Governor (Audit) | Northampton College

Peridot Partners; Northampton; On-site; GBP 10,000 - 15,000; Full time

Job summary

Join Northampton College as a Governor, bringing your audit expertise to ensure outstanding education for over 9,000 students. This role requires a passion for education and commitment to continuous improvement, contributing significantly to the college's governance and strategic direction.

Qualifications

• Experience in professional audit and financial matters.
• Strong commitment to educational excellence and student outcomes.
• Ability to contribute to strategic goals as a board member.

Responsibilities

• Provide oversight and governance for the college's financial practices.
• Support strategic planning and risk management.
• Engage in board level discussions to drive educational excellence.

Skills

Audit Expertise

Financial Acumen

Team Collaboration

Education

Qualified Accountant

Relevant Financial Experience

Job description

Home / Roles / Governor (Audit) | Northampton College

Become a Governor at Northampton College and use your audit expertise and shared passion and ambition for education to ensure every student receives an outstanding education.

• Location: Northampton, Northamptonshire

At Northampton College, our students are at the heart of everything we do, ensuring they receive an outstanding education that enables them to succeed regardless of starting point or aspired destination.

We are seeking to engage a Governor with professional audit expertise who will bring not only their experience but also the same ambition and passion for our students, our staff, and our college.

Who we are

Northampton College is a general further education (GFE) college in the East Midlands with over 9,000 students across a range of academic levels studying full- and part-time programmes and apprenticeships.

It operates from:

• A main campus on the outskirts of Northampton in a densely populated, predominantly working-class suburb
• A town centre campus
• A campus in the smaller town of Daventry

Northampton College is one of the highest-achieving colleges in England and the highest-achieving in the Southeast Midlands. National Apprenticeship data has also revealed an overall achievement rate that is substantially higher than the national average.

These ratings cement Northampton College’s position as the leading provider of further education in the Midlands, placing it amongst the very best in the whole country, thanks to a continuing and determined focus on ensuring each individual student reaches their full potential.

Who we are looking for

Our Board has a positive and collaborative culture, and our Governors share a passion for educational excellence and a commitment to continual improvement, ensuring the best outcomes for all our students.

Governors are critical to the success of the College, as the support and challenge they provide help shape the College’s mission, vision, values, and strategic objectives, all of which are vital to the College’s continued success.

With a key independent member with audit expertise coming to the end of their respective term of office by the end of this academic year, we seek to appoint a new member to support our succession planning. We are looking to engage a new Governor and we are open to a variety of backgrounds with the expertise, experience, and commitment to play a vital role in the shaping of Northampton College’s future.

We are in particular looking for a financially qualified professional to join our Board and audit committee. We welcome all applications from those with financial experience, whether this be from practice or industry.

Whilst it is not necessary to have previous non-executive/board level executive experience, it is important that you work well within the Board environment and offer the appropriate challenge, security and support the Board and College require.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a group of like-minded individuals who share a passion for the support and improvement of education and the community within the region.

Peridot Partners and Northampton College are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and our client expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references before any final offer can be made.

For further information about the role or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact our advising consultants at Peridot Partners:

If you would like to know more about this role please contact Sarah Atkins-Boal

Northampton College opened in 1973 and has played a pivotal role in the provision of vocational and technical post-16 education in Northamptonshire.

The College has been on a remarkable journey over the last ten years. For example, having consistently been amongst the highest performing of more than 200 colleges nationally for 16-18 education and training.

Northampton College is the leading College in the Southeast Midlands, with significant strengths in health and social care, creative industries, construction, business and digital skills.

Our Principal and CEO, Jason Lancaster, joined the College in 2024 and continues to lead it to its next level. A consistent focus on students, commitment to the local community and a drive for a culture of continuous improvement remain key to the direction of this successful College.

The College has strengthened the alignment between its provision and local and regional priorities by developing an ambitious curriculum with a clear line of sight to career opportunities. Our facilities are outstanding and include well-equipped specialist workshops, laboratories and resource centres, which provide contemporary learning environments for our students and staff.

With access to highly regarded professional, technical and vocational qualifications, the College’s 11,000 students thrive and progress into higher education or employment locally and regionally, supporting Northamptonshire’s economic development.

The College has a turnover of over £40 million per year and was rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted in its most recent inspection in 2024.

