Interim Director of Finance (12-18 months)

• Interim Director of Finance (12-18 months)

• Location: United Kingdom - Hybrid

• Contract: 1 year FT contract with the possibility of extension

• Salary: UK £120,000 to £135,000

• Working pattern: Full-Time initially with the option to go to 4 days after 3 months if required

About FILE
The Foundation for International Law for the Environment (FILE) is a not-for-profit philanthropic organisation working to accelerate legal action on climate change.

Through grant-making and in-house legal expertise, we empower our partners to deliver strategic, innovative legal interventions and we support lawyers in their own countries to bring their own cases.

Legal action can unlock the systemic changes in finance, policy and social systems needed to protect all of us from climate change. The power of the law is both direct (changing policy and practice) and indirect (signalling the wider shifts taking place across these systems).

FILE is a ‘regrantor’ - this means we do not bring legal action in our own name. We receive grants from our philanthropic donors and make onwards grants to partners who align with FILE’s charitable aims and purposes. We do not seek to make any profit from our activities either in a relevant financial year or in the longer term.

The Role

We are looking for an exceptional interim finance leader to join FILE during a period of organisational transition, as we shape our strategy for the next three years and review our long-term leadership structure.

This is a strictly interim appointment, created to provide visible senior leadership across our Finance function while FILE undertakes a wider review of its long-term organisational design and permanent leadership arrangements.

As Interim Director of Finance, you will be a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, partnering closely with the Executive Director, Supervisory Board, and senior leaders to ensure strong financial stewardship and sharp strategic insight. You will lead a talented finance team and help build the foundations for our future operating model.

This is an opportunity for a senior finance leader who enjoys combining financial rigour with strategic influence, is energised by complexity, and is motivated by helping an ambitious organisation maximise its impact on climate justice and environmental law.

The role spans across four core areas: strategic and team leadership, financial strategy planning and analysis, finance operations and systems, and risk and compliance.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic and Team Leadership (20%)
As an interim Senior Leadership Team member during a period of organisational change, you will ensure the development, delivery and assessment of FILE's Strategic Plan, supporting collective SLT decision-making and accountability. You will advise the Executive Director and boards on financial governance, lead a high-performing finance team, provide independent challenge to strategic decisions, and represent FILE with auditors, banks, donors and other external stakeholders.

Financial Strategy, Planning and Analysis (30%)
You will hold overall accountability for FILE's long-term financial planning, budgeting, scenario modelling and reporting, ensuring financial sustainability and acting as a thought partner to senior leadership and boards. This includes supporting fundraising and grantmaking with high-quality financial insight, stewarding donor funds effectively, and maintaining a reserves strategy aligned to FILE's mission and risk appetite.

Finance Operations and Systems (20%)
You will hold overall accountability for finance operations including compliance, taxation, audit and treasury management, with day-to-day execution delegated to the Head of Finance. Responsibilities include cashflow forecasting, foreign exchange and banking relationships, and supporting the development of a finance systems roadmap to harmonise platforms across the FILE network.

Risk and Compliance (30%)
You will lead financial risk identification, assessment and mitigation across the organisation, overseeing the development, implementation and evaluation of finance policies and procedures to ensure consistent compliance with relevant local laws, tax regulations and donor requirements, underpinned by strong internal and external assurance including statutory and donor audits.

Key Outcomes

• FILE's finance function enables the delivery of the Strategic Plan, delivering prompt, high quality insights, business partnering and innovative financial modelling.

• FILE's Senior Leadership Team, Board and donors receive accurate, timely and insightful financial reporting that supports strong decision making.

• An effective compliance and controls environment is maintained across all financial management, donor funds and statutory requirements, with all obligations met on time.

• FILE's long term financial planning and annual budgeting processes are robust, well governed and aligned to strategic priorities.

• Finance policies and procedures are efficient, consistently applied and compliant with relevant legislation across all jurisdictions in which FILE operates.

• The Finance team is high performing, collaborative and viewed as a valued partner across FILE functions.

• FILE's Senior Leadership Team is viewed as effective, collaborative and thought leading, with the Director of Finance contributing meaningfully to collective SLT accountability and decision making.

• JEDI principles are championed and embedded across FILE, with the Director of Finance modelling and advancing these values in all aspects of their leadership
  

About you

We know that long lists of criteria can be discouraging and that some candidates will not apply for a role unless they feel they are 100% qualified. If you feel you meet at least some of the essential criteria, we still encourage you to apply.

We also recognise that skills and experience can be gained in unexpected places, so we welcome applications from candidates who feel they have relevant skills for the role, gained from a wide range of professional, lived and learned experiences.

Essential criteria

Technical Skills

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent), or qualified by experience at an equivalent level.

• Significant experience leading finance functions within an international organisation of comparable scale and complexity (£60m+ annual income/expenditure).

• Proven strategic and operational leadership of finance, spanning financial planning and analysis, operations and systems, and risk and compliance.

• Strong working knowledge of statutory and regulatory compliance across multiple jurisdictions, treasury management, and donor financial compliance across private philanthropy and institutional funders.

• Exceptional long-term financial planning, modelling and budgeting skills, with a track record of translating complex financial data into clear strategic insight.

Power Skills

• A visible, values-driven leader who leads through change with confidence, coaches and enables their team, and fosters a culture of collaboration and transparency.

• Communicates with clarity and confidence at all levels, including Board and executive level, adapting style and language to the audience.

• Strategic thinker who connects financial insight to organisational decision-making and applies sharp analytical thinking to complex problems.

• Highly collaborative and adaptable, building trusted relationships across functions and remaining effective during periods of ambiguity and change.

• Acts with integrity, exercises strong professional judgement, and actively champions JEDI principles across all aspects of their leadership.

Working for FILE

FILE is a collaborative community of individuals who share a passion for climate, nature, and justice. We bring together knowledge and experience to support our mission.

Our people are empowered to lead their work both individually and as part of a wider team in order to make impactful change. As a relatively young organisation with the ambitious mission to change global systems, our roles are ideally suited to those who are strategic, innovative and collaborative, and open to growing in line with the Foundation.

FILE is committed to challenging systemic injustice. Our ability to do so is strengthened by the diversity of our partners and staff. Our mission, work and impact is global, with staff and partners from across the world and a range of lived experiences. We are actively working to create a culture where colleagues feel welcomed, heard and supported to succeed and thrive.

How FILE supports its staff

FILE is committed to creating a workplace that supports our staff to do their best work and develop professionally. FILE offers a generous annual leave policy and additional time-off work to support wellbeing. Amongst other benefits, FILE offers private healthcare, enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave, enhanced sick leave, flexibility working remotely and also abroad and a matching contribution to a pension scheme.

Applications

Please apply on our website and upload your CV and Cover Letter. This role is open for applications immediately and we accept applications on a rolling basis but we will not accept any applications after 29 June 2026. If you are interested, we encourage you to submit your application as early as possible. Should you have any questions, please email careers@filefoundation.org.

Representation and Culture

FILE recognises the under-representation of historically marginalised communities and individuals in climate, nature and philanthropy spaces. We are committed to developing an organisation that represents the world we are looking to protect, and building a culture that supports this.

We are keen to hear from people belonging to communities that are often under-represented in climate justice and philanthropy, including those from the Global Majority, LGBTQIA+ communities, and Disabled communities, as well as others with experience of marginalisation and those belonging to more than one of these communities.

FILE is committed to building policies and practices that ensure no current or prospective employee is discriminated against on the basis of disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.