
Welcome
Thanks for considering the Financial Controller and Head of Financial Planning & Analysis opportunities.
It is a truly exciting time to be joining MSF UK and the Finance & Services Directorate. If you share my excitement for the opportunities and challenges ahead, and are committed to making a meaningful impact for MSF’s patients, I encourage you to apply.
​
​
New Strategic Plan
MSF UK is about to embark on an ambitious 6-year strategy taking us to 2031. (Our public-facing strategic plan is currently being ‘polished’ and will be published in the New Year.) The ambitions within the Strategic Plan which are particularly relevant for these roles are:
-
To significantly grow MSF UK’s annual income by 2031 and to maximise our financial contributions to MSF’s medical humanitarian operations.
-
To develop MSF UK’s enabling functions (including the Finance & Services Directorate) to be efficient and user-centred while significantly adding value.
​
You will be joining an organisation and a group of colleagues who are all aligned and committed to growing and maximising MSF UK’s impact. In my vision of the future, the Finance Function will play a critical role in delivering these ambitions; I want to be standing with you, looking back and be able to say, “We did it, and our finance teams made significant contributions to achieving that success”.
​
Finance
I am particularly excited about this next phase of the journey for the Finance & Services Directorate. In Finance, we have put strong foundations in place over recent years, and I think that we do our core activities pretty well. But we want to continue to build on those foundations and fully realise our vision for Finance to be a valued partner and strategic enabler within MSF UK; I am looking for 2026 to mark a significant step forward in implementing this vision and the incoming Financial Controller and Head of Financial Planning & Analysis will have key roles to play in achieving this.
​
For the incoming Financial Controller, there are exciting opportunities to better harness technology to improve efficiency and user experience. In this role, you will be critical to effectively support the planned growth in income and the financial management of new income streams.
​
The newly created role of Head of Financial Planning & Analysis will have the opportunity to establish FP&A as a distinct sub-team and take it to the next level. You will be at the forefront of driving informed decision-making which maximises MSF UK’s value for money, with a key focus on our fundraising investment decisions to achieve our ambitious income growth targets.
​
The new Financial Controller and Head of Financial Planning & Analysis, alongside a Head of Procurement (due to start in Q1 2026), will mean lots of new faces, perspectives and ideas in the Finance & Services Directorate Leadership Team. Together with the current Head of IT & Workplace Services, I am excited about the opportunity to form a new high performing team. There will be an opportunity for us to work collectively to shape the Directorate’s culture and our shared ways of working as we seek to deliver on MSF UK’s strategic ambitions.
​
MSF, People and Culture
All of that is without mentioning the opportunity to join MSF and everything it stands for. It is inspiring and motivating to be a part of MSF’s medical humanitarian work; a feeling shared by all of my colleagues and by joining you will be able play your part too.
​
Driven by this shared motivation and purpose, at MSF UK we hold ourselves accountable to high standards. We are seeking to build a culture of innovation: when we fail, we learn fast and when we succeed, we celebrate together. At the same time, we value people and strive to trust, empower and support each other. I love the collaborative atmosphere and working alongside such a great group of talented and committed colleagues; I have lost count of the times that I have heard someone say that the best thing about working for MSF is ‘the people’.
If you are motivated by MSF’s mission, if you will thrive in our culture, and if you are excited about leading MSF UK’s Finance Function as a strategic enabler and a partner who is truly valued by your internal colleagues, then I encourage you to apply and I look forward to meeting you at interview.
​
Chris Young
Director of Finance & Services
​​
​
​
​
