This is an exciting time to join the College as we enter a new phase in our journey. At Barnet and Southgate College, we strive to provide our students with consistently high-quality learning and wider personal development experiences throughout their time with us. We do this in a safe and inclusive environment that promotes and celebrates individual success and high aspirations for all. We recognise that in seeking to deliver this, our staff are our most valuable asset.

We are an ambitious organisation, and we recognise that having the right leadership in place is vital to delivering our ambitions. This role is integral in meeting the objectives of the new Strategic Plan, 2030 Vision, which is framed by 6 pillars one being Exceptional Staff Experience, Engagement and Satisfaction. You can visit the strategic plan on this site.

We are seeking a visionary and values-driven leader to take up the role of Director of Finance.  As a key member of our college leadership team you will play a leading role in delivering our 2030 Vision and our core purpose, which is to change lives, empower individuals and connect communities.

The Director of Finance will lead the development of a high performing finance team, delivering high-quality, compliant and forward-looking financial management across the College.   Reporting to the CFO, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across all core finance functions, including financial accounting, management accounting, transactional services, payroll and pensions, and financial governance.

We expect members of our senior team to be proactive, innovative, and inclusive in their approach and to have the ability to skilfully lead their team to deliver excellence. We promote a working environment that is rooted in trust, honesty, fairness and respect with clear lines of responsibility and accountability for all.

Our leadership teams are made up of committed, high performing individuals and we have an amazing body of staff across the College who are demonstrably committed to our students and champion their success. The successful candidate will share this commitment, lead with integrity, be committed to their own development and to that of others and have high expectations of themselves.

This is an exciting opportunity for a talented individual to join us on our journey, make a real difference, initiate and execute positive change and through this contribute to ensuring Barnet and Southgate College is an exceptional place to work and learn for all our staff and students.

We have appointed Anderson Quigley to support us with this important appointment. If you would like to have a confidential and informal conversation, please do contact our advising consultants with Aino Betts or Paul Aristides, prior to the closing date.

Thank you for your interest in joining Barnet and Southgate College and considering us as the next step and destination in your career.

At Barnet and Southgate College, we are proud to be a leading further education institution in North London that is deeply committed to changing lives, empowering individuals, and connecting communities. With campuses in Barnet, Southgate and Colindale, and a dedicated team of over 600 staff, we support more than 14,000 students each year across a broad spectrum of academic, vocational and professional programmes. With an income of £50 million in 2024/25, we are a leader in vocational education, offering innovative programmes such as T Levels, apprenticeships and specialist training in areas like aviation, healthcare, creative media and digital technologies.

Our work is guided by our 2030 Vision Strategic Plan—a bold and ambitious roadmap that positions us as the region’s foremost provider of high-quality learning and skills development. Our six strategic pillars—from delivering a responsive curriculum and impactful teaching to ensuring financial resilience and building purposeful partnerships—reflect our unwavering commitment to innovation, inclusivity and excellence. What truly defines us though, is our culture. Our guiding principles – being united, innovative, curious, inclusive, transparent, respectful, positive, responsible, measured and proud – shape how we work together and how we serve our students and communities.

These values are not just words; they are the foundation of how we lead, collaborate and grow. As an anchor institution, we play a vital role in regional development. We work closely with employers, industry leaders and community stakeholders to ensure our curriculum evolves with the skills landscape. With a strong focus on sustainability, equality, diversity and the integration of new technologies, we are preparing our learners not just for today’s opportunities, but for the challenges and possibilities of tomorrow.

Our locations

Colindale Campus

Our Colindale Campus forms an integral part of a £550 million urban master plan to regenerate the wider Grahame Park area. The campus offers contemporary educational facilities within a flexible purpose-built building. The facility brings education and training closer to the community and offers a state-of-art learning environment. This includes the Construction Technology Centre for the College’s brickwork, carpentry & joinery, gas engineering and plumbing courses. The facility supports skills development and progression through to higher level qualifications.

Our new Green Skills Centre offers access to cutting-edge facilities in line with industry advancements, including heat pump installation and maintenance training. The campus also includes a training hair salon and beauty salons open to the public to showcase the College’s hairdressing , barbering and beauty therapy courses.

Additional community services at Colindale include the London Borough of Barnet Public Library and a community services area for the Barnet Centre for Independent Living (B-CIL). B-CIL is a hub centre to provide support and advice for people with disabilities in areas such as advocacy matters, life skills, computer skills and employment. It is a centre run largely by people with disabilities for people with disabilities.

Southgate Campus

Southgate Campus runs a full range of vocational and skills courses including Sports. The Centre for SEND Learners offers a range of Supported Learning courses combining work-related skills to cater for a wide range of needs, including students with profound and complex learning difficulties and life-limiting conditions. The campus has undergone an £8m refurbishment project partly funded by the London Economic Action Partnership (LEAP). This has enabled the College to expand its capacity for learning space and digital access for students. There are new areas for electrical studies and new facilities for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), specifically within a newly refurbished wing and the creation of advanced engineering workshops. Sports facilities have also been refurbished with a new gym, available for use by both students and staff.

