Director of Finance

NHS; Newcastle upon Tyne; Hybrid; GBP 105,000 - 122,000; Full time

Job summary

The NHS Business Services Authority seeks a Senior Leader to oversee finance operations, ensuring organizational impact and compliance with public sector standards. This dynamic role involves strategic leadership, driving professional excellence in finance and counter fraud professions within the NHSBSA, while fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.

Benefits

27 days annual leave, rising to 29 days after five years

Excellent pension with 23.7% employer contribution

Flexible working options

Active wellbeing and inclusion networks

Access to various discounts and benefits

Qualifications

• Extensive senior finance leadership experience in a public sector environment.
• Strong knowledge of public sector finance and governance.
• Ability to manage cross-functional teams effectively.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain financial strategies for NHSBSA operations.
• Ensure compliance with financial governance and public sector standards.
• Lead the finance team to drive performance improvements across services.

Skills

Financial Leadership

Strategic Alignment

Change Management

Collaboration

Stakeholder Engagement

Education

Degree or equivalent

Full CCAB professional accountancy qualification

Job description

Req#: G9914-25-0129?language=en&page=433&sort=publicationDateDesc

Job summary

Join the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in a new key leadership role, where you'll provide strategic, technical and professional expertise to deliver a complex finance agenda.

Responsible for our finance and counter fraud professions, you'll develop and maintain plans to drive professional excellence, remaining compliant with govt professional standards.

We're looking for an individual that will drive a compelling vision, align diverse teams and stakeholders to deliver organisational impact and support shaping the NHSBSA strategic position within the broader healthcare system.

You'll have a record of promoting high-performance culture across finance, with a forward thinking, commercially minded and collaborative approach. A data-driven decision maker, responsible for major policy interpretation and implementation impacting organisation wide.

We're committed to being a flexible employer and are currently hybrid working. The office base for this role is Newcastle upon Tyne and we ask for flexibility to attend the office for in-person collaboration multiple times a week.

Interviews will take place in Newcastle on 17th & 18th July.What do we offer?

• 27 days annual leave, rising to 29 days after five years' service and 33 days after ten years' service + public holidays
• Excellent pension, 23.7% employer contribution
• Flexible working
• Active wellbeing and inclusion networks
• NHS Car Lease Scheme
• Access to a wide range of benefits and high-street discounts

Main duties of the job

As a senior leader and member of NHSBSA Leadership Team, reporting into the Chief Financial Officer, you'll deliver an integrated financial strategy for all NHSBSA operations.

• Shared accountability in supporting the NHSBSA to achieve its vision, contributing to strategic and annual business plans, leading and driving operational performance improvement across services.
• Strategically align service delivery, workforce planning and operational excellence, embedding a culture of financial discipline, value for money and optimising resource.
• Ensure the financial control environment is robust, transparent and compliant with "Managing Public Money", DHSC requirements including NHSBSA delegations, government finance professional standards and internal governance
• Delivery of finance operations for core business and NHS Pension Scheme, including payroll, payables and receivables, pensions finance, financial systems, treasury and accounting services.
• Support engagement with the National Audit Office (NAO), the Audit and Risk Committee, and DHSC
• Develop and coordinate financial planning across all NHSBSA areas, including spending reviews, multi-year planning and forecasting.
• Senior leadership support to the Counter Fraud and Loss Prevention team, ensuring strong financial controls to mitigate fraud and loss.
• Lead highly complex change and transformation plans, in a changing NHS System, navigating sensitive environments.

See attached job description for full responsibilities.

About us

Here at the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), what we do matters.We manage the NHS Pension scheme, process prescription payments and much more. Our services are used by NHS organisations, contractors and the public: we're proud to be part of something meaningful, that touches millions of lives.We design our services around customer needs and place people at the heart of our organisation. That's why when you join us, you'll be empowered and supported to help your career grow.As one of the UK's Best Big Companies to work for, we're connected to our values: Collaborative, Adventurous, Reliable and Energetic. We care about our people, our purpose, and your progress.We strive to offer a fantastic colleague experience, where every colleague is heard, supported and respected. Wellbeing, diversity and inclusion is at the centre of this, and you can join our Lived Experience Networks who help us bring our authentic selves to work.We're committed to being a flexible employer and we try to offer a working pattern that suits you where possible, through hybrid working, flexible hours and more.Alongside a competitive salary with pay progression, we offer a people-centric benefits package, connecting you to the rewards and benefits you value most!Ready to join us in delivering business service excellence to the NHS, helping people live longer, healthier lives? Apply today and see where the NHSBSA can take you.We are people connected to care.

