Interim Group Director of Finance for the Royal College of Nursing

Background

Morgan Hunt Executive were approached by the Royal College of Nursing to identify an Interim Group Director of Finance.

The Royal College of Nursing is the world’s largest nursing union and professional body. They represent more than 465,000 nurses, student nurses, midwives and nursing support workers in the UK and internationally.

There was a requirement to find an Interim Group Director of Finance who would be responsible for the finances of the organisation – this was a key leadership appointment reporting into Patricia Cullen, General Secretary and Chief Executive.

Key Challenges

• The key challenge was to identify a qualified finance professional who had the required experience for the role. It was essential that they were able to demonstrate a track record of managing budgets in excess of £100m. • It was also essential that whilst they were commercially minded, that this was balanced by individuals who had the emotional intelligence and empathy to work for a non-profit organisation.
• The other challenge was identifying individuals who were available to start quickly, as with any interim appointment there was an urgent requirement to get the individual into post and to start making impact.

Solutions

• It was essential that we moved quickly as this was an interim appointment so we started by targeting the talent pool which we had built in our database. This allowed us to reach finance qualified leaders who we had already vetted and were actively looking for new appointments.
• We also approached our networks which resulted in the recommendation of individuals previously unknown to us – as they came with endorsements we could ensure a high calibre of talent.
• Using our LinkedIn Recruiter Licences, we were also able to search for individuals who had worked in large organisations with turnovers in excess of £100m and who were available for work – we then made direct and targeted approaches to these individuals.
• We conducted telephone and then video conferencing interviews via MS Teams, ensured compliance checks including the Right to Work, proof of address and validation of certificates as well as reference checking.
• We submitted 3 individuals as our shortlist with one being invited back for a second stage interview with the Chair of RCNi.

Results

Our candidate, John Yates was successfully appointed into the role – his contract is ongoing.