Director of Finance and Operations
Director of Finance and Operations
We're looking for a part-time 0.6 FTE Director of Finance and Operations to join our fully remote and impact driven team.
Deadline for applications: Thursday 17th July 2025 noon
About the job
Location: Working remotely from home across the four nations of the UK, occasionally co-working spaces, with occasional travel.
Start date: As soon as possible (Autumn 2025)
Salary: £69,080 (F/T pro-rated for 0.6FTE to £41,808)
Benefits: 30 days Annual holiday (18 days pro rata). Pension Scheme. Flexible working arrangements. Access to co-working budget
Hours of work: Part Time at 0.6 FTE worked flexibly around business needs at 21 hours per week
Contract type: Permanent contract
Do you want to play a vital role in supporting a charity who are reshaping the systems that support children and young people across the UK? Are you a values led finance and operations leader who thrives on both strategic thinking and hands-on problem solving? Can you help steward a high performing, mission driven organisation through its next phase of growth and impact?
Dartington Service Design Lab is a national charity that harnesses experience, cutting edge evidence and design to tackle the challenges children and young people face today, securing thriving futures for tomorrow. As we move forward with our refreshed strategy, we are looking for a new Director of Finance and Operations to join our Senior Leadership Team.
This is a unique opportunity to lead the Lab’s operational heart; from finance and governance to people, culture, IT and compliance. You'll work closely with the CEO and leadership team to ensure our infrastructure is not only effective and efficient, but enabling of bold, systemic work across the UK. The role balances high level financial strategy and organisational leadership with routine financial reporting, oversight of day-to-day operations and actively supporting team wellbeing. It will suit someone confident operating strategically at an Executive and Board level, but who’s also comfortable rolling up their sleeves in a small, agile organisation.
We are seeking someone with significant experience in finance and operations leadership, ideally in a non-profit, consultancy or values driven setting, who is committed to equity, anti-racism, and social justice. This is a 0.6 FTE role (21 hours/week) and we welcome applications from those looking for flexible or part-time senior leadership work that makes a real difference. To support the removal of barriers to colleagues contributing fully as employees and to address equity considerations, we have a flexible working policy that trusts individuals to manage their time, working flexibly to deliver against our commitments, for example the 21 hrs can be condensed over 3 days or worked over 4-5 days.
As a team, we operate remotely across the UK with regular project-related travel. Our staff work from home or when appropriate, together in local co-working spaces, and normally, a few times a year we meet as a whole team for a few days to develop and connect.
Don’t meet every single requirement outlined in the Job Description? Studies have shown that women and racially minoritised groups are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single requirement. Dartington Service Design Lab is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace for everyone. So, if you’re excited about this role but your experience or qualifications don’t match the job description exactly, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right person to help us achieve our impact for children and young people.
Candidates should be aware that, in line with our commitment to equity, we have made the decision not to negotiate regarding salary on appointment or progression. The evidence shows that negotiation of salary is an inherently inequitable process that marginalises women and those from racially minoritised communities. We do, however, have a transparent grade and scale structure for all those in the Lab which, based on organisational affordability and satisfactory performance in role, will result in an increase to salaries every two years up until the ceiling of that particular role’s banding.
The post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate and pre-employment checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.
If this sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you.
Find out more in the Candidate Briefing Packhere.
30 Days Annual Leave (for Full time colleagues)
Meet the team
Application Process
Recruitment timetable:
Deadline for applications: Noon 17th July
Online Interviews: w/c 21st July
Interviews in-Person: w/c 28th July
We are committed to a recruitment approach that is inclusive and de-biased to ensure all candidates can be fairly assessed.
All candidates are asked to complete the application form and submit a CV at the same time to recruiting@dartington.org.uk after which you will receive confirmation of receipt. You are not required to submit a covering letter as these will not be considered.
The application form includes three questions which will be scored by the selection panel. The questions will be extracted and assessed without reference to any other documentation that could bias the review of responses (i.e. Name, CV, etc).
All answers to the questions should be maximum of 300 words. We would encourage applicants to work on the answers to these questions offline and then copy and paste the answers into the form when ready to complete.
We know that technology is increasingly part of how we all work. If candidates choose to use AI to help structure or proof read your application, that’s fine. But we are particularly interested in you, your experiences, challenges you’ve worked through, and the perspectives you bring. Please avoid using AI to write answers on your behalf, as it’s usually clear when this happens, and it can make your application feel less personal and reflective - these will be screened and discounted.
Following the scoring of questions, those candidates meeting a minimum threshold will have their redacted CVs assessed and scored against objective criteria. CVs will have all identifiable information removed such as name, address, age, gender, DOB, university attended.
Those candidates scoring highest at this stage will be invited to an online interview with the selection panel. When invited you will be informed of the panel membership and also the questions that you will be asked, allowing you to prepare appropriately. We will then hold a second round of in-person interviews (most likely in London – reasonable expenses reimbursed).
Please let us know if you require any special provision or have access requirements and we will accommodate these should you be invited for interview.