Director
Dear Candidate,
Thank you for your interest in the role of Finance Director at CW+ and for taking the time to learn more about this important opportunity.
CW+ is the official charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. We exist to support outstanding patient care, fund pioneering research, and invest in the people, spaces and technologies that transform the experience of patients and staff across our hospitals and community services. Our ambition is clear: to help deliver the very best care for everyone who relies on our services.
This is a pivotal and exciting time for CW+. As the demands on the NHS continue to grow, the role of an effective, well-governed and financially resilient charity has never been more critical. We are ambitious about our future impact and committed to ensuring that every pound entrusted to us is managed with the highest standards of stewardship, transparency and strategic insight.
As Finance Director, you will play a central role in shaping CW+’s sustainable growth and long-term financial health. You will work closely with me, the Board, and the Senior Leadership Team to provide strategic financial leadership, support sound decision-making, and strengthen our governance and controls. You will also be a trusted partner to colleagues across the organisation, enabling them to deliver ambitious plans while maintaining financial discipline and accountability.
You will be joining a passionate, values-driven organisation with a strong collaborative culture and a clear sense of purpose. This role offers the opportunity to make a tangible difference – ensuring that CW+ has the financial strength, resilience and agility to continue improving outcomes for patients, families and staff now and in the years ahead.
In this information pack, you will find further details about CW+, our strategy, our values, and the scope of the Finance Director role. I hope it gives you a strong sense of our ambition, our responsibility, and the significance of the contribution you could make.
If you are excited by the prospect of using your financial leadership to support excellence in healthcare and charity impact, I very much hope you will apply.
Yours sincerely,
Chris Chaney Chief Executive
About us
CW+ is the official charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, working in close partnership with the Trust to support outstanding patient care across hospitals, clinics and community services serving more than 1.5 million people.
Our vision
To enable every patient to receive outstanding care, within our Trust’s communities and beyond.
Our mission
We work alongside Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to create worldclass facilities, drive healthcare innovation and research, and enhance the wellbeing of patients, families and NHS staff. By combining expertise in partnership-building, arts in health and healthcare innovation, CW+ delivers impactful solutions that support an evolving NHS.
Our values
Our culture and decision making are guided by four core values:
• Community‑focused – putting people at the heart of everything we do
• Respectful of differences – embracing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
• Impact driven – learning, sharing and continuously improving our work
• Collaborative – achieving more through strong partnerships
What we do
CW+ funds projects that go beyond statutory NHS funding, ensuring patients and staff benefit from enhanced environments, pioneering innovation and improved experiences of care. Our work includes investment in facilities, clinical and digital innovation, research, staff wellbeing, and a distinctive arts and design programme that transforms hospital spaces. The charity is delivering Thirty at Thirty, its most ambitious fundraising initiative to date, which aims to raise £30 million over five years to support the Trust’s long term ambition for outstanding care.
Governance and financial stewardship
CW+ is an independent registered charity with a strong commitment to good governance, transparency and financial stewardship. Managing multi million pound income and expenditure, the organisation relies on donations, philanthropy, partnerships and investments to maximise sustainable impact.
For the incoming Director of Finance, CW+ offers the opportunity to play a pivotal role in safeguarding financial integrity, supporting strategic growth and ensuring resources are deployed responsibly to deliver lasting benefit for patients and staff.
Strategy
CW+ enters the 2026-2029 period as a significantly larger, more complex and more influential charity. Since 2023, the organisation has expanded its delivery capability across innovation, arts and design, national programmes and grant-making, while managing a changing NHS, philanthropic and economic landscape. The next phase of strategy focuses on deploying resources where CW+ adds greatest value, while strengthening long-term financial resilience and governance.
Strategic direction
Our strategy is built around three interconnected themes:
1. Accelerating next-generation healthcare
CW+ will continue investing in innovation, research and technology to support clinical excellence. Priorities include expanding infectious disease research capability, strengthening clinical research infrastructure, and evolving CW Innovation toward fewer but higher-impact, platform-based initiatives – particularly in AI, data and remote
monitoring. These programmes require disciplined capital allocation, partnership funding, and careful appraisal of return on impact and scalability.
2. Improving patient and staff experience
Investment in arts, design, environment and grants will focus on interventions with clear evidence of improving wellbeing, experience and workforce sustainability. Over this period, the Grants programme will be widened through smaller awards to increase reach, supported by stronger evaluation, governance and alignment with Trust priorities. Design and environment projects will increasingly emphasise long-term value, sustainability and operational efficiency.
3. Supporting regional, national and international care agendas
Flagship programmes – Best For You, Volunteering for Health, NHS Arts and Neonatal
Palliative Care – extend the charity’s influence beyond its local footprint. These systemlevel programmes require robust financial controls, complex reporting, restricted funding management and legacy planning as programmes mature or transition.
Financial priorities and risk
Underpinning the strategy is a strong financial framework. CW+ will:
• maintain its long-term capital fund in real terms, targeting CPI + 4.5% returns to balance current delivery with intergenerational equity
• deliver a balanced unrestricted budget, with core costs covered sustainably rather than through capital erosion
• ensure funding for a discretionary Grants programme of at least £500k per annum
• achieve a minimum 4:1 return on fundraising and marketing investment
Key financial risks include income concentration, volatility in philanthropic giving, capital market fluctuations and the increasing cost base of complex national programmes.
Mitigation centres on diversification of income, stronger project costing, disciplined reserves management and robust governance.
The opportunity
For a Director of Finance, this strategy presents a pivotal leadership role: safeguarding financial sustainability, enabling innovation at scale, strengthening decision-making, and ensuring CW+ can continue delivering transformational impact across the NHS during a period of significant change.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Statement
CW+ is committed to creating a fair, inclusive and respectful workplace where everyone can thrive. We actively promote equality of opportunity, eliminate discrimination, and value the diverse skills and perspectives that individuals bring.