Details

Date posted

02 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 9

Salary

£105,385 to £121,271 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Flexible working

Reference number

914-BSA7247018

Job locations

Stella House

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE15 8NY




Job description

Job responsibilities

As a Senior Leader and a member of NHSBSA Leadership Team, reporting into the Chief Financial Officer youll define and drive a compelling vision, aligning diverse teams and stakeholders to deliver organisational impact. This role will help shape the NHSBSA strategic position within the broader healthcare system, leveraging influence to advance priorities, anticipating trends and evolving challenges, ensuring resilience, agility and long term sustainability. Job summary: 1. This role will provide strategic, technical and professional expertise to deliver a complex finance agenda, maximising the use of resources within your remit, setting and achieving key performance indicators and break-even budgets, and maximising outcomes through productive sustainable delivery. You are responsible for corporate financial strategies and corresponding policies and procedures that drive value and efficiency through use of NHSBSAs supply chain and estate. This includes being key areas of NHSBSA that will define delivery of our Environmental and Social Impact Goals.

2. As a member of the NHSBSA Finance Commercial and Estates Senior Management Team you will strive to maintain world class levels of staff engagement across the Directorate. Leading a large, diverse workforce, you will lead, inspire and develop colleagues across a range of disciplines in continuous improvement utilising user centric design methodologies, in addition to building and maintaining effective trusted relationships with external clients and key stakeholders.

3. As NHSBSAs Director responsible for its finance and counter fraud professions you will develop and maintain strategies and plans to drive professional excellence including compliance with government professional standards. In this role you will maintain effective relationships and influencing skills and will be responsible for leading and operationally managing the development, implementation, and improvement of your business area, including overall responsibility for service delivery, and relationship management of external partners specifically around complex and challenging contractual performance but also in working within the NHSBSA Partnership Key Principles relating to business, culture, and values.

Strategic Leadership Shared accountability for supporting the overall organisation to achieve its vision and contribute to the development of the organisations strategic and annual business plans, leading and driving operational performance improvement across NHSBSA Services to deliver high-quality, cost-effective services. Providing strategic leadership to a department of finance professionals who provide financial services needed to enable the delivery of the NHSBSA strategy and business plan through development and implementation of a Financial Strategy and associated plans, whilst supporting the Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer in the development of vision and strategic direction.

Financial Leadership

This role will ensure strategic alignment of service delivery, workforce planning and operational excellent and ensure a culture of financial discipline, value for money and optimising resourcing is embedded. Youll champion efficiency, continuous improvement and customer centric innovation to enhance service impact and oversee governance, risk, and compliance with a strategic and ethical lens, balancing ambition with responsibility.

Strategic Financial Leadership Support the Chief Financial Officer in delivering an integrated financial strategy for all NHSBSA operations, including administration of the NHS Pension Scheme, services Directed by the Department of Health and Social Care and other commissioned services.

Provide leadership across the finance portfolio to ensure joined-up planning, effective business support and alignment with the organisations strategic objectives. Ensure NHSBSAs financial control environment is robust, transparent and compliant with Managing Public Money, DHSC requirements including NHSBSA Delegations and applicable government finance professional standards, and internal governance frameworks. Represent finance in organisation-wide planning and service transformation discussions, offering strategic insight and challenge.Financial Management and Control Oversee delivery of finance operations for both NHSBSA core business and the NHS Pension Scheme, including payroll, payables and receivables, pensions finance, financial systems, treasury and accounting services. Ensure timely and accurate production of all statutory and non-statutory financial returns, including the NHS Pension Scheme accounts, in compliance with relevant accounting and audit standards. Work with the CFO to support engagement with the National Audit Office (NAO), the Audit and Risk Committee, and the Department of Health and Social Care. Promote best practice financial controls and assurance mechanisms across all teams.Financial Strategy, Business Planning and Performance Lead development and coordination of financial planning across all areas of NHSBSA, including Spending Reviews, multi-year planning and forecasting including for the administration of the NHS Pension Scheme. Ensure that NHSBSAs finance business partnering model supports effective decision-making, budget accountability, and delivery of business priorities across the organisation. Oversee investment appraisals and ensure robust financial analysis and alignment with organisational and system-level value priorities.