Barnet Campus

The Barnet Campus has become a first choice option for those looking for a change to staying onat school to study their A Levels and many other subjects and qualifications. The state-of-the-art campus opened 14 years ago and successful A Level students have achieved consistently high grades over the years to secure places at a host of universities. Students say their results are down to supportive teaching, independent learning and excellent facilities.

The Barnet Campus is also the home of our Creative Arts, Media, Architecture, Fashion, Childcare and Education, Health and Social Care, Business & Travel, Computing & IT courses.

Our Community

The two main boroughs that the College serves, Barnet and Enfield, are large and collectively contain over 670,000 people. The local economies are mixed with a focus on small to medium enterprises and micro businesses and a wide range of industrial/business centres. The college has well developed, excellent educational links with a wide range of partners which has enhanced and enriched the learner experience beyond that provided internally. The college is a major employer in both boroughs and is an outstanding contributor to local authority strategies for education, employment and social regeneration.

Our Core Purpose

To change lives, empower individuals and connect communities

Our Vision

To be the leading provider of high-quality learning and skills development in North London, fostering exceptional educational experiences, driving innovation, supporting regional growth, and serving as a vital strategic partner for business and industry.

Our Guiding Principles

Our Guiding Principles permeate our core purpose, strategic direction and our priorities and provide a framework for all staff at the college, that defines the way we behave and interact. We recognise that how we do things is equally as important as what we do, and behaviours drive and underpin organisational culture. Our Guiding Principles will help create a working environment and culture across the college that enables all staff to feel part of a community, respected for their individual skills and contributions, and able to play a key role as we build towards excellence.

We want all staff to feel proud of their work, the difference they make to our students and the fact that they are an employee at Barnet and Southgate College. Our Guiding Principles will play a key part in securing the best possible working environment in order to achieve that goal.

The way we behave and interact

• United: We work as one team; we actively build positive relationships, and we appreciate and benefit from diverse thinking and diverse perspectives.
• Innovative: We encourage and invite new ideas; we welcome professional challenge, and we see setbacks as an opportunity to learn.
• Curious: We question, we listen to understand, we are eager to learn.
• Inclusive: Everyone is welcome, we appreciate everyone, and we challenge discrimination, always.
• Transparent: We share thoughts and ideas honestly and respectfully without fear of negative repercussions. We speak up when we see things that could be better.
• Respectful: We treat everyone respectfully and we consistently show due regard for each other.
• Positive: We assume positive intent and seek to solve problems and challenges, not contribute to them.
• Responsible: We take responsibility for the impact of our actions, and we never pass the blame.
• Measured: We demonstrate positive behaviours, even when under pressure.
• Proud: We recognise and openly celebrate the great things that happen here.

Critical Success Factors

Each of our Strategic Pillars is underpinned by a set of ambitious critical success factors. These are designed to indicate our direction of travel and articulate what success looks like for us. Our Critical Success Factors will inform annual key performance indicators and more detailed measures of success as we work towards securing our ambitions by 2030.

A Relevant, Responsive Agile Curriculum

Our dynamic, inclusive curriculum will offer lifelong learning opportunities, meet changing skills needs, serve the local and regional economy, and respond to the demands of our students.

Critical Success Factors

• Evidence that our curriculum offer provides entry points that are accessible and appropriate for all our students
• Increased levels of successful internal progression for all our students
• Successful implementation of our Curriculum Strategy
• Growth in student numbers
• Sign-off and delivery of our Accountability Statement
• Strong alignment with the Local Skills Improvement Plan
• Targeted growth in our curriculum offer
• Industry support and validation
• Evidence that curriculum design and delivery is informed and supported by industry partners
• Evidence that our students are progressing to relevant and sustained further or higher education and into employment

Innovative and Impactful Learning

All our students matter to us and will leave us wellprepared for their futures. We will provide them with exceptional learning opportunities that makes best use of technology, ignites curiosity, and enables them to produce work they are proud of.

Critical Success Factors

• Consistently high standards of practice in classrooms and workshops with relevant use of new technologies
• High levels of pastoral and wider student support services that enable our students to succeed at college
• Our students confidently recommending us to others
• Our students being recognised and celebrated for producing exceptional work
• Our students developing skills, behaviours and attributes that enable them to make a positive contribution to their communities and be successful in their next steps
• Our students progressing and securing positive destinations
• Our students achieving their target qualifications
• Our students securing high grades in their qualifications
• External validation as an outstanding provider of learning and skills

Exceptional Staff Experience, Engagement and Satisfaction

Acknowledging that our staff are our most valuable asset, we will ensure that their welfare, wellbeing and professional development are well-served and that we become an employer of choice for our current and future workforce.

Critical Success Factors

• Continually improving levels of staff satisfaction through all measures
• Successful implementation of our People Strategy and all its metrics
• Reduced levels of staff absence
• High levels of staff engagement in, and positive feedback from learning and development opportunities
• Improved levels of diversity across all levels of the organisation to better reflect the communities we serve
• Evidence of successful career progression for an increased proportion of our staff
• A renewed employee life-cycle that secures improved outputs and staff satisfaction at all stages
• Effective internal communications, employee engagement, collaboration and involvement
• Increased opportunities to celebrate staff achievement and successes
• Securing external recognition as an excellent employer through a range of high-quality assessments and kite marks

Financial Resilience

We will secure a strong financial position that enables the college to successfully navigate risks and be able to invest in staff capacity and capability, in our estate and in our learning resources, for the benefit of current and future students.

