SUCCESSFULLY APPOINTED: Chief Financial Officer - St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust

SUCCESSFULLY APPOINTED: Chief Financial Officer - St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust - Merseyside

£Competitive to attract right applicant - Catholic - SBM/CFO
Ref: 110 Date Posted: Wednesday 04 Feb 2026

THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF A PAST VACANCY EMMAUS HAVE APPOINTED TO.

Salary: £Competitive to attract the right applicant
Location: Liverpool
Contract Type: Full Time
Start Date: Negotiable

Emmaus Leadership is commencing the recruitment process to appoint a Chief Financial Officer to support an exciting new initiative - a MAT partnership between the Archdiocese of Liverpool and Diocese of Shrewsbury (in close collaboration with the DfE) for a newly established Catholic MAT. 

St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust has been newly established as a Trust to enable schools identified as needing financial and educational support for more rapid school improvement and/or schools that are unable to find a MAT ‘home’ due to lack of local capacity to join. 

It is envisaged that c10 (primary and secondary) schools will become member schools of the MAT. 

Reporting directly to the CEO, this is a unique opportunity for the right CFO to take full responsibility for the financial management of this Turnaround Trust, delivering on its financial strategy and being a key player within a highly visible and rapidly changing national pilot with significant exposure to the DfE and other external stakeholders. 

To take on this exciting role you must be a qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or CIPFA) with experience of senior financial management and strategic leadership gained in either the public or private sector, with accountability for a complex resource base. The ability to present complex information with knowledge and confidence to meet the needs of wide stakeholder groups from diverse backgrounds is an essential requirement.

Now is a moment of real opportunity to be closely involved in the financial leadership of a highly visible, rapidly changing MAT, which makes this post an extremely attractive and rewarding career opportunity.

Whilst this post is initially fixed term, due to the pilot nature, there are exit strategies planned for academies and for the central team to ensure their next steps are secured. 

It is not an essential requirement of the role that the post holder be a practising catholic.

For an initial informal chat (in complete confidence) please call Liam Dowds, our Emmaus Advising Consultant, on 01737 652 043 or email him at ldowds@emmausleadership.me in the first instance.

"We had been cold called by a few other companies but chose Emmaus as it specialised in Church schools. We were impressed by Liam and his team coming to the school and burrowing in to what the school wanted and needed. He asked searching questions and we were satisfied this was the way forward. I had not been a fan of head hunters before, but I have to say this process and its result was a hugely better experience than going out on our own and was totally professional throughout."

Bridget Prentice, Chair of Governors - Trinity School, Lewisham

"Emmaus brings a level of professionalism, seen in other industry sectors, to church schools’ recruitment."

The Rt Rev Nick Baines - Anglican Bishop of Leeds

"Could we afford it? My belief, as Chair was that we couldn’t afford not to. We needed strong school leaders to be drawn to apply. Our success was down to using Emmaus and definitely money well spent."

Carry Lynott - Chair of Governors, Our Lady and St Brendan's Catholic Primary School, Bradford

"We came across Emmaus by accident after our own attempts to recruit a Headteacher failed. We would not hesitate to engage them again to find a suitable candidate for a leadership position."

Michael Tennant - Chairman of the Board, St Edward's School

"We tried going it alone to find a CEO for our MAT but had only 2 applicants who didn't meet our requirements. We approached Emmaus and from the start their professionalism was reassuring."

Barry Leyland, Chair - Blessed Edward Bamber Catholic Multi Academy Trust

"Thank you for everything you did to successfully support our recruitment of an outstanding Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher. Using Emmaus Leadership to manage the recruitment to the post was much debated and was the subject of intense scrutiny by our Governing Body who were somewhat reluctant to use a leadership recruitment specialist. However, their confidence was reinstated as a result of your professional approach, your insightful knowledge and the resulting candidate pool produced for both appointments. I have no hesitation in recommending Emmaus to other schools."

Annie Sutton - Executive Principal, St Joseph's RC Specialist School and College

"I’m delighted with the way it went and the successful outcome (third SLT placement now!) helps confirm to Governors that your approach is right for these levels of appointment. It’s difficult to quantify the costs of recruiting and failing to get the right candidate ourselves - we’d only find out the true cost and also lost opportunities if we tried and failed. Altogether better to invest in getting it right first time, so thank you for all your hard work on this. The other side is the perception we leave with all candidates and I think we’ve worked together to do an excellent job (using your Assessment support). The communication, logistics and the care given I think is really important and Emmaus are a big part of that - you work as an extension of the school. I am fairly sure that all of the candidates will go away having had a great experience and that will help our reputation spread in a positive way."

Dave Cobb - School Business & Development Manager, Saint Cecilia's CE School, London

"We are delighted with the appointment we made and I have reported to the whole community that we could not have been more thorough in the search or more rigorous in the selection process. Thank you Emmaus Leadership."

Jacqui Feely, Chair at All Hallows Catholic College, Macclesfield

"This is the second time our Governing Board has used the services of Emmaus Leadership in the successful appointment of a new headteacher and we have no hesitation in recommending them to others."

Rosemary Johnson, Chair of Governors - Lowton CE High School

"I would thoroughly recommend Emmaus for any diocese or MAT seeking to appoint at a senior level in Catholic Education. Should we need help in the future...I would be confident in using Emmaus again."

Bishop Alan Williams sm - Diocese of Brentwood

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