Job Description: BURSAR

Transcription

1 Job Description: BURSAR Churchill College is seeking a new Bursar following the retirement at the end of 2016 of the fourth Bursar, Jennifer Brook, after 18 years in the post. The ideal candidate will possess strategic vision, excellent people skills, financial dexterity and an appreciation of the nature of an inclusive academic community, taking the lead on non-academic matters within the College. General Background Churchill College is one of the thirty-one Colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1960 as the national and Commonwealth memorial to Sir Winston Churchill. Situated just outside the city centre on a superb 40-acre site, it is an academic community of about 485 undergraduates, 330 graduate students, more than 200 Fellows and 160 staff. Its foundation specified a particular mission in mathematics, science and technology, but it also has many students in the arts and humanities, and academic performance is outstanding across the board. Its student body is notably diverse, and includes a higher than average proportion of students from state schools and colleges, from non-traditional backgrounds and from overseas. The College provides key tuition to its students in the form of supervision Cambridge s unique, small-group teaching system as well as close academic direction, pastoral and welfare support, and academic and social facilities. To our Fellows we provide an environment strongly conducive to scholarship and research of international importance, and a social as well as intellectual community. Most of our students live on site, as do c. 30 Fellows. Accommodation includes 80 flats, 530 single bedrooms and 235 en-suite bedrooms, as well as central communal and office spaces, a Library, meeting rooms, formal reception rooms, a recital room, a theatre and sports facilities. Undergraduate students live in rooms off staircases in the traditional Cambridge style, while graduate students live mainly in houses around the College site. Family accommodation is provided on site for Fellows and academic visitors in 16 of the Sheppard Flats, or for graduate students in the 40 Wolfson Flats. The College includes the Churchill Archives Centre which conserves and houses Winston Churchill s personal papers, the Margaret Thatcher papers and almost 600 other important twentieth-century collections of papers, relating to politics, military history and scientific discovery. The Møller Centre, a wholly owned subsidiary of the College, is situated on the College site and offers training and conference facilities and accommodation in a purpose-designed building provided by the Danish entrepreneur, A P Møller, in

2 In common with all Cambridge colleges, Churchill s key mission and purpose is academic. Its fulfilment of this is heavily facilitated by two commercial operations. First it owns the Møller Centre, which designs and delivers high impact executive education programmes to leaders of private and public organisations from across the world as well as providing a host venue for training. Secondly, the College itself also runs a separate highly successful conference and hospitality business in the main College buildings, which includes day meetings during University term and many residential conferences at other times. Together these two businesses turn over more than 8 million p.a. and contribute over 2 million to the College s operating income. Churchill College has a significant, progressive, international profile. It helps lead educational development in the wider University and beyond; it engages with politicians, political commentators, historians and the media through the work of the Churchill Archives Centre; and it collaborates with the business world through the work of the Møller Centre and the College conference operation. The College is a registered charity whose charitable objectives are: To advance education, learning and research especially in the field of science and technology; and to provide a College wherein members of the University of Cambridge may work for degrees in that University, or may carry out post-graduate studies or other special studies at Cambridge (provided that no member of the College, or any candidate for membership, shall be subject to any test of a religious, political or social character). The non-academic administration of the College is driven by the Bursar, but is ultimately the responsibility of the College s Governing Body and College Council. College Council is the trustee body of the College, whose membership is drawn from the Fellowship, the student body and the staff; Governing Body membership comprises the majority of the Fellowship. Both are chaired by the Master (Professor Dame Athene Donald FRS). Please view for further details about Churchill College. For details of the structure of Cambridge University see 2

3 The role of the Bursar The Bursar reports to the Master and College Council and works closely with the other College Officers (Vice-Master, Senior Tutor and Tutor for Advanced Students). The organisation is illustrated in Appendix 1. Purpose of the role The Bursar is responsible for overseeing the non-academic management of the College and takes the lead in the development of financial strategy and the management of assets and resources. (Statutory responsibilities are shown in Appendix 2.) Key Areas of Responsibility The Bursar s responsibilities can be summarised under the headings: Finance and investments Administrative and personnel management Property Commercial businesses Legal matters and regulatory compliance Governance and Fellowship matters (The percentages below indicate the approximate proportion of time it is anticipated that each area may require.) Finance and Investments (25%) The Bursar is responsible to the College Council and the Governing Body for the financial affairs of the College. This includes development of financial strategy, supervision of the accounting function through the Finance Manager, drawing up budgets and forecasts, making recommendations to the Finance Committee on financial policy and strategy and charging and preparation of management and statutory accounts. The Bursar is secretary to the Finance Committee and the Investment Advisory Committee. The Bursar works with the Investment Advisory Committee to provide sound investment strategy and oversight (agreeing with this committee a recommended policy on purchase and sale of a few direct investments), implements the appointment or de-selection or rebalancing of the investment managers, and monitors the performance of the College s investment managers, reporting annually to the Council and Governing Body. The investments are currently managed by 12 fund managers and range from directly held commercial properties to hedge funds. The Bursar works with the commercial property fund manager on all aspects of the property portfolio and the management of the properties. 3

