Deputy Director Finance and Corporate Services

This role has now been appointed to. Please get in touch if you are interested in similar roles.

Salary: up to £115k

TfGM has an annual operating budget of around £175m and delivers an annual capital programme of around £200m invested in new and improved transport, infrastructure and related areas such as Clean Air.

We have diverse income streams: the Transport Levy, income from Metrolink, capital and revenue grants, and commercial revenues.  Like many organisations, Covid-19 has impacted the financial landscape for TfGM, including the costs of organisational recovery; and reduced income from a number of revenue sources, including the Metrolink farebox; which has been managed by robust financial management and by maximising the income from grants from government.  Despite this there are major opportunities ahead and we are working hard to be ready for the changes and challenges these represent.

The decision by the Mayor of Greater Manchester to franchise buses will change the landscape – financially and more broadly.  Franchising is a change programme of significant scale, change and complexity, with GM being the first place to re-regulate a bus network of this scale global; and it will increase our revenue streams and revenue risk  (pre-covid farebox revenue and public funding); and our revenue costs by c£270m per annum.

Franchising buses is a key element of delivering Greater Manchester’s Bee Network, a London-style integrated transport system which includes integrating buses and trams by 2024, and commuter trains by 2030.  The Bee Network will provide commuters with a transport system that is simple and easy to use, which supports seamless end to end journeys by foot, bike and public transport, with London-level fares, a daily cap and single ticket, no matter how many times or how the journey is made.

The Bee Network will provide an integrated public transport system which will benefit communities by providing fast, high quality, connections that are fully accessible to all providing local control and accountability.  This will be supported by investment in our infrastructure and services though the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) which has seen Greater Manchester secure £1.09 bn for investment in transport across the city region.  GM has also bid for an additional £1bn approximately, via our Bus Services Improvement Plan (BSIP).

We are also continuing to prepare for the introduction of the GM Clean Air Zone, play an active role in the development of intercity infrastructure and are committed to helping Greater Manchester to achieve its target to be a net zero carbon city-region by 2038.

With such a complex landscape, we must ensure we can deliver on our current and future commitments, to keep Greater Manchester moving.  Our new Deputy Director Finance and Corporate Services will ensure we have the resources to deliver on our vision for the city region.

The new Deputy Director Finance and Corporate Services will look to the long-term whilst understanding that our future actions must be built on what we do today.  Understanding our current plans and priorities, the financial challenges, the pinch points, risks and threats, as well as the opportunities is critical if we are to keep investing and keep delivering.  The role holder will actively explore and identify strategies to improve the organisation’s overall long term strategic financial position, considering possible partnership arrangements and opportunities for external funding and alternative, innovative income generation.  They’ll align resources to strategic priorities, work with partners, inform bids, ensure continuous improvement, deliver value for money and best value by challenging existing practices and look for ways to innovate and modernise service infrastructure and delivery. 

The Deputy Director Finance and Corporate Services will represent the organisation in external environments and manage and support good relationships with government departments, elected members and wider external stakeholders to drive effective partnership working.

The role holder will bring significant senior experience of diverse, long-term resourcing streams, significant capital and change programmes and major revenue budgets, whether currently in or working close to the public sector.  With strong commercial instincts, they will have shaped, influenced and overseen strategic finances in a significant organisation, informed long-term investment and demonstrated the judgement and capacity to influence decisions at Board level. They’ll understand how public sector funding works and the need for transparency, scrutiny and accountability in democratically accountable organisations.  They’ll have experience of building effective senior relationships and working with partners, engaging within and beyond organisations to ensure the delivery of strategic priorities.

At the same time, they’ll deputise for the Director of Finance and Corporate Services, providing leadership and support across the Directorate and TfGM. This is a rare opportunity to join the senior leadership of a commercially focused public sector organisation. A leadership role, directly supporting the Director and operating at the highest levels of a city region.

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