Chief Finance Officer

NHS; England; On-site; GBP 166,000 - 198,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider is seeking a Chief Finance Officer to ensure financial integrity and leadership. The role includes managing substantial budgets and driving strategic initiatives that improve public health outcomes. Applicants should have board-level experience in a healthcare or regulated environment. Excellent communication and strategic problem-solving skills are essential. This is a permanent, full-time role located in Kettering, United Kingdom.

Qualifications

• Substantial board-level experience leading significant functions and transformational change.
• Experience in healthcare or regulated, consumer-facing environment.
• Proven delivery of strategies optimizing resource use.

Responsibilities

• Provide dynamic leadership to deliver on statutory financial duties.
• Secure financial balance and measurable ROI in population-health outcomes.
• Cultivate a financially sustainable provider market.

Skills

Exceptional communication

Strategic problem-solving

Data literacy

Contract design linking payment to outcomes

Utilisation-review leadership

Education

Qualified accountant with full membership of a relevant professional body

Doctorate level or equivalent senior experience

Formal management qualification

Job description

Overview

The Chief Finance Officer (CFO) is accountable to the Chief Executive of the NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB and Northamptonshire ICB Cluster, with professional accountability to the Regional Finance Director of NHS England. The two ICBs in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) and Northamptonshire have formed a Cluster from 1 October 2025. An Executive Team has been created to unify management support functions and deliver a new strategic commissioning model for a population of approximately 1.9 million people across LLR and Northamptonshire, with a budget of about £4.7 billion.

Main duties of the job

The CFO will provide dynamic, visible, strategic leadership to ensure the ICBs meet statutory financial duties and demonstrate clear value for money against the population-health budget, maximizing improvements in health access, experience and outcomes. They will steward public money, secure financial balance, and deliver measurable return on investment in population-health outcomes. A pivotal element is cultivating a financially sustainable provider market, aligning funding to outcome-linked service specifications, and overseeing cost-and-outcome analytics to maximise healthcare value.

About Us

The CFO portfolio includes executive leadership for:

• Financial strategy and planning
• Financial management and accounting
• Procuring services to deliver against the ICBs objectives and the three shifts
• Contract management to hold providers to account for delivery
• Corporate governance
• Lead the Cluster internal finance function and team

The CFO will also support the Chief Executive to provide visible senior leadership for local partnership working. Chief Officers will be aligned to work with one of the five local authority Places. The role contributes to the ambitions of the 10 Year Plan, evolves the Cluster operating model, and fosters the organisation’s values and culture.

Details

Date posted: 29 October 2025

Pay scheme: Very Senior Manager (VSM)

Salary: £166,956 to £197,311 per annum

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time

Reference number: 086-7580602

Job locations: Haylock House, Kettering Parkway, Kettering, NN15 6EY

Job Description

Role responsibilities

• Provide dynamic, visible, strategic leadership to deliver on statutory financial duties and value-for-money against the population-health budget.
• Act as a steward of public money, securing financial balance and measurable ROI in population-health outcomes.
• Cultivate a financially sustainable provider market, align funding to outcome-linked service specifications, and oversee cost-and-outcome analytics to maximise healthcare value.
• Lead the CFO portfolio: financial strategy and planning; financial management and accounting; procuring services; contract management; corporate governance; and lead the cluster internal finance function.

Corporate Executive Responsibilities

As a member of the executive team and unitary board, the CFO shares responsibility for four national Model ICB functions and will work across four local transition priorities: in-year finance, quality and performance; establishing the new model ICB and supporting staff; developing medium-term strategic commissioning plans; and creating the environment for partners to lead and deliver. Chief Officers will be aligned to five local authority Places through Health and Wellbeing Board arrangements.

Role Specific Portfolio Responsibilities

• Set overall financial strategy for the Cluster to inform resource allocation for improving population outcomes.
• Develop the ICBs annual financial plan within allocated resources to deliver financial balance.
• Build capability for understanding productivity/unit costs via bottom-up health economics analytics.
• Align funding with need and impact using actuarial models and bottom-up costing (should-cost principles).
• Shape the market through strategic purchasing and new payment mechanisms.
• Allocate and manage resources through outcome-based contracts.
• Ensure robust governance, financial control, accounting and reporting; identify and mitigate key financial risks.
• Manage internal financial plan delivery (PMO) and frameworks for oversight of shared services and budgets.
• Oversee internal corporate governance functions, office management and health and safety; lead internal/external audit and fraud efforts; act as SIRO for the ICBs.

Key Working Relationships

The CFO will engage with system partners and stakeholders, including the ICB executive team, Board Members, staff across directorates and CSU/shared services, commissioning partners, other ICBs, NHS England, providers, and local/regional/national professional networks, regulators, and public forums.

Supplementary Duties

As a senior executive, the role includes other duties as reasonably required. The post holder must comply with organisational policies on health and safety, data protection, safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion, information management, flexible working, and reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.

Person Specification

Essential

• Qualifications: Qualified accountant with full membership of a relevant professional body; doctorate level or equivalent senior experience; formal management qualification and/or proven leadership experience
• Experience: Substantial board-level experience leading significant functions and transformational change; healthcare or regulated, consumer-facing environment; proven delivery of strategies optimizing resource use
• Knowledge: Extensive knowledge of health, care and local-government landscape; strategic commissioning and public funds oversight; population-health analytics and risk stratification; outcomes measurement and cost accounting; value-based payment reform; contracting and utilisation-review techniques
• Skills: Exceptional communication, strategic problem-solving, data literacy, contract design linking payment to outcomes, and utilisation-review leadership

Compliance

• Disclosure and Barring Service Check required.
• Certificate of Sponsorship: Skilled worker sponsorship welcome and will be considered; country-specific criminal-record checks may apply.
• UK Registration: Current UK professional registration required.

Employer details

Employer: NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board

Address: Haylock House, Kettering Parkway, Kettering, NN15 6EY

Employer website: https://www.icnorthamptonshire.org.uk/icb

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