Our recruitment processes are based on merit, ensuring all candidates are treated fairly regardless of age, disability, race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or other protected characteristics. We aim to remove barriers to access, encourage applications from under-represented groups, and provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process where required.
We expect all staff involved in recruitment to act with integrity, challenge bias, and make decisions transparently and consistently. Training and clear guidance support inclusive hiring practices.
We are committed to fostering a culture where individuals feel respected, supported, and able to be themselves. Any form of discrimination, harassment, or unfair treatment will not be tolerated and will be addressed promptly.
This approach ensures we attract, recruit and retain talented individuals while building a diverse and inclusive workforce
Finances
Chris Chaney
Director
Job description
The Director of Finance is a senior strategic leader responsible for ensuring the financial sustainability, governance, and integrity of CW+. Working closely with the Chief Executive and Board of Trustees as a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT), the postholder provides expert financial leadership to enable the charity to maximise its impact.
The role oversees all aspects of financial management, including investment management, budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, audit, risk management and regulatory compliance. The Director of Finance ensures that robust financial controls and systems are in place, that funds are used effectively and transparently, and that the charity meets its statutory obligations under charity law and NHS-related requirements.
As a key strategic adviser to the Board, the Director of Finance supports long-term financial planning, investment decisions and income diversification, working collaboratively with fundraising and operational teams. The postholder plays a critical role in aligning financial strategy with the charity’s mission, values and strategic objectives, ensuring value for money and financial resilience in a complex healthcare environment.
The Director of Finance also leads and develops the finance function, fostering a strong culture of accountability, professionalism and continuous improvement, while acting as a trusted ambassador for the charity with external stakeholders, regulators, auditors and NHS partners.
Key responsibilities and duties
Strategic financial leadership:
• Provide sound financial advice to the Trustees, the Chief Executive and other senior management, acting as the leading interface between management and Trustees on financial and investments matters
• Lead CW+’s financial strategy, financial planning and budgeting processes and ensure strong processes are in place for resource allocation and performance monitoring.
• Support growth initiatives and long-term financial planning
• Present financial insights to both Trustees and the finance and Investment committee.
• Review and provide financial support for new innovations and projects.
Financial management
• Lead budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning.
• Produce monthly management accounts
• Develop KPIs and financial metrics
• Oversee cashflow and reserves
• Ensure compliance with Charity Commission and Companies House.
• Ensure leadership and compliance with statutory financial reporting requirements including audit
• Provide full comprehensive support working alongside the investment managers for the administration and management of the investment and property portfolios.
• Draft specifications, in liaison with the Chief Executive and the Finance and Investment Committee, for periodic Charity tenders for audit, investment management and property.
• Maintain and monitor internal controls and procedure.
• Act as Company Secretary to CW+ and any subsidiary companies working closely with the Chairman and Board of Trustees.
• Manage restricted and unrestricted funds.
• Provide and/or coordinate all financial and taxation advice for CW+.
• Provide full support, agendas and papers for the Finance and Investment Committee and attend other committees etc as required.
• Prepare and monitor the charity’s risk register and risk profile in conjunction with the CEO and SMT.
• Provide an external interface with, investment advisers, banks, auditors pension funds and charity finance and estate specialists
• Lead GDPR responsibilities for the organisation.
People and leadership collaboration
• Manage, mentor and support the development of the Finance Team members.
• Support all teams on financial advice, analysis and structures.
• Support fundraising teams with financial modelling.
• Work collaboratively with the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Person specification
Essential skills and experience
• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA).
• Senior-level post-qualification finance experience at Head or Director level
• Charity sector experience
• Experience of investment and property management.
• Experience of managing unrestricted and restricted funding.
• Demonstrable knowledge of charity SORP.
• Experience of operating in £3m-£10m organisations at a senior level.
• Strong stakeholder management skills
• A hands-on approach
• An analytical mindset
• Ability to challenge constructively.
Benefits
• Hours: 35 per week (normally 9am-5pm, Monday-Friday with flexible and/or hybrid working where appropriate).
• Pension: employer contribution of 8%.
• Holiday: 27 days per annum, plus UK bank holidays (pro-rata for part time staff).
• Probation: six months is standard unless you have a specific reason to reduce/increase.
• Other benefits available: HSF health plan, season ticket loan.
How to apply
To apply for the role, please upload your CV together with a supporting statement (no more than 1,000 words) onto the Prospectus website via the link.
For guidance on formulating your supporting statement, please review our guide here.
Please ensure that you have included a telephone number, as well as any dates when you will not be available or might have difficulty with the recruitment timetable (below).
If you wish to apply using an alternative format, please contact Prospectus on 020 7691 1920 or email executive.admin@prospect-us.co.uk
Applications via the Prospectus website should be made at: https://prospect-us.co.uk/job/194746
At Prospectus we believe passionately that a truly inclusive workplace leads to increased social impact. We are committed to supporting our clients build more inclusive teams. To understand how we are performing, we ask that you kindly complete the brief equal opportunities questionnaire when you submit your application via our website. Please be assured that your responses are kept confidential, separate from your candidate record, are not part of any application you make, and that the consultants never see individual responses to the questionnaire.
Recruitment timetable
Deadline for applications: Sunday 7 June 2026
Interviews with Prospectus: 11-17 June 2026
Interviews with CW+: w/c 22 June 2026
Queries
If you wish to have an informal discussion about the opportunity, please contact our retained advisor Anna Gardet at Prospectus on 020 7691 1920, or email:
Anna.Gardet@prospect-us.co.uk