4 The Bursar is responsible for the levying and collection of student fees and charges, with the support of the Finance Office. This involves consultation with students about the level of charges, financial modelling and proposals to the Finance Committee and the College Council. Management of student bursaries and studentships, student debt and support for student hardship is carried out in consultation with the Senior Tutor and Tutor for Advanced Students. Decisions on hardship cases are made by the Endowment Grants Committee, on which the Bursar sits. The Bursar carries out an annual negotiation with staff and union representatives on the annual pay award and pay and benefits matters. The Bursar supports and advises on fundraising across the College. The Bursar supervises the allocation of funds to student bodies (both undergraduate and postgraduate including clubs and societies) and acts as senior treasurer for many of the clubs and societies ensuring that they spend college funds appropriately. The Bursar also manages three small donations committees. Administrative and Personnel Management (20%) The Bursar supervises the personnel management of approximately 200 full and part-time persons, including some aspects of the employment of academic staff. Management is through the Domestic Bursar (to whom five Heads of Department report) and five Heads of Department who report directly to the Bursar. See Appendix 1. The Bursar is responsible, through the HR Manager, for all contractual and legal matters relating to the employment of staff and also for training, staff benefits, communication with staff, terms and conditions, disciplinary and performance issues and staff welfare and Health and Safety at work. Much of this is delivered through the Heads of Departments and the Bursar leads by example in terms of team-working across areas and striving to raise standards of service delivery. The Bursar advises the College Council on all matters relating to personnel management, oversees the administration of salaries, taxation, pensions and other benefits of all employees, and ensures that the regulations are up to date. Acting on the advice of the ICT Committee the Bursar, through the Computer Systems Manager, plans the provision and maintenance of IT in the College. The Bursar participates in decisions on new operational software. Communications (external and internal), internally issued handbooks, the College website and protection of the College s public image are the responsibility of the Bursar, working with the other College Officers. The Bursar is the first port of call for press enquiries, though press statements are in practice usually issued by the Senior Tutor, Master or Director of the Archives Centre. The Bursar ensures the appropriate and timely communication of information to Fellows, staff and external stakeholders, including the College s neighbours. The College s 4

5 Communications Manager reports to the Bursar while acting in concert with the other College Officers and wider Fellowship. The Bursar supports the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre in the development and administration of the operation and is a trustee of the three Trusts supporting the work of the Centre, working with their external trustees. Property (20%) The Bursar is responsible, through the Maintenance Manager and the College Consultant Architect for the repair, refurbishment and ongoing maintenance of all College operational property, on and off the main College site. The Bursar creates and maintains the property strategy and advises the Estates Committee on planning of maintenance and longer term development of the site, and leads working parties on specific building projects, providing the business case to the Council and Governing Body to justify expenditure on such projects and providing the case for support to the Development Director to facilitate fund-raising. During major building projects, the Bursar often acts as project manager and works closely with the Maintenance Manager on detailed input to decisions made by consultants and to supervision of quality and delivery. Where appropriate the College uses a wholly owned subsidiary to provide Design and Build projects for the College. The Bursar is a board member of this Company, Churchill Residences II Ltd. The Bursar has oversight of College property, and through the Finance Office collects charges for rent and facilities. The annual negotiation of rent increases with student officers is undertaken by the Bursar in the first instance, referring on to the Finance Committee and/or Council where necessary. The Bursar currently manages the Combined Colleges boathouse, a building and operation shared with Selwyn College, King s College and the Leys School. This is undertaken on a rotation with the other bursars. The Bursar represents the College in negotiations with official bodies, including the Local Planning Authority and the Rating authorities, and maintains the College s insurance. The Bursar, through the Energy Consortium, purchases utilities for the College. 5

