Alison Hopkinson, currently the finance and IT director at Tearfund, will replace Bob Humphreys as the finance director of Oxfam, it was announced today.

Speaking at Civil Society Media’s Charity Finance Summit today, Humphreys, currently the finance and IS director at Oxfam, confirmed that he was set to leave the charity after five years and announced Hopkinson as his replacement.

Hopkinson (pictured), has worked at relief and development charity Tearfund since August 2011. Tearfund was her first role in civil society.

Prior to joining Tearfund, she was Thames Valley regional director at financial services company the FD Centre for over four years and also spent 12 years as a finance director for Dell Computers. Hopkinson is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Hopkinson will take up her new role in January, as Bob Humphreys will be staying on until the New Year, a month longer than intended.

In an interview with Charity Finance in March, Hopkinson said that compared to being a finance director in a charity, running a multinational corporation is easy.

“At Dell we turned over billions and I knew exactly what I was doing,” she said. “At Tearfund our annual income is £60m and I couldn’t believe how difficult it was when I started. For the first 18 months I had so much to learn that I was scared to open my mouth.

“Getting people out of poverty is far more complicated than making sure the margin on computers is at the right level.”

Both organisations have been contacted by Civil Society News for statements.