Chief Financial Officer

The Head and Governors of The Perse School invite applications for the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from April 2025.

Founded in 1615, The Perse is Cambridge's oldest secondary school and one of the country's leading coeducational independent day schools, educating some 1,740 pupils aged 3 to 18 and employing approximately 400 staff. Comprising the Upper, Prep and Pelican schools, The Perse operates across five sites in and around leafy Cambridge, including the Porson Road and Abington playing fields. The School provides an exceptional education combining both tradition and innovation, and is listed in the UK top 10 of The Times Independent Schools Exam Results league table for A Level.

This is an exciting time for The Perse, having recently opened a state of the art sports centre in Cambridge and with franchises opening in Singapore in 2025 and Oman in 2026. The School now looks forward to the future with a sense of ambition and healthy confidence.

The Governors now seek to appoint an outstanding CFO to contribute to the further development and delivery of the School's strategy. Reporting to the Bursar, the CFO will have responsibility for providing strategic and operational leadership on all financial matters across the Perse School and its group companies, and providing leadership to a six-person finance team. This will include effective management of the School's financial resources through oversight of all accounting functions. The successful candidate will be an experienced qualified accountant, with excellent financial and commercial acumen, as well as strong interpersonal and communication skills. They will bring the energy, resilience and ambition to help guide the School through the next exciting phase of its development. Applications are encouraged from candidates from a broad range of sectors who have strong finance skills, but a commitment to and empathy with the wider educational and charitable mission of the Perse School will be essential.

Further information on The Perse School can be found at A candidate brief is available from

CVs and covering letters should be sent by the closing date, 09.00 GMT Monday 13th January, to Freddie Dennis at Odgers Berndtson.

The Perse School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Therefore, we expect all workers and employees to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks, including a satisfactory Enhanced criminal records with Barred List check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).