6 Hospitality management - Commercial Businesses (10%) The hospitality management departments (Porters Lodge, Conference Office, Catering and Front of House operations and Housekeeping) report through the Domestic Bursar, to the Bursar. The Bursar advises the Finance Committee and Council on investment in commercial activities. As a Board member of the Møller Centre Ltd and Churchill Conferences Ltd the Bursar protects the College s interests in these businesses, assists the managers in generating revenues for the College and facilitates communication between the businesses and the College. The Bursar supports the Domestic Bursar and Conference Manager in the development of the College s conference business. Legal matters and regulatory roles (5%) The Bursar is responsible for ensuring that the College complies with charity law, accounting law, employment law and all other relevant areas of legislation. The Bursar is a member of the Statutes and Ordinances Committee, which maintains and updates the College s governing documents in line with decisions of the College Council and Governing Body, and any relevant external legislative changes. The Bursar selects and employs consultants for the College on matters of specialist input such as legal affairs, taxation and audit, planning and engineering. In the case of building-related consultants this is normally done by recommendation to the Estates Committee. The Bursar supervises the management of Health and Safety in the College, is the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Officer and provides continual review of policies within the College on all aspects of its operation, including risk management, environment and energy, and freedom of information. The Bursar maintains a record of all sealings undertaken by the College and reports on these annually to the College Council. 6

7 Governance and Fellowship Matters (20%) The Bursar is secretary to most of the major committees in the College, and prepares agendas and a substantial proportion of the papers for the College Council, Governing Body, Estates, Finance, House and Investment Committees plus many minor committees. In addition to the Directorships of the commercial businesses owned by the College, the Bursar is also a Trustee of the Churchill College Archives Trust, the Sir Winston Churchill Archives Trust, the Margaret Thatcher Archives Trust, and other relevant Trusts. There is an expectation that the Bursar will accept invitations to sit on university bodies and affiliated organisations in Cambridge and elsewhere according to his or her skills and interests. The current Bursar sits on the inter-collegiate Building, Environment and Planning Committee, the General Purchasing Committee, the Energy Management Committee, the Technical Accounting Committee, the Energy Management and Purchasing Committee, the Military Education Committee and the Childcare Bursary Committee and chairs the Cambridge Venue Company Ltd (t/a Conference Cambridge). The Bursar is also a member of the Wolfson Court nursery management committee (a joint venture with three other colleges). The Bursar provides financial information and recommendations to the Fellowship Electors, Council and Governing Body about the Terms and Conditions of employment of academic staff, about the cost of provision of benefits to Fellows and about the size of the Fellowship. The Bursar supports the President of the SCR and the Fellows Steward in the provision of the social programme for Fellows. The Bursar is responsible for the management of Fellows indebtedness to the College. The Bursar is a Fellow of the College and a College Officer and as such is expected to be available to the Fellows and to establish working relationships with them, alumni and potential donors; this includes participation in College social events as well as Alumni and Development events, often outside normal working hours. 7

8 Person specification Education/ Qualifications Skills, Knowledge, Experience Personal Attributes Essential Good academic attainment (degree or equivalent qualification) Proven record of success in management of people and finance in a complex environment in any sector Demonstrable commercial experience and acumen Financially literate with a sound understanding of financial accounts and forecasts Strong leadership and interpersonal skills; able to work co-operatively, and influence, motivate and negotiate effectively Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to draft papers, write succinctly and persuasively and to make presentations within College, the University and beyond The ability to manage projects effectively to time and budget Good levels of IT literacy Demonstrates commitment to the academic mission of the College and sensitivity to its culture, recognising the academic nature and democratic structures of the Fellowship Persistent, with the energy to drive things forward, in consultation with others Desirable Professional or postgraduate qualification An understanding of the requirements of IT strategy Working knowledge of relevant legislation, including employment law, data protection legislation, health and safety, pensions legislation, charity law Understanding of the structure of a collegiate university Experience of controlling property development transactions Sympathetic to the College s goal of widening participation from under-represented groups 8

9 Personal Attributes cont. Displays empathy with people from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds Has strategic vision, balanced with a grasp of detail Pro-active in approach, able to identify opportunities and pre-empt problems Fair-minded and consistent in the treatment of others Commands respect 9

10 Appendix 1: Organisation Chart 10

11 Appendix 2: Statutory responsibilities The Bursar has statutory responsibilities as follows (Statute IX): The Bursar shall have the care of the property of the College under the direction of the Council. Except insofar as any of the following duties may be assigned by the Council to any other College Officer, the Bursar shall: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) receive all rents and moneys due to the College; make such payments as may be due from the College; keep such moneys as are received in a bank or banks approved by the Council; negotiate any loans, by overdraft or otherwise; have charge of the external, legal, and financial affairs of the College in relation to any of its property; exercise supervision over College finances as a whole in accordance with these Statutes, or any Ordinance or resolution of the Governing Body or the Council; in accordance with the directions of the Council and subject to the provisions of these Statutes invest College moneys; exercise supervision over all non-academic staff. 11