Financial Transformation and Value Lead the financial transformation portfolio, ensuring alignment with corporate strategy and delivery of long-term financial sustainability for both NHSBSA and the NHS Pension Scheme. Ensure development and implementation of costing, benchmarking and service value metrics, with processes embedded across core services and pension administration. Drive innovation in financial service delivery, leveraging data, digital tools and best practice to improve efficiency and transparency.Tackling Fraud and Loss in the Health System Provide senior oversight for the finance functions role in fraud detection, prevention and reporting, including NHS Pension Scheme-related risks. Provide senior leadership support to the Counter Fraud and Loss Prevention team to ensure strong financial controls are in place to mitigate fraud and loss. Promote fraud awareness and accountability across all finance teams, embedding this within financial operations, planning and reporting. Ensure alignment with the Cabinet Office Public Sector Fraud Authority, DHSC Anti Fraud Unit and NHS Counter Fraud Authority standards and expectations.Leadership and People Development Provide inspirational leadership to the Heads of Financial Strategy, Financial Operations, and Financial Transformation, with responsibility for all finance teams supporting NHSBSA services and the administration of the NHS Pension Scheme.

Decision-Making & Continuous Improvement

Budgetary responsibility for a large directorate and keeping the Chief Financial Officer informed of any financial issues arising. Overall responsibility for the effective management and monitoring of budgets. This will include prioritisation of resources and ensuring all benefits are captured and delivered. Allocating funds for high-priority, high-impact activity by seeking out the most cost-effective way to deliver services, ensuring corrective action is taken where necessary including working closely with other stakeholders.

Make sure that all legal responsibilities related to services are followed through proper governance. Ensure your team is well-trained and ready to handle these responsibilities as needed.

Implement a culture of service excellence within the directorate, working to set, and embed the standards and behaviours needed to bring about lasting improvements in service delivery that deliver client and user satisfaction.

Transformation, Innovation & Stakeholder Influence

Build and maintain appropriate professional relationships with key contacts within client and customer organisations; proactively communicating regularly with them to keep them engaged in operational and service delivery performance outcomes, managing the resolution of any issues or performance challenges that arise and managing their expectations regarding service delivery and the lead times to implement change, navigating a complex and changing strategic environment, political sensitivities or competing priorities.

Leadership level responsibilities and accountabilities:

Providing advice and preparing strategic reports and briefings for NHSBSA Directors and Leadership Team, DHSC, Arms Length Bodies to DHSC, Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and other key stakeholders, as required and analyse, interpret, and produce more in-depth reports on performance.

Drawing from experience, expertise and networks across industries, to ensure that the organisation benefits from relevant innovations, and remains future proof, and aligned to moving technology and best practice, and keep this at the forefront of all strategic plans.

Please see attached job description for full responsibilities.

Job description

Job responsibilities

As a Senior Leader and a member of NHSBSA Leadership Team, reporting into the Chief Financial Officer youll define and drive a compelling vision, aligning diverse teams and stakeholders to deliver organisational impact. This role will help shape the NHSBSA strategic position within the broader healthcare system, leveraging influence to advance priorities, anticipating trends and evolving challenges, ensuring resilience, agility and long term sustainability. Job summary: 1. This role will provide strategic, technical and professional expertise to deliver a complex finance agenda, maximising the use of resources within your remit, setting and achieving key performance indicators and break-even budgets, and maximising outcomes through productive sustainable delivery. You are responsible for corporate financial strategies and corresponding policies and procedures that drive value and efficiency through use of NHSBSAs supply chain and estate. This includes being key areas of NHSBSA that will define delivery of our Environmental and Social Impact Goals.

2. As a member of the NHSBSA Finance Commercial and Estates Senior Management Team you will strive to maintain world class levels of staff engagement across the Directorate. Leading a large, diverse workforce, you will lead, inspire and develop colleagues across a range of disciplines in continuous improvement utilising user centric design methodologies, in addition to building and maintaining effective trusted relationships with external clients and key stakeholders.

3. As NHSBSAs Director responsible for its finance and counter fraud professions you will develop and maintain strategies and plans to drive professional excellence including compliance with government professional standards. In this role you will maintain effective relationships and influencing skills and will be responsible for leading and operationally managing the development, implementation, and improvement of your business area, including overall responsibility for service delivery, and relationship management of external partners specifically around complex and challenging contractual performance but also in working within the NHSBSA Partnership Key Principles relating to business, culture, and values.

Strategic Leadership Shared accountability for supporting the overall organisation to achieve its vision and contribute to the development of the organisations strategic and annual business plans, leading and driving operational performance improvement across NHSBSA Services to deliver high-quality, cost-effective services. Providing strategic leadership to a department of finance professionals who provide financial services needed to enable the delivery of the NHSBSA strategy and business plan through development and implementation of a Financial Strategy and associated plans, whilst supporting the Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer in the development of vision and strategic direction.

