Senior Programme Finance Specialist (Part-time, 6-month FTC)

Care International UK; City of Westminster; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A global humanitarian organization is seeking a Senior Programme Finance Specialist in Westminster, England. The role requires strong budgeting and analysis skills for managing diverse funding mechanisms including grants and contracts. The candidate will ensure compliance and provide financial leadership throughout the project lifecycle. This position offers the opportunity to enhance financial quality and risk management, supporting the organization's mission to tackle poverty and inequality globally.

Qualifications

• Experienced programme finance professional with strong budgeting and financial analysis skills.
• Track record of supporting proposals and managing grants for institutional and corporate donors.
• Solid understanding of donor compliance requirements and cost recovery principles.

Responsibilities

• Provide financial and compliance leadership across a portfolio of programmes.
• Develop compliant, well-structured budgets and financial narratives.
• Support contract negotiations and amendments.

Skills

Budgeting capability

Financial analysis skills

Attention to detail

Excel skills

Understanding of donor compliance

Job description

As Senior Programme Finance Specialist, you will work across diverse funding mechanisms, including traditional grants and commercial contracts, and collaborate closely with programme managers, country offices, and finance colleagues across the CARE confederation. The role offers meaningful exposure to complex programmes and innovative funding arrangements, as well as the opportunity to shape how CARE strengthens financial quality, risk management, and donor confidence across its portfolio., The Senior Programme Finance Specialist provides senior financial, contractual, and compliance leadership across a mixed portfolio of programmes funded by institutional, corporate, and philanthropic donors. The role has a strong focus on programme funding and proposal development, working closely with Programme Funding colleagues, Programme Managers, and Country Offices to develop compliant, well-structured budgets and financial narratives.

Key objectives

Key objectives include ensuring robust financial design at proposal stage, effective financial oversight during delivery, and strong compliance and audit readiness across the portfolio. The role also contributes to financial risk management, supports contract negotiations and amendments, and provides technical advice and capacity strengthening to colleagues and partners. Strong budgeting capability, experience with institutional and corporate proposals, and the ability to work confidently with commercial contracts are central to success in this role.

Safeguarding

CARE International UK has a zero-tolerance approach to any abuse to, sexual harassment of or exploitation of, a vulnerable adult or child by any of our staff, representatives or partners. CARE International UK expects all staff to share this commitment through our Safeguarding Policy (link here) and our Code of Conduct (link here). They are responsible for ensuring they understand and work within the remit of these policies throughout their time at CARE International UK.

Safeguarding our beneficiaries is our top priority in everything we do, including recruitment. All offers of employment at CARE International UK are subject to:

• Satisfactory references. CARE International UK participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme (link here). In line with this Scheme, we will request information from successful applicants' previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment.
• Appropriate criminal record checks (including a Bridger check, link here).

By submitting an application, the applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.

Equality and Diversity

We are committed to Equality and value Diversity. We are a Disability Confident Employer and particularly welcome applications from disabled people. We guarantee interviews to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role (see person specification). If you require the candidate brief or need to submit your application in an alternative format, because of a disability, please do get in touch by sending an email to, our HR team.

We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and respected. We particularly welcome applications from people of underrepresented backgrounds, including those from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority communities, and individuals who identify as LGBTQ+.

Right to Work in the UK

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You are an experienced programme finance professional with strong budgeting and financial analysis skills and a track record of supporting proposals and managing grants for institutional and corporate donors. You are comfortable working on complex proposal budgets, including for commercial contracts and non-traditional funding mechanisms, and have a solid understanding of donor compliance requirements and cost recovery principles.

You bring excellent attention to detail, strong Excel skills, and the ability to explain financial and contractual issues clearly to non-finance colleagues. You are confident working independently across a mixed portfolio, supporting programmes across the full project lifecycle from proposal development and contracting through to delivery, reporting, and close-out. You share CARE's commitment to tackling structural inequality and are comfortable working in line with feminist leadership, localisation, and safeguarding principles.

CARE International is a global humanitarian organisation leading the fight to end poverty in the world's most challenging situations. Women and girls are at the centre of our work, because we cannot overcome poverty and inequality until all people have equal rights and opportunities. We know that when a crisis erupts, women are often the first to pick up the pieces, so we work alongside women, so they have the power to make change where it's needed most. Founded in 1945, CARE currently works in over 100 countries and last year alone reached 53.4 million people through nearly 1,500 projects.

Why work for CARE International UK?

This is an excellent opportunity to join CARE International UK's Programme Management Team in a senior programme finance role at a time when the organisation is continuing to evolve how it funds and delivers programmes. The role sits at the heart of CARE's engagement with a wide range of institutional, corporate, and philanthropic donors and plays a critical role in ensuring programmes are well designed, financially robust, and compliant from proposal stage through delivery.