Interim Bursar

**Description**:
The Governing Body of Brasenose College wishes to appoint an Interim Bursar for four months. This is to cover for the College’s long-serving Bursar who has been granted a period of extended leave. The role is mainly full time and in person, but there is some flexibility, particularly in August and early September.

The Bursar’s role The Bursar is the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of the College and a leading member of the senior management team. The Bursar works closely with the Principal, Vice Principal, Senior Tutor and Development Director and leads about 100 Professional and Support staff across the College through four direct reports: the Director of Operations (Domestic Bursar), Finance Director, HR Director and IT Director.

The College Brasenose College is a self-governing institution and a registered charity. It has its own Statutes and By-Laws and the ultimate authority for decisions rests with the Principal and the Fellows of the Governing Body. Under the leadership of the Principal the work of the College Officers is overseen by the Governing Body through a structure of Committees. The Bursar takes the lead in the Estates and Finance, Investment, HR, Remuneration and IT Committees and is a member of the other main Committees, including the Academic Committee and Development Committee. The College has about 600 students (370 undergraduates, 230 postgraduates), of whom 450 live in College rooms at one of our four city-centre sites. The College has 44 Governing Body Fellows, 100 academic employees and 120 professional and support staff. The endowment is about £200m and the income drawn down from it covers about 40% of the operating costs of the College.

**Principal Responsibilities and Duties of the Bursar**:
The Interim Bursar will work closely with the other Senior Officers and the Directors to provide a central point of contact and coordination in order to provide advice, to ensure that planned activities are developed appropriately and to ensure that the College responds well to emerging issues by identifying what needs to be done by who and when. A key part of the role will be to ensure that decisions and reports are referred to the appropriate committees at the appropriate time.

It is envisaged that some of the more specialised parts of the role will be delegated to particular Fellows or others, although the Interim Bursar will still need to coordinate closely with them. Likely examples are the major strategic property developments and the HR support for any cases involving senior academics.

Because of the very diverse range of activities carried out within the College, the Interim Bursar should expect to deal with multiple diverse issues at any one time and be comfortable moving quickly from major strategic issues to relatively small operational matters that do not fall within the clear jurisdiction of other Offices or a Director.

**Financial and General Management**
- **Financial Planning and Control (headed by the Finance Director)**
- Long term financial planning, budgeting, financial control, compliance.
- Of note in 2025: a new finance system is being introduced on 1st August. We are setting up a new Audit and Risk Committee. The College’s financial year end is 31st July and the preparation of accounts and on-site audit will be ongoing during the period August 2025 to November 2025.
- **Endowment**
- The endowment is managed by the Investment Advisory Committee which includes five expert alumni. This is convened by the Bursar. One third of the endowment is invested directly in property which the Bursar manages with our agents Bidwells.
- **Domestic Bursary (headed by the Domestic Bursar/Operations Director)**
- This department is the main employer of non-academic staff (about 80 people) and its smooth running is essential to the day to day life of the College community. Through the promotion of Conferences in vacations it is also an important source of extra income. The teams include catering, housekeeping, maintenance, security, Health and Safety.
- Of note in 2025: There has been some change of personnel in key posts over the last few months.
- **Building Projects (headed by the Domestic Bursar/Operation Director)**
- The College has a programme of significant building projects across its operation estate, managed by the Domestic Bursar with direct oversight of the Bursar for the larger schemes.
- Of note in 2025: the redevelopment of Frewin Hall should be finishing in September 2025, in time for the returning students. We are also planning a new arrangement for our rare books and a 20-room development on one of our graduate sites.
- **Employment Matters (headed by the HR Director)**
- Recruitment, reward, retention, development, and general welfare of all employees of the College. The academic employees are managed by the Senior Tutor with the support of the Bursar and HR Director. The Bursar has a formal role in the management of College employment