The Scottish Seabird Centre The Scottish Seabird Centre (SSC) works to ensure that Scotland’s seas and coasts are alive with wildlife, celebrated and protected by all. We act to save seabirds and restore Scotland’s marine environment through conservation, learning, and unforgettable wildlife experiences:

Conservation – In partnership with RSPB Scotland, we care for internationally important seabird islands, including Bass Rock, which is home to one of the largest gannet colonies in the world, and Craigleith, where our community conservation project, SOS Puffin, has quadrupled the population of breeding puffins.
Learning – We seek to build an understanding of and a passion for the marine environment. Over 60,000 children and young people have engaged with our education programme.
Experience – We operate one of the leading nature visitor centres in the UK, welcoming over 170,000 visitors a year, and were awarded the Gold Green Tourism Award in April 2025. We recently published our strategic plan for 2026 – 2031. You can read it here.

Role profile

The Finance Manager will work collaboratively with the CEO, members of the senior management team and department heads to ensure strong financial management is in place throughout the charity. They will provide timely financial information to the Senior Team and the Board, and work with colleagues across the charity to support the development of 2 budgets for fundraising applications and to monitor and report on funded expenditure.

Principal duties

Strategy, governance and reporting

Support the CEO/Senior Management Team in the development and implementation of the Charity’s strategic, operational plans and financial plans.
Work collaboratively with the CEO, Board of Trustees, Finance, Audit & Risk Committee and the Trading Company to ensure good governance of the Charity.
Produce accurate, up-to-date financial information and analysis for the Senior Team and the Board to inform decision-making.
Ensure compliance with OSCR, Companies House, HMRC, audit requirements and all relevant legislation
Lead the development of the 2028/29 budget and financial forecast.

Day-to-day financial management

Prepare monthly management accounts, including risk-weighted cashflow forecasts and active monitoring of upcoming peaks in expenditure.
Prepare and submit quarterly VAT returns, including partial exemption calculations and capital goods adjustments. 8. Lead the preparation and processing of monthly payroll and all related HMRC returns.
Assist with funding applications and reporting, managing restricted funds and budgets as required.

Systems and operations.

Serve as lead user of our core business systems — VenposCloud (Vennersys) and Beacon — taking ownership of day-to-day use, developing system capability, and building and running reports and queries to support management and decision making.
Provide IT systems support to the team, liaising with external support providers as required.
Manage the renewal of major service contracts, including utilities and insurance.
Line manage the Finance & Business Support Officer, supporting their development.
Keep your professional knowledge up to date, maintaining awareness of best practice in charity finance and management.

Essential skills and experience

A recognised accountancy qualification (CA/ACCA or similar) with post qualification experience in a financial management role, or partial qualification with substantial experience.
Experience preparing management accounts, budgets and cashflow forecasts, with 3 the ability to analyse business, financial and risk information and make clear recommendations to the Senior Management Team and trustees.
Experience overseeing VAT returns and payroll
An effective people manager with the ability to prioritise, delegate and deliver operational outcomes.
Confident and experienced lead user of finance and/or CRM platforms, able to develop system functionality, run queries and produce reports independently • Skills and confidence in adapting to and interrogating new systems.
Good organisational and administrative skills with strong attention to detail.
Leads by example and role models the values of the Charity, as described in our strategic plan. Desirable skills and experience
A passion for the natural world.
Experience of overseeing a system implementation, migration or major upgrade
Experience working in a charity and accounting for charity funds.

Benefits

Work for a successful conservation and education charity in a stunning location.
35 days annual leave pro rata
Workplace pension
Training and development opportunities for everyone.
Access to Cycle to Work Scheme • Access to Health Cash Plan
Other benefits include: 20% discount in the charity’s Gift Shop and Seabird Café, and 10% discount on the Scottish Seabird Centre boat trips, and free access to a range of Scottish visitor attractions with an Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions card.

A note on AI & our recruitment process

We recognise that AI can a helpful tool, but please use it responsibly. Ensure your application is authentic and avoid copying and pasting AI generated text. We want to recruit you - not an AI!

1 Scottish Seabird Centre jobs in Scotland