Unity Schools Partnership (Unity) is a family of 40 primary, secondary and special schools across East Anglia and north‑east London, united by a shared ambition to transform lives through education. With a new Chief Executive in post and a reshaped Executive Team, this is a pivotal moment for the Trust as it enters its next phase of development. Operating at scale while remaining rooted in local communities, Unity combines strong ethical leadership with evidence‑informed practice and a clear focus on improving outcomes for children and young people, particularly those facing disadvantage.
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) role sits at the heart of this next chapter, playing a central role in enabling Unity’s educational ambition through strong financial stewardship and strategic leadership. Reporting to the Chief Executive and working closely with the Board and Executive Team, the CFO is responsible for shaping long‑term financial strategy, ensuring sustainability, and guiding investment decisions that balance affordability with impact. The role provides strategic and professional leadership across Finance, Procurement, Estates and IT, ensuring that resources, infrastructure and systems are aligned to educational priorities and support high‑quality provision across the Trust. This is an organisation‑wide role, requiring sound judgement, clear insight and the confidence to support difficult decisions in a complex and evolving context.
The successful candidate will be a highly credible senior financial leader with a strong corporate mindset and experience of leading finance and operational functions within a complex, distributed organisation, ideally in the public or charitable sector. They will bring deep understanding of financial governance, risk management and public accountability, alongside the ability to think beyond technical finance and contribute to wider organisational strategy. Transparent, resilient and intellectually assured, the CFO will be comfortable leading difficult conversations with clarity and fairness, building strong partnerships with school leaders and executives, and developing high‑performing teams across multiple disciplines. Above all, Unity is seeking a collaborative, ethical leader motivated by impact, someone who can free up resources, strengthen capacity and ensure that financial decisions actively support excellent education at scale.
Unity Schools Partnership is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people at all times. You will be responsible for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of all children with whom you come into contact, in accordance with the Trust’s and the schools’ Safeguarding policies. The post holder is required to hold a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Salary based on experience and expertise
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