ABOUT THE GALLERY – ABOUT OUR TEAM

The National Gallery is one of Australia’s leading visual arts institutions. The National Gallery is based in Canberra and is a vital part of the Australian cultural landscape. Our Purpose is to collect, preserve, promote and share the national collection of art. The Vision of the National Gallery is to be the international reference point for art in Australia, inspiring all people to explore, experience and learn. Our Values include Boldness, Integrity, Respect and Excellence.

WORKING AT THE GALLERY

When you work at the National Gallery you will be exposed to some of the world’s leading Australian and international art and artists. We are located in the National triangle on the waterfront and your lunchtimes can be spent in our beautiful sculpture garden or around Lake Burley Griffin.

We support flexible working practices, including working from home, and you will have access to low-cost, onsite car parking.

The National Gallery is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of our people and we expect our people to share this commitment and work safely at all times.

We value the contribution that a diverse workforce brings and encourage people from a diverse background to apply. This might include identifying as First Nations peoples, people with a disability, culturally and linguistically diverse people and LGBTQIA+ people.

WHAT YOU WILL GAIN FROM THE EXPERIENCE - OVERVIEW OF THE ROLE

The National Gallery’s business structure and financial management is quite complex and governed by the Commonwealth Resource Management Framework (CRMF) and various pieces of legislation, directions, and guidelines. The Gallery is funded through a mixture of government funding, commercial revenue, corporate sponsorships and private giving. The Gallery has heritage and cultural assets valued at over $6 billion and a specific purpose built building which are subject to significant accounting judgement and estimation.

In this context, the Head of Financial Operations, reporting directly to the Chief Finance Officer, provides hands-on financial leadership to manage a small team delivering the Gallery’s: financial framework and policies; systems of internal financial control; financial management information system; financial management; and financial reporting.

Central to success is full optimisation and integration of the Gallery’s financial system, TechnologyOne, and the review of systems, processes and capability to keep pace with the demand for financial information, e-commerce and changes in the operating environment.

As a finance leader you will drive strong financial management and good governance across the Gallery and support financial sustainability by optimising revenue through cashflow and investment management.

The role requires a highly driven finance professional (CPA/CA) with the willingness and passion to add value and continue to implement a significant modernisation and growth agenda to deliver better practice financial management and support strong organisational financial performance.

THE KEY DUTIES OF THE POSITION - WHAT WILL YOU DO? – DUTY STATEMENT

In accordance with the Executive Level 2 work level standards, you will:

Motivating, planning, and guiding the finance team to support streamlined processes, continual improvement, professional standards and better practice financial operations.

Providing leadership, coaching and training to drive strong financial management and across the Gallery.

Developing and maintaining the Gallery’s financial internal control framework, policies and procedures to meet better practice standards and promote compliance and good governance.

Managing and prioritising workplans and workflows to support the day-to-day delivery of timely and accurate financial operations including:

Accounts payable and receivable.

Credit card management.

Month-end processes and reconciliations.

Compliance with taxation law.

Whole of government financial reporting in the Central Budget Management System administered by the Department of Finance.

Managing and maintaining the Gallery’s asset register, including the valuation and stocktake of infrastructure, plant and equipment and the Gallery’s $6.8 billion National Collection to comply with the Australian Accounting Standards and contemporary management practices.

Delivering accurate and timely annual financial statements and accounting records for the Foundation, the Gallery’s Trust Accounts and the National Gallery’s consolidated financial statements, including:

Robust quality assurance processes supported by detailed reconciliations and workpapers that meet better practice standards.

Comprehensive and insightful analysis and commentary of large and unusual items, alignment with business operations and cost drivers, movements between years and against budget.

Compliance with the reporting framework: Corporations Act 2001; the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act 2012; Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013; Public Governance, Performance and Accountability (Financial Reporting) Rule 2015; National Gallery Act 1975 and other directions and guidelines.

Position papers and policies on financial accounting matters including the application and interpretation of specific Australian Accounting Standards/other requirements to the Gallery’s business operations.

Building collaborative relationships with others across the Gallery, the senior leadership team, and external stakeholders, including being the key liaison officer with the external auditors.

Ensuring the integrity of the financial management system, associated controls and financial records.

Optimising and integrating the financial system (TechnologyOne) with other business systems to streamline and drive service improvements and/or efficiency.

Other duties as required commensurate with skills and abilities.

ELIGIBILITY:

Citizenship – To be eligible for employment with the Gallery, you must be an Australian citizen.

Police Check – to be eligible for this role you must complete a police check.

Security Assessment: The successful applicant will be required to obtain and maintain a Baseline security clearance. Ongoing employment in this role requires the successful candidates to maintain a high-level security clearance. Loss of a security clearance at any time will lead to termination of employment.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply for this role please go to the National Gallery's Careers portal.

You should provide a tailored CV (maximum of three pages) along with a statement of no more than two pages that outlines your skills, capabilities and experience, against the information above.

In your statement response you should keep in mind the capabilities and behaviours required to be successful for this role, as identified in the information above. Try not to duplicate information that can be found in your CV but do highlight any specific examples or achievements that demonstrate your ability to perform the role.

An order of merit may be established from this selection process and may be used to fill future identical vacancies over the next 12 months. Selection may be based on application and referee reports only. If you do not wish to be added to an order of merit, please notify us in your application.