College Accountant

About the College

Founded in 1379, New College is one of the oldest and largest of the colleges within Oxford University. The colleges are independent, self-governing establishments which function both as academic institutions and as social and residential centres for students and academics. New College currently has approximately 450 undergraduate and 400 graduate students, studying most of the subjects offered by the University.

Undergraduate teaching at New College is organised and provided by around its 35+ Tutorial Fellows (nearly all of whom also hold University posts), assisted by about 30 Stipendiary Lecturers (college tutors employed on a fixed-term basis). There are also 12 Professorial Fellows and, at any one time, about 23 Junior Research Fellows. All these categories are members of the Senior Common Room, which provides dining and social benefits. Governing Body, which has overall responsibility for all aspects of the running of the College, comprises the Warden (the Head of the College) together with the Official Fellows.

Located in the heart of Oxford, the College has a mixture of buildings dating from the 1380s: please see the College website at http://www.new.ox.ac.uk. There are around 363 permanent members of academic and non-academic staff on the payroll. The annual income is approximately £24m and the latest Annual Report and Accounts are on our website at https://www.new.ox.ac.uk/policies-statutes-accounts. The College has an endowment of approximately £350m. It also has a successful conference business with an annual turnover approaching £2m. The College is a registered charity, regulated by the Charity Commission (Charity Commission Registration no. 1142701).

About the Post

New College seeks to appoint an Accountant to succeed the present College Accountant. The appointment will be effective from 1 July 2025 or as soon thereafter as the successful candidate can begin. The College Accountant is a senior member of the Bursar’s management team and the diverse nature of the College’s operations provides ample scope to apply professional expertise to a broad range of issues.

We are seeking a self-motivated qualified accountant, with strong technical skills and personal qualities; who has a proven ability to work comfortably in a small team and across a range of activities. The post-holder will report to the Bursar who is responsible, inter alia, for the financial and investment strategy of the College and of New College Choir School. The Accountant will also work closely with the Home Bursar, who manages the domestic support functions of the College, and with the heads of the domestic and administrative departments. 

The Accountant will be responsible for a team of financial controllers who manage the ledgers, payments and payroll. The College Accountant is responsible for producing the annual statutory accounts, day-to-day financial control, compiling the annual budget in collaboration with the Bursars, and producing analysis of the College’s finances to support budgeting and strategic planning (including capital expenditure). The Accountant will also take a leading role in guiding the College on technical issues relating to employment, tax planning, fund-raising, commercial trading activities, and VAT on building works. The Accountant is supported by a Deputy Accountant and a Bursary team. It is envisaged that this structure will be reviewed.

Please click on the following link to view the full job description:

Attachment - Detail Job Description

The College will expect the successful candidate to have the following expertise, experience, and personal qualities:

Essential Qualities

•            A recognised professional accounting qualification.

•            Ability to manage and supervise accounts staff.

•            A successful career at a senior level in commerce and/or the not-for-profit sector.

•            A flexible approach to working at peak times of activity and an ability to function calmly and co-operatively under pressure.

Evidence of considerable expertise and experience in

•            Providing financial oversight and control in an organization of comparable or greater complexity.

•            Shaping the financial management of an organization to its objectives.

•            Strategic financial analysis and advice to colleagues.

•            Interpretation of financial information.

•            Provision of financial information, analysis and advice including budget estimates, management accounts, and analytical commentaries upon them.

•            Using a range of data management tools.

•            Fluent, precise, and accurate oral and written presentation of financial data and analysis to colleagues.

•            Collaborating with colleagues and professional organisations to maintain technical knowledge and ‘best practice’.

Evidence of an appreciation of

•            The College’s intellectual values, ambitions and academic purposes.

•            The importance of communicating effectively and courteously within the College, with other Colleges, with the University and with other bodies.

•            The increasing significance of imaginative thinking and energetic planning for the development of new sources of capital and revenue.

Desirable Qualities

•            Education to degree level.

•            Evidence of an appreciation of the importance of the College’s endowment investments as its primary source of income and an understanding of investment management.

•            Knowledge of trust accounting principles for the control of sub-accounts within an investment pool.

•            Knowledge of the regulatory and operational environment for charities.

•            Evidence of experience in both commercial and educational environments.

Salary: Within the range £85k to c£90k per annum.

Working Hours: The hours required are those necessary to fulfil the duties entailed by this professional post. Normal office hours are currently Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm, but many office staff operate on the basis of flexitime between 8am and 4pm.

Holiday: 30 days per year pro rata, plus 5 days over Christmas when the College is closed and which may not be taken at any other time. Bank and Public holidays are in addition. Leave will be agreed in consultation with the Bursar.

Meals: Lunch is provided in the SCR when on duty; the Accountant will also be a full Member of the SCR, with dining rights.

Pension: Entitlement to join the contributory University Superannuation Scheme from the start of employment.

Health Insurance: All employees are entitled to join the College’s private health insurance scheme, which is a taxable benefit-in-kind.

If you are interested in applying for this position, please complete your online application to include:

·        a copy of your CV

·        a covering letter stating why you feel you would be suitable for this post, and stating what relevant history or experience you have

·        the names, addresses and contact numbers of 3 referees - including your current/most recent employer (we will not approach your referees without your prior permission).

Should you require any further information then please feel free to telephone the Bursar (David Palfreyman OBE on 01865 279549) for an informal chat.

The closing date for applications is Noon on Monday, 19 May 2025. It is anticipated that interviews will take place on Friday, 6 June 2025. The Selection Panel will be the Warden, the Bursar, the Home Bursar, and three Fellows (Mr. Giles Spackman, former CFO at OUP and chair of our Risk, Audit and Governance Committee; Jonathan Black, Professorial Fellow and Director of the University Careers Service; and Polly Waite, Tutorial Fellow in Psychology). The interview process will include a tour of the College/Bursary and an informal meeting with the Bursary team.

The current Accountant, Alan Blowers (who has been in post since 2010), will reduce to 80% with the appointment of the new College Accountant and with a view then to fully retiring in 3-4 years. This gives appropriate resourcing at senior level while we take the opportunity to achieve a change of accounting software (probably to a system recently taken up by some other colleges hitherto using the same system as us). The temporary extra resource will also enable us to refine the budgeting and forecasting mechanisms as well as to catch up with the growth of Bursary activity (for instance, our just having absorbed the hitherto free-standing accounting function of New College School). Subject also to reviewing the organisation of the Bursary team over the transition period, it is intended that we will by the time Alan fully retires have reached a steady-state that does not require the continuation of such a role alongside the new appointment.