UD Music Foundation is looking for a Treasurer to join our Board of Trustees. This is a senior, strategic role for someone who wants to use their financial expertise to power an organisation that believes music can change lives.
You won’t be buried in spreadsheets or day-to-day finance. Instead, you’ll sit at board level, helping shape big decisions, safeguarding our financial future, and making sure our ambition is matched with strong governance.
The role is voluntary, but the impact isn’t. If you’re a finance professional who wants your skills to mean something—and to help music and creativity thrive—this is your moment.
Treasurer – UD Music Foundation
UD Music Foundation is seeking a Treasurer to join its Board of Trustees and provide strategic oversight of the organisation’s financial affairs at a pivotal point in its development. This is a governance-focused trustee role, not an operational finance position, and is not remunerated.
The Treasurer will support the Board and the CEO to steward the charity responsibly, strengthening financial resilience and supporting medium-term planning, including the effective use of UD’s Talent House asset. The role includes defined and time-bound support outside of Board meetings, particularly in relation to the preparation and interpretation of management accounts.
About UD Music Foundation
UD is a Black-led National Youth Music Organisation based in Stratford, Newham, with a 25-year track record of talent development and community building rooted in Black music culture.
Co-founded in 2000 by the current CEO alongside a group of hip-hop musicians, UD’s mission is to educate, empower and create life opportunities for young people inspired by the sounds, words and rhythms of Black music. We address racial and socio-economic inequality by nurturing talent, building skills and creating pathways into the music industry for underrepresented communities. To date, UD has supported over 50,000 young people, the majority of whom are Black and from disadvantaged backgrounds.
UD’s vision is to become a leading talent development centre for Black music, recognised for its social and cultural impact and for the value it adds to a more diverse and inclusive music industry.
UD has been regularly funded by Arts Council England since 2000 and is a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) in the current funding round (2023–26), with funding now confirmed to 31 March 2027, and has been invited to reapply for 2027/28. While this provides a degree of stability, the organisation is operating in a challenging funding environment and is actively managing risk, cashflow and sustainability. A major strategic focus is the long-term financial model of Talent House, UD’s purpose-designed studio and rehearsal facility, which represents a significant asset but has not yet been fully leveraged to generate earned income, and is a key focus in our plans to diversify the organisation’s income base.
Purpose of the role
The Treasurer acts as the Board’s lead on financial governance, helping ensure that UD remains financially viable, appropriately controlled and able to make informed strategic decisions. The role focuses on oversight, challenge and advice rather than operational delivery.
Key responsibilities
1. Financial oversight and governance
Provide strategic oversight of the charity’s financial position, including income mix, expenditure, cashflow and reserves, with clear distinction between restricted and unrestricted funds.
- Support the CEO in preparing management accounts and financial forecasts for Board consideration
- Present and explain financial information to the Board in a clear and accessible way
- Support trustees to understand financial risk, particularly in relation to restricted funding and cash timing
- Ensure appropriate financial controls and procedures are in place and are operating effectively
2. Planning and sustainability
- Advise on the financial implications of strategic and business planning, including scenario planning beyond the current NPO period
- Support development of a realistic reserves policy and approach to financial resilience
- Contribute to thinking on the future financial model for Talent House, including earned income potential and risk
3. External relationships and compliance
- Act as a point of liaison with external accountants and the independent examiner, alongside the CEO
- Support compliance with Charity Commission and Companies Act requirements relating to finance
- Provide assurance that statutory accounts and financial returns are prepared and filed appropriately
4. Board contribution
- Play a full and active role as a trustee, contributing to collective decision-making and a board culture that is supportive, appropriately challenging and with clear boundaries.
- Provide constructive challenge and support to the CEO
- Help maintain a culture of transparency, accountability and proportionate risk management The Treasurer role does not include bookkeeping, payroll, VAT returns or statutory accounts preparation. These functions are carried out by a bookkeeper and external accountants.
Time commitment
- Four Board meetings per year, plus preparation
- Additional time-bound support outside of meetings, particularly around management accounts, budgeting and year-end
- Term of office: normally three years, renewable
Support and induction
New trustees receive a structured induction covering governance, strategic priorities, financial position, and key risks. Ongoing support is provided by the Chair, CEO and professional advisers.
Person specification
1. Essential experience and knowledge
Senior-level financial experience (e.g. finance director, senior finance manager, audit/assurance or equivalent)
- Experience of charity, not-for-profit or public-sector finance
- Confidence interpreting and explaining financial information to non-finance trustees
- Good judgement, independence of thought and willingness to ask difficult questions
- Commitment to UD’s mission and values
2. Desirable experience
- Experience of organisations with mixed public funding, grants, contributed and earned income
- Experience of asset-based organisations or capital projects
- Previous trustee or board experience
Our values in practice These values guide how trustees contribute individually and collectively, and how the board works in partnership with the executive team. UD Music Foundation’s trustees are committed to high standards of governance and collective responsibility.
- As a board, we aim to work in ways that are:
- Purpose-led
- Transparent and open
- Grounded in integrity
- Respectful of expertise and boundaries
- Resilient and responsible
We are seeking trustees who are aligned with these values and who are comfortable contributing their skills in a way that is constructive, proportionate and sustainable.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion UD Music Foundation is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and particularly welcomes applications from candidates who are underrepresented in charity governance, including people from Black and Global Majority backgrounds.
For full details and to apply click HERE…
