About us

The Wye and Usk Foundation is a Rivers Trust that improves the ecology, habitat and water quality of the rivers Wye and Usk

Our core goals to 2030 are:

To restore the rivers’ ecology and fish populations

To ensure the economics, and resultant decisions taken in the river catchment support river friendly land use and nature based solutions

To ensure WUF has a secure funding base

To ensure restoration efforts are aligned on a catchment scale

We are one of the largest rivers’ trusts in England and Wales in terms of output and a leader in our field, developing new techniques and delivering improvements for the aquatic environment.

The Foundation was formed in 1995 due to the alarming decline in Atlantic Salmon and because very little was being done to address the serious problems facing the rivers Wye and Usk. Since then, we have worked with a range of partners and the wider public on a series of projects to remedy these issues. This has been to the benefit a wide range of flora and fauna, along with local communities and the economy.

We are much more than just a lobbying charity. First and foremost, we are a “doing” organisation with track record in delivering results for the environment. Broadly speaking, our work can be divided into three categories:

Environment - Through a series of partnership projects, we remedy problems affecting the two rivers such as habitat degradation, poor water quality and diffuse pollution, over-abstraction, barriers to fish migration and over-exploitation of our fisheries.

Education - We also deliver environmental learning opportunities about rivers across the Wye and Usk catchment areas.

Economics - We bring the economic benefits of our environmental work to local communities. This last element of our work is delivered through The Fishing Passport.

With our expertise, reach and our member trusts’ local knowledge, we work with farmers, residents and organisations to provide advice and resources for their communities. We bring together the people, knowledge, data and intelligence to help rivers thrive again; for us and future generations.

Our rivers are an integral part of our communities and we are leading the movement to protect

Job Overview
We are looking for an experienced Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to join our team of 28 staff, ideally before the end of 2025.

This is a hybrid role of 3 to 4 days a week with a minimum of 2 days a week based at the office in Talgarth, LD3 0BW.

The salary is £60,000 FTE

We offer flexibility around working hours, with the expectation of trustee meeting attendance 3 times a year, and weekly management and team meetings on-site over 2 days a week. We offer 24 days holiday (pro rata), plus 8 statutory public holidays (not pro rata). We are happy to make adjustments for people with disabilities and/or caring responsibilities, and we welcome applications from all communities.

The starting salary is £60,000 (pro rata) plus a 6% employer pension contribution on a salary sacrifice scheme.

The CFO works alongside the Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer to manage the finances and governance of The Wye and Usk Foundation (WUF), a conservation charity with an annual income between £1.5m and £2m.

Given the retirement of the current postholder at the end of 2025, we are seeking a well-qualified and experienced individual to take on this senior leadership role as soon as possible to enable handover to occur.

The role is very varied and wide-ranging, including presenting financial information and management accounts to the trustees and senior management on a monthly basis, maintaining annual budgeting, appraising internal project budgets and contracts, preparing annual statutory accounts in line with the Charity SORP and liaising with external auditors, and managing the VAT requirements for the organisation on a partial VAT basis.

The postholder will lead a team of three in the finance department and join a very knowledgeable and welcoming team of 28 highly engaged and passionate staff at WUF.

Main duties and responsibilities:

Working alongside the CEO, the CFO will provide commercial, financial and governance management and leadership for WUF. The CFO will not only be an exceptional accountant, with executive oversight of the finance function, but will be commercially astute and have the confidence to represent robustly the best interests of WUF. The CFO will also be an experienced manager of people.

Key Accountabilities:

1. Act as a business partner to support and constructively challenge the CEO in the general management of WUF, reporting to the trustees.

2. Lead all aspects of the finance function (including maintaining and developing the financial control environment; robust financial accounting; cashflow management; incisive management information; clear and concise reporting to the trustees) to ensure that the Charity and the Companies’ assets are secured, risks are managed, and the Board of Trustees can make well-informed decisions.

3. Manage relationships with auditors, funders, banks, investment platforms (with assistance from the trustees), and other external organisations.

4. Provide support to project bids and the development of other commercial opportunities to ensure that bids/opportunities are optimised for WUF.

5. Provide input to project and programme delivery from time to time, to ensure that performance is maximised for WUF.

6. Attend trustee meetings and Finance and General Purposes Committee meetings to guide the Board of Trustees and the Senior Management Team on financial, commercial and governance issues.

7. Ensure compliance with the requirements of the Charity Commission and Companies House and, from time to time, provide guidance to members of WUF on good governance practice.

Staff Management:

1. Lead, manage and develop the finance team and ensure the team understands their respective and collective contribution to achieving the Charity's objectives.

2. Support the team in their professional development.

3. Ensure the team delivers a high-quality service focused on internal and external customers and funders.

Knowledge, skills, experience, and personal qualities:

Essential

Significant experience in financial management and senior leadership roles, ideally gained in a range of organisations
A strategic thinker, able to see the big-picture, shape long-term direction and balance this with attention to detail.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills combined with creativity and openness to innovate.
Strong IT and digital skills, with experience of using technology to improve efficiency and automate processes.
Proven people leadership experience, with a track record of managing, developing, and inspiring teams and creating a supportive, inclusive, and collaborative culture.
Excellent relationship builder, with the interpersonal skills to influence, collaborate, and provide constructive challenge while maintaining positive relationships across the organisation, including with trustees and senior stakeholders.
Experience reporting to boards of trustees, with the confidence to contribute to board-level discussions as a trusted adviser.
Strong written and verbal communications skills, able to distil complexity into pertinent, concise and understandable messages tailored to diverse audiences.
The courage to make and communicate tough decisions and be open about risks and setbacks.
Resilient and calm under pressure, with the ability to maintain focus and steady leadership in challenging circumstances.
Impeccable standards of integrity and personal ethics, acting as a role model for the organisation’s values.
Knowledge of Sage financial software packages.
Experience of running and overseeing payroll.
Experience of Partial Exemption VAT for Charities.
Work to a good standard in Microsoft 365, especially Excel, Word, Outlook and Teams.

Desirable

Experience of working in the charitable sector.
Experience of grant funded claims.
Understanding of Company Law and it’s practical application for organisations.
Understanding of the environmental sector or a passion for making a positive impact.
Familiarity in using Sharepoint.
A basic understanding of UK payroll taxes and corporate governance.

Qualifications/ Education

Qualified Accountant, preferably ICAEW, CIMA or ACCA.

Additional information

Everyone who works for us is expected to contribute to a respectful and inclusive working culture and follow our policies and procedures.

Please note we can only accept applications made through this site, and not sent by email or other methods.

We are committed to ensuring our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible. We warmly welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. If you would benefit from any adjustments to support you through the process, please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.

To apply please send your CV and a covering letter.

Closing date: Friday 31st October 2025

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a strong pool of applications, so we encourage early submission

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: £60,000.00 per year

Expected hours: 22.5 – 30 per week

Benefits:

Company pension
Flexitime
Life insurance

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Talgarth, LD3 0BW

The Wye and Usk Foundation Jobs

Chief Financial Officer