Finance Department Director

About Bedside Buddies

Bedside Buddies is a Thailand-based nonprofit organisation committed to advancing the emotional and psychological well-being of paediatric patients in hospitals across the country. Through carefully designed acts of compassion including personalised handwritten cards, engaging activities, and thoughtfully managed volunteer visits we seek to alleviate distress, reduce isolation, and foster moments of dignity, comfort, and joy for children undergoing medical treatment.

The organisation operates on the foundational principles of compassion, integrity, accountability, and ethical stewardship. In all aspects of its work, Bedside Buddies prioritises the welfare of children, the confidence of families and institutional partners, the responsible administration of donor resources, and the maintenance of rigorous professional standards appropriate to a child-centred nonprofit environment.

About the Role

The Finance Director serves as the senior functional lead for the financial management of Bedside Buddies and is entrusted with the oversight of the organisation’s financial governance, fiscal planning, budgetary discipline, transparency measures, and financial reporting processes. The role carries substantial responsibility for ensuring that the organisation’s financial practices are prudent, well-documented, auditable, and fully aligned with its charitable mission and internal governance framework.

Working in close coordination with Organisational Leadership and other members of Organisational Management, the Finance Director is expected to establish and maintain sound financial systems that support both operational continuity and long-term sustainability. This includes stewardship over financial controls, allocation of resources across departments, monitoring of expenditure, reporting to internal stakeholders, and the preparation of transparency materials that reinforce donor confidence and institutional credibility.

The post requires a high degree of judgement, discretion, precision, and ethical maturity. The successful candidate must be capable of balancing strategic oversight with administrative rigor, particularly within a mission-driven environment serving a vulnerable population and operating with strong expectations regarding transparency, confidentiality, and safeguarding.

Key Responsibilities

The Finance Director shall be expected to discharge responsibilities including, but not limited to, the following:

• To oversee the full spectrum of Bedside Buddies’ financial administration, including financial planning, budget management, expense monitoring, and internal financial record-keeping.

• To develop, maintain, and periodically review the organisation’s financial control framework in order to ensure accuracy, accountability, and appropriate segregation of duties wherever practicable.

• To prepare departmental and organisation-wide budgets, and to advise leadership on the appropriate allocation of funds in accordance with strategic priorities and operational necessity.

• To ensure that all financial transactions are properly documented, traceable, and retained in a manner consistent with organisational policy and applicable legal or regulatory expectations.

• To produce regular financial summaries, transparency reports, donor-facing financial updates, and other financial documents necessary to preserve institutional trust and demonstrate responsible stewardship.

• To monitor cash flow, anticipated expenditure, and financial risks, and to escalate material concerns to the appropriate members of leadership in a timely and structured manner.

• To support or coordinate financial audit readiness, internal financial reviews, and any other compliance-oriented verification processes required by the organisation.

• To work collaboratively with leadership and relevant departments in relation to fundraising activity, donations management, financial forecasting, and the use of restricted or designated funds where applicable.

• To ensure that financial policies and procedures are communicated clearly to relevant volunteers or staff and are implemented consistently across the organisation.

• To maintain appropriate confidentiality over all sensitive financial, donor, volunteer, and operational information accessed in the course of duty.

• To contribute to the wider governance culture of Bedside Buddies by promoting professionalism, transparency, and ethical decision-making in all finance-related matters.

• To support the development of sustainable financial systems suitable for a growing nonprofit organisation and proportionate to the scale, complexity, and sensitivity of its operations.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will be a person of sound judgement, high integrity, and demonstrable administrative discipline, with the ability to exercise careful oversight in a mission-led and ethically sensitive environment. Bedside Buddies seeks an individual who not only possesses technical financial competence, but who also understands that financial governance within a child-centred nonprofit carries moral as well as operational significance.

The preferred candidate will ordinarily demonstrate the following attributes and qualifications:

• A strong interest in, or commitment to, nonprofit service, community impact, and child-centred social initiatives.

• Demonstrable competence in finance, budgeting, bookkeeping, accounting oversight, audit preparation, financial reporting, or a related area of administrative management.

• The ability to design, implement, and maintain orderly financial systems with a high standard of accuracy and documentary discipline.

• Strong analytical ability, including the capacity to identify financial inefficiencies, emerging risks, or control weaknesses and respond in a measured and constructive manner.

• A mature understanding of fiduciary responsibility, stewardship of donor funds, and the importance of transparent reporting in public-interest organisations.

• Excellent organisational skills, including the ability to manage multiple deadlines, maintain accurate records, and communicate financial information clearly to non-specialist stakeholders.

• The ability to exercise discretion in relation to confidential information and to uphold strict standards of privacy, professionalism, and internal trust.

• The capacity to work collaboratively across departments while maintaining appropriate independence and objectivity in matters of financial oversight.

• Reliability, responsiveness, and a consistent record of acting with integrity and accountability.

• Prior experience in nonprofit finance, student-led organisations, community initiatives, or mission-driven administration may be advantageous, though strong potential, judgement, and alignment with the organisation’s values will also be taken into serious consideration.

Commitment to Child Safeguarding

Bedside Buddies serves a highly vulnerable beneficiary population. Accordingly, child safeguarding is not confined solely to patient-facing roles, but extends to all leadership and administrative functions within the organisation, including finance.

The Finance Director is required to uphold the organisation’s safeguarding culture by ensuring that all financial and administrative conduct supports, and never compromises, the dignity, safety, privacy, or best interests of the children and families served by Bedside Buddies. This includes maintaining appropriate confidentiality over all records that may contain personal, donor, volunteer, or operationally sensitive information; exercising caution in the handling, storage, and circulation of such information; and adhering strictly to all organisational policies concerning confidentiality, data protection, and lawful information use.

The postholder must also understand that financial decision-making can have direct safeguarding implications. Sound budgeting, transparent controls, appropriate resource allocation, and disciplined record management are essential to sustaining safe operations, responsible supervision, and compliant programme delivery. Any concern involving misconduct, misuse of funds, breaches of confidentiality, or actions that may jeopardise the welfare of children, volunteers, or institutional relationships must be raised promptly through the appropriate internal channels.

Key Factors of Consideration

In assessing applications for the office of Finance Director, Bedside Buddies shall place particular weight upon the following factors:

• Mission Alignment: The extent to which the candidate demonstrates a genuine commitment to the humanitarian purpose, values, and service ethos of Bedside Buddies.

• Financial Competence: The candidate’s capacity to manage budgets, records, reporting obligations, and financial control processes to a high standard of accuracy and reliability.

• Integrity and Fiduciary Judgement: The ability to act as a trustworthy steward of organisational funds, donor confidence, and internal financial information.

• Governance and Transparency Orientation: A clear appreciation for the importance of documentation, audit readiness, transparency reports, and accountability mechanisms within a nonprofit setting.

• Confidentiality and Professional Discretion: The maturity to handle sensitive financial and organisational matters with appropriate restraint, care, and procedural discipline.

• Organisational Capability: The ability to establish orderly systems, manage competing priorities, and support a growing organisation with structured and sustainable financial processes.

• Leadership and Cross-Functional Collaboration: The capacity to work effectively with Organisational Leadership and other directors while maintaining clarity, professionalism, and sound independent judgement.

• Safeguarding Awareness: A demonstrated understanding that administrative and financial roles contribute materially to the safe, ethical, and lawful functioning of a child-serving organisation.