Financial Leadership

This role will ensure strategic alignment of service delivery, workforce planning and operational excellent and ensure a culture of financial discipline, value for money and optimising resourcing is embedded. Youll champion efficiency, continuous improvement and customer centric innovation to enhance service impact and oversee governance, risk, and compliance with a strategic and ethical lens, balancing ambition with responsibility.

Strategic Financial Leadership Support the Chief Financial Officer in delivering an integrated financial strategy for all NHSBSA operations, including administration of the NHS Pension Scheme, services Directed by the Department of Health and Social Care and other commissioned services.

Provide leadership across the finance portfolio to ensure joined-up planning, effective business support and alignment with the organisations strategic objectives. Ensure NHSBSAs financial control environment is robust, transparent and compliant with Managing Public Money, DHSC requirements including NHSBSA Delegations and applicable government finance professional standards, and internal governance frameworks. Represent finance in organisation-wide planning and service transformation discussions, offering strategic insight and challenge.Financial Management and Control Oversee delivery of finance operations for both NHSBSA core business and the NHS Pension Scheme, including payroll, payables and receivables, pensions finance, financial systems, treasury and accounting services. Ensure timely and accurate production of all statutory and non-statutory financial returns, including the NHS Pension Scheme accounts, in compliance with relevant accounting and audit standards. Work with the CFO to support engagement with the National Audit Office (NAO), the Audit and Risk Committee, and the Department of Health and Social Care. Promote best practice financial controls and assurance mechanisms across all teams.Financial Strategy, Business Planning and Performance Lead development and coordination of financial planning across all areas of NHSBSA, including Spending Reviews, multi-year planning and forecasting including for the administration of the NHS Pension Scheme. Ensure that NHSBSAs finance business partnering model supports effective decision-making, budget accountability, and delivery of business priorities across the organisation. Oversee investment appraisals and ensure robust financial analysis and alignment with organisational and system-level value priorities.

Financial Transformation and Value Lead the financial transformation portfolio, ensuring alignment with corporate strategy and delivery of long-term financial sustainability for both NHSBSA and the NHS Pension Scheme. Ensure development and implementation of costing, benchmarking and service value metrics, with processes embedded across core services and pension administration. Drive innovation in financial service delivery, leveraging data, digital tools and best practice to improve efficiency and transparency.Tackling Fraud and Loss in the Health System Provide senior oversight for the finance functions role in fraud detection, prevention and reporting, including NHS Pension Scheme-related risks. Provide senior leadership support to the Counter Fraud and Loss Prevention team to ensure strong financial controls are in place to mitigate fraud and loss. Promote fraud awareness and accountability across all finance teams, embedding this within financial operations, planning and reporting. Ensure alignment with the Cabinet Office Public Sector Fraud Authority, DHSC Anti Fraud Unit and NHS Counter Fraud Authority standards and expectations.Leadership and People Development Provide inspirational leadership to the Heads of Financial Strategy, Financial Operations, and Financial Transformation, with responsibility for all finance teams supporting NHSBSA services and the administration of the NHS Pension Scheme.

Decision-Making & Continuous Improvement

Budgetary responsibility for a large directorate and keeping the Chief Financial Officer informed of any financial issues arising. Overall responsibility for the effective management and monitoring of budgets. This will include prioritisation of resources and ensuring all benefits are captured and delivered. Allocating funds for high-priority, high-impact activity by seeking out the most cost-effective way to deliver services, ensuring corrective action is taken where necessary including working closely with other stakeholders.

Make sure that all legal responsibilities related to services are followed through proper governance. Ensure your team is well-trained and ready to handle these responsibilities as needed.

Implement a culture of service excellence within the directorate, working to set, and embed the standards and behaviours needed to bring about lasting improvements in service delivery that deliver client and user satisfaction.

Transformation, Innovation & Stakeholder Influence

Build and maintain appropriate professional relationships with key contacts within client and customer organisations; proactively communicating regularly with them to keep them engaged in operational and service delivery performance outcomes, managing the resolution of any issues or performance challenges that arise and managing their expectations regarding service delivery and the lead times to implement change, navigating a complex and changing strategic environment, political sensitivities or competing priorities.

Leadership level responsibilities and accountabilities:

Providing advice and preparing strategic reports and briefings for NHSBSA Directors and Leadership Team, DHSC, Arms Length Bodies to DHSC, Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and other key stakeholders, as required and analyse, interpret, and produce more in-depth reports on performance.