Critical Success Factors

• Critical measures and benchmarks of financial security are exceeded
• Effective and efficient utilisation of all resources
• Full and effective utilisation of budgeted and allocated capital funds
• Targeted investment in staff capacity
• Annual increase in staff development budget and activity
• Positive feedback from students and staff regarding resource levels
• Strong financial scoring across all headline measures

Reputation for Excellence

We will take all opportunities to promote our successes and position ourselves as a leading, anchor institution in the region and communities we serve. We will position ourselves as a forwardthinking provider of learning and skills and a true college of the future.

Critical Success Factors

• Positive local, regional and national profile
• Participation in events, conferences, and other relevant activity that enables us to share best practice
• Membership of committees, representative bodies and strategy groups to influence and support positive change
• Distribution of publications promoting success to stakeholders
• Significantly enhanced internal celebration activities and events
• Successful introduction of an active alumni
• Securing nominations and successes in relevant industry awards, quality and kite marks
• Frequent, consistently positive stakeholder feedback

Sustainable, Purposeful Partnerships

We will actively develop and sustain meaningful partnerships that are mutually beneficial and open up opportunities that benefit our staff and our current and future students.

Critical Success Factors

• Continually strengthened employer and industry partnerships that benefit the partner organisation and our students
• Industry Advisory Boards successfully implemented and active in all curriculum areas
• Enhanced levels of meaningful industry placement opportunities for our students
• Partner investment in resources for the benefit of our students
• Increased or enhanced curriculum offer as a result of targeted partnerships
• Active participation in local and regional community events
• Strong strategic alliance with education partners

Our Cross-cutting Themes

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We are committed to creating and sustaining an inclusive and welcoming environment where every member of staff and our community is respected, valued, and supported. We celebrate diversity in all its forms believing that diverse perspectives enrich our decisions, learning and growth. We are dedicated to ensuring equal opportunities for all, striving to remove barriers that prevent full participation and success across our learning and skills provision. We actively seek to eliminate discrimination and promote fairness in our policies and practices. Through ongoing education, dialogue, and action, we aim to create a culture of respect, equality, and belonging where everyonecan thrive and where the rights and dignity of our staff and students are respected. We recognise the importance of this as an underpinning, cross-cutting theme when seeking to achieve our strategic ambitions.

Sustainability

Barnet and Southgate College is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040, aligning with the sustainability goals of the London Boroughs of Barnet and Enfield. Guided by the EAUC Climate Action Roadmap, the college pledges to integrate sustainability into its curriculum, promote health and wellbeing, transition to renewable energy by 2030, enhancerecycling, support local sustainable businesses,
invest in sustainable technologies, foster community engagement, resolve environmental conflicts, and collaborate with local and global partners to achieve these goals.

New Technology

We are committed to harnessing the power of new technology and digital innovation as a fundamental cross-cutting theme in our Strategic Plan. By integrating cutting-edge digital tools and practices, we aim to enhance our curriculum’s relevance, responsiveness, and agility and continually develop innovative and impactful practices in teaching, learning and assessment. We will also seek to harness the opportunities presented by new technology in supporting our organisational practices and methods of working for the benefit of both staff and students.

Culture, Collaboration and Celebration

We will continue to recognise that how we do things is as important as what we do and that if we want to achieve our ambitions, we need to ensure that we operate in a positive and forwardthinking environment. Collaboration internally and externally will be key to our success and a commitment to increased and continual celebration of our achievements will contribute to our internal culture and our external reputation.

Our benefits include:

• You will be expected to be on site for the majority of the time, though with some flexibility
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• We have EV charging on all three sites
• We offer employees a generous holiday allowance of 31 days annual leave for support staff and 55 days annual for our academic staff plus bank holidays
• Our Sports Centre at Southgate Campus is available Monday-Friday for all staff with cardio as well as strength and conditioning equipment
• Our cycle to work scheme is an incentive for staff, offering tax free bikes through independent bike shops and run by Cyclescheme Ltd. You can get a tax free bike, which for most people means they save around 32% the cost for a new bike
• The college will refund the cost of regular eye tests for staff that use Display Screen Equipment regularly as part of their duties.

Anderson Quigley is acting as an advisor to Barnet and Southgate College, an executive search process is being carried out in addition to the public advertisement.

The closing date for applications is noon on 22 June 2026.

Applications should consist of:

• A full CV
• A covering letter (maximum of two pages) outlining your motivations to apply for this role, your relevant experience and how you meet the criteria of the person specification
• Please include details of two referees on your CV, though please note that we will not approach your referees without your prior consent and only should you be shortlisted.

Should you wish to discuss the role in strict confidence, please contact Aino Betts (Consultant) at aino.betts@andersonquigley.com or Paul Aristides (Partner) at paul.aristides@andersonquigley.com.