actively seeks ideas and criticisms from within the team
• Resolves conflicts within and between teams
• Embeds feedback processes within the team
• Seeks out new networks that will create opportunity for the Society
• Able to present complex issues simply
• Uses discretion, tact and empathy when negotiating with and/or seeking to influence others
• Understands the need to manage expectations and to only promise what is deliverable
  
  

Resource management

• Determines strategy and deployment of resources, balancing cost and benefit; risk and potential for maximum impact across significant business areas
• Manages complex cross-cutting projects to time, budget and specification
• Ensures others accept responsibility towards results or quality
• Sets the quality standards for own business areas in accordance with strategy and contributes to the formulation of quality standards across the Society
• Sets and monitors priorities
• Identifies and manages risk effectively
  
  

Critical thinking

• Uses questioning, analytical and probing skills to 'dig deeper'
• Knows when enough information has been obtained and adapts presentation of information to the needs of the audience
• Evaluates the benefits, practicalities and value for money of ideas and obtains feedback
• Makes sound decisions in a complex or ambiguous environment and is able to gain support and manage challenges confidently
  
  

Adaptability

• Actively seeks the input and opinions of others, often outside his/her section and accommodates and incorporates this thinking into any output.
• Actively seeks new challenges and projects; leads discussions surrounding new ideas, approaches and projects
• Anticipates need for innovation and seeks new ideas, approaches and solutions
  
  

Managing people and relationships

• Sets expectations of others and ensures they deliver
• Demonstrates a positive attitude towards work, celebrating success and instilling confidence, which encourages the same from others
• Encourages others to share ideas and participate in the discussion and decisions of the team
• Assesses needs of clients/stakeholders/staff and makes plans to meet these needs