Drawing from experience, expertise and networks across industries, to ensure that the organisation benefits from relevant innovations, and remains future proof, and aligned to moving technology and best practice, and keep this at the forefront of all strategic plans.

Please see attached job description for full responsibilities.

Person Specification

Experience

Desirable

• NHS or arm's-length body experience
• Oversight of public sector pension scheme or regulatory reporting responsibilities
• Policy development and implementation
• Previous experience working at director level in a relevant role

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or equivalent
• Full CCAB (or equivalent) professional accountancy qualification

Desirable

• MBA or postgraduate qualification in finance, leadership or public administration

Personal Qualities, Knowledge and Skill

Essential

• Highly developed financial leadership skills, able to manage cross-functional teams and large-scale financial operations.
• Deep understanding of public sector finance, audit and governance requirements.
• Strong knowledge of financial frameworks relevant to public sector pension schemes and complex business service operations.
• Champions the strategic importance of people, talent management, development and wellbeing through setting and maintaining direction, clear requirements and performance standards, building a culture of diversity and inclusion and continuous learning and improvement

Desirable

• Understanding of NHS Pension Scheme governance, funding and reporting structures.
• Familiarity with shared service operations in a public sector context.
• Political awareness and awareness of broader aspects which may impact on the area of expertise.
• Coaching and mentoring at leadership level

Experience

Essential

• Extensive senior finance leadership experience in a complex public sector or comparable organisation.
• Extensive experience of leading multi-disciplinary finance teams, including support to pension or specialist financial services.
• Extensive experience of delivery of statutory and management accounts at scale, including audit and governance engagement.
• Experience of change leadership and transformation across finance or corporate services.
• Significant experience in managing a highly complex budget.
• Extensive post qualification experence

Personal qualities, knowledge & skills

Essential

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities to manage risk, deliver value, and support business planning.
• Uses enterprise-wide thinking to break down silos, fostering collaboration and accountability at all levels.
• An engaging leader who sees the big picture and inspires through providing meaningful direction empowering their team to delivery focus on customer experience and service outcomes
• Excellent communication and engagement skills, ability to articulate complex situations clearly in order to influence and inform decisions.
Person Specification

Experience

Desirable

• NHS or arm's-length body experience
• Oversight of public sector pension scheme or regulatory reporting responsibilities
• Policy development and implementation
• Previous experience working at director level in a relevant role

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or equivalent
• Full CCAB (or equivalent) professional accountancy qualification

Desirable

• MBA or postgraduate qualification in finance, leadership or public administration

Personal Qualities, Knowledge and Skill

Essential

• Highly developed financial leadership skills, able to manage cross-functional teams and large-scale financial operations.
• Deep understanding of public sector finance, audit and governance requirements.
• Strong knowledge of financial frameworks relevant to public sector pension schemes and complex business service operations.
• Champions the strategic importance of people, talent management, development and wellbeing through setting and maintaining direction, clear requirements and performance standards, building a culture of diversity and inclusion and continuous learning and improvement

Desirable

• Understanding of NHS Pension Scheme governance, funding and reporting structures.
• Familiarity with shared service operations in a public sector context.
• Political awareness and awareness of broader aspects which may impact on the area of expertise.
• Coaching and mentoring at leadership level

Experience

Essential

• Extensive senior finance leadership experience in a complex public sector or comparable organisation.
• Extensive experience of leading multi-disciplinary finance teams, including support to pension or specialist financial services.
• Extensive experience of delivery of statutory and management accounts at scale, including audit and governance engagement.
• Experience of change leadership and transformation across finance or corporate services.
• Significant experience in managing a highly complex budget.
• Extensive post qualification experence

Personal qualities, knowledge & skills

Essential

• Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities to manage risk, deliver value, and support business planning.
• Uses enterprise-wide thinking to break down silos, fostering collaboration and accountability at all levels.
• An engaging leader who sees the big picture and inspires through providing meaningful direction empowering their team to delivery focus on customer experience and service outcomes
• Excellent communication and engagement skills, ability to articulate complex situations clearly in order to influence and inform decisions.

Employer details

Employer name

NHS Business Services Authority

Address

Stella House

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE15 8NY




Employer's website

https://careers.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

NHS Business Services Authority

Address

Stella House

Newcastle Upon Tyne

NE15 8NY




Employer's website

https://careers.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly-funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, free at the point of use for people ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care.

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