Our 2023-26 strategy is putting skills in focus with our mission, purpose and values at the heart of our plans.

Our four strategic aims form the bedrock of our plans and ambitions. These are:

• Ensure high-quality teaching and learning: To support our students to achieve and grow during their time in the College.
• Remain financially stable: To sustain investment in resources and infrastructure with financial resilience to thrive.
• Continue to be an excellent learning organisation: By utilising available resources in the most efficient way to develop and grow.
• Be the College in the community: To drive productivity and grow the economy.

Our corporation has a very positive outlook for the future, remains committed to our continued financial stability and ensuring the College continues to meet local, regional and national skills needs.

Our success

We have impressive achievement and progression rates for our diverse student population. At the heart of the College’s learning philosophy is a commitment to offering the very best student experience and an exceptional learning and support environment. We are proud that our students are treated as individuals, and everyone is given a platform to fully achieve their potential. The College has continued to develop its support for students with diverse needs over successive years.

We have invested heavily in our future, with recent developments including our new Green Skills Centre, our interactive health and social care ward and our immersive reality iLab. Plans to further enhance our College for the benefit of our students are being developed.

Northampton College is proud of its diverse cohort of students and is committed, morally and through statute, to the values of equality, diversity and inclusion.

To embed this throughout the College, we encourage and welcome applications for job vacancies from people of all backgrounds. Our recruitment and selection processes incorporate anonymity of protected characteristics at both the shortlisting of applications stage and through the selection process, wherever feasible.

This, along with other measures that promote full and fair consideration of all applications, along with the College’s implicit ethos of inclusion, enables the College to promote equality of opportunity and eliminate unlawful discrimination on the grounds of: sex; race; disability; age; sexual orientation; gender reassignment; religion or belief; marital status, or pregnancy and maternity.

All members of the College’s staff community are required to adhere to, and promote, the College’s values of respect for each other, dignity, diversity and equal opportunity, enabling the continual evolution of a culture of inclusion, where diversity and difference are embraced and open, positive discussion is genuinely valued.

As importantly, the College will not tolerate unlawful discrimination, harassment or victimisation within the organisation.

Northampton College prides itself on being the College of the community and its role in enabling access to education and the provision of an inclusive learning environment, where respect and differentiation in learning are fundamental to our students’ success.

Our accessibility provisions include:

• Step-free access to the building, all key meeting rooms and bathrooms, and an accessible workstation.
• Accessibility dogs are welcome.
• Interviews can be held in meeting rooms that support hearing loops.
• Papers and materials can be presented in different formats.
• A sign language interpreter can be accessed for interviews.
• Working patterns and locations can be adjusted.

Applicants with a disability are invited to contact us in confidence at any point during the recruitment process to discuss steps that could be taken to overcome operational difficulties presented by the role, or if any adjustments or support are required regarding the recruitment process.

For further information about the role or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact our advising consultants at Peridot Partners:

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To formally apply, please submit a CV and supporting statement (ideally maximum 2 sides of A4 each) that clearly outlines your suitability for the role against the criteria provided in the person specification, including your interest and motivationin applying for this position.

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For further information about the role or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact our advising consultants at Peridot Partners:

As a sector-leading executive search consultancy, we know the importance of creating recruitment processes that are fair, inclusive, and free from bias. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a process that values differences.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010 and can show that you meet the ‘essential’ criteria described in the person specification, please let us know.

If you require any job information in an alternative format (e.g. large print), please contact Sarah or Katie. Please also let us know if you would like to submit your application in an alternative format.

Recruitment selection processes are based on evidence of competence stated in the person specification and in relation to our values.

Timetable

We are in the process of confirming interview dates. Once confirmed, we will update the site and contact those who have applied.

Peridot and Northampton College are committed to promoting equality and diversity. To help us raise awareness and support a culture that is diverse and recognises and develops the potential of all, we need to appreciate the profile of candidates who apply for positions.We will send you an equality monitoring survey at the point of receiving your application and at the time of placement. This ensures that our processes remain inclusive and equitable throughout, and provides us with important data to help us showcase our impact.

The information will be treated confidentially and anonymously and will help us to support our commitment to fair recruitment practice. All information provided will be held in the strictest confidence and will not be shared with anyone, in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 launched on 25 May 2018.

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