Senior Officer Capital Performance, Finance and Risk (COO73)

This role can be based from any of the following Arts Council offices (with hybrid working): Birmingham, Manchester, Brighton or Cambridge

Overall Purpose of the role

Arts Council England delivers a range of capital investment programmes which contribute to the outcomes of Let’s Create, our 10-year strategy. Capital Investment Programmes are programmes that invest in assets or infrastructure to support the long-term sustainability of creative and cultural organisations across England.

Led by the Director, Capital, the Capital team is made up of 3 sub-teams:

· Investment – focused on the design of investment programmes and associated assessment and advice giving.

· Relationships and Monitoring – focused on stakeholder engagement and monitoring of risk, compliance and overall delivery of our Capital investment.

· Cultural Development Fund – focused on the delivery of this specific fund in conjunction with Area based colleagues.

Working closely with the Operations Team, you will support the wider capital team by analysing the financial performance and risks of individual capital investments, and by supporting the monitoring and reporting of risks, ensuring a consistent approach across our capital investment programmes to protect our investment.

You will complete assurance activities on individual capital investments, as set out in the agreed Assurance Framework for the capital programmes, to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of the grant agreements and to inform our performance reporting to relevant internal or external governance bodies.

You will support the continuous improvement of operational processes to enable effective coordination and planning of activities across the capital team, including performance reporting, risk management, assurance, and compliance, ensuring alignment with our commitments to DCMS and Arts Council priorities.

Main day-to-day responsibilities

As part of your role, you will contribute to the following:

· Provide regular analyses and reports on the financial performance and risk status of the capital programmes, drawing out insights to inform the Senior Management Team of the programme as well as current and future policy development.

· Support the Relationship & Monitoring Team on analysing the financial performance and risks of individual capital grants and ensure that mitigating actions and monitoring are agreed to demonstrate that appropriate controls are in place and that the stated processes for monitoring investment are being followed.

· Line manage any appropriately allocated role to a high standard as required, enabling the postholder to deliver their objectives successfully.

· Set out a schedule for assurance sampling of post-event assurance of individual capital investments as outlined in the agreed Capital Assurance Framework.

· Support the Senior Management Team, preparing analyses and reports on the impact of potential investment decisions.

· Assist in the monitoring of capital funding agreements, supporting the Relationship and Monitoring Team with progress meetings as required and ensuring thorough programme-level reporting and management of finances and risk.

· Quality assure risk assessments written by the Relationship and Monitoring Team, advising where appropriate action or interventions may need to be considered.

· Working with the Senior Manager, Capital Operations, provide reporting and insights on compliance against our monitoring requirements, informing our reporting and assurance processes to the DCMS and the overall management of the programme.

· Ensure financial compliance is embedded into our ways of working and grant management processes, meeting government functional standards.

· Working with the Senior Officer, Capital Training and Advice, provide training, briefings, support, guidance documents and advice internally and externally on performance management and risk assessment.

To deliver your role, you will

· Bring a continuous improvement approach to your work, and stay up to date on developments around finance, risk and grant making, ensuring best practice as well as maintaining accurate records and working within our regulatory, policy, systems and procedural framework governing information use.

· Use digital and data tools effectively to track impact and identify trends. You will manage data in line with data protection regulations and internal policies.

· Contribute to a positive working culture in the organisation by taking a proactive approach to learning, responding to change, inclusive practice, and environmental responsibility.

· You will reflect the Nolan Principles of Public Life and the Arts Council's values with a commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.

· You will be required to travel on occasion to other Arts Council locations across England

Key relationships

· The Capital Director, Senior Managers and colleagues in across the capital team to provide knowledge in performance management, risk and assurance.

· External partners (including DCMS and other funding bodies) and grant recipients as required.

· Operations Teams in the five Areas to link the national delivery of capital with local delivery.

· Colleagues in the Finance, Counter Fraud, IT and Data and Insights Teams to collaborate on the delivery of the team's operational processes.

· Colleagues in the Investment Centre teams and others across the Chief Operating Officer’s unit, including Legal and Governance teams to help ensure compliance and continuous improvement

What do I need to bring to the role?

Essential (Skills, Knowledge and Behaviours)

· Experience in monitoring performance and risk of organisations or programmes and identifying where support is needed, as well as suggestions for what that support may be.

· Understanding of business models and the financial regulation of charities, not-for-profit organisations and Local Authorities.

· Excellent knowledge and experience of financial and business management issues, and interpretation of financial information in a variety of formats, including Management Accounts.

· Experience of statistical and data analyses across a range of reporting packages.

· A highly organised approach, able to juggle multiple priorities and exercise effective judgement when organising, planning and managing complex tasks, and able to initiate work according to self-imposed timetables.

· First-rate interpersonal and communication skills – both speaking and writing – and the ability to communicate in a confident and engaging manner with people from different backgrounds.

· Contribute to the organisation’s understanding of diversity and its implications for the arts and culture, promoting a diversity perspective in all aspects of the organisation’s objectives and activities

Desirable (Skills, Knowledge and Behaviours

· Knowledge or experience of capital investment programmes and/or capital projects

· Experience in supervising, supporting and/or mentoring colleagues

Additional Information for external advert (where necessary)

Arts Council’s Capital Investment Programme includes the following programmes:

· The Creative Foundations Fund (£485m 2025/26 - 2029/30).

· Museum Estate and Development Fund (£126.25m 2025/26 – 2029/30)

· Libraries Improvement Fund (£25.5m 2025/26 - 2029/30).

We are a Disability Confident Employer and we participate in the ‘Offer an Interview’ scheme, which means that we offer an interview to any disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria for the role they’re applying to, subject to the volume of applications received. Disabled candidates, those living with a long-term condition and/ or neurodivergent candidates may be eligible for this scheme.

Our Code of Ethics requires that employees of the Arts Council are not able to receive an Arts Council grant, investment or loan funding - either in person, as a member of a partnership, or for any organisation they own. There are also limitations on board or CEO positions employees can hold in organisations we fund. For more information on this, please talk to the recruiting manager or contact recruitment@artscouncil.org.uk

1st Interviews: 10-14 April

2nd Interviews: 22-24 April