Financial Controller (Systems & Transformation)

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare trust in London is seeking a motivated Financial Controller to lead financial services for their 16,000 employees. This role involves overseeing financial systems, managing significant transformations, and offering expert financial advice. Candidates should possess a Professional Accountancy Qualification (CCAB), advanced Excel skills, and experience in delivering high-quality accounting services. This position also requires strong leadership abilities to guide teams through complex changes and maintain stakeholder relationships.

Benefits

Career development

Flexible working

Staff recognition scheme

Optional benefits including Cycle to Work program

Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of financial and accounting procedures.
• Relevant specialist CPD in NHS financial management.
• Experience managing month and year end financial processes.

Responsibilities

• Shape financial services for 16,000 colleagues.
• Lead a major systems transformation project.
• Guide the team through major changes.

Skills

Expert user of relevant financial systems

Advanced skills in Excel

Ability to solve complex financial queries

Conveys financial concepts clearly

Advises on financial issues

Education

Professional Accountancy Qualifications (CCAB) or equivalent

Further training in management and leadership

Training in IT systems, data or reporting

Tools

Power BI

Job description

The Financial Services team at Imperial are a major component of the overall Finance function. We cover financial and capital accounting, financial governance, transactional services, finance systems and payroll.

We also play important roles in the relationships with key outsourced functions including internal audit, counter fraud and procurement. As such, our role impacts almost everyone in the Trust - everyone from board committees and exec leaders to budget managers, pharmacists and stock controllers rely on our services in some way, and of course through the Payroll team we support almost every employee in the Trust. On top of that we also run some patient-facing services too.

We act as business partners for the Trust's capital programme and work across the Finance team to make sure that the balance sheet and cash are at the heart of the financial planning process.

Following the growth and development of the team in recent years, we have decided to add a second Financial Controller post into the team, working alongside the existing one. The responsibilities of the two Financial Controllers will be expanded and deepened as we move towards a truly exciting time for the team.

The new role will focus primarily on the range of services we provide to the organisation. At the core is financial systems, transactional finance, treasury and payroll, but the overall aim is to drive us toward realising our potential as an enabler for the Trust's overall strategy.

Main duties of the job

• You will need the accounting skills and technical knowledge one would expect of a Financial Controller, but you will also need the ambition and vision to grasp the opportunity to shape the financial services that our 16,000 colleagues rely on: making sure that the user experience of our customers and stakeholders is first-rate, that we provide high quality training, that we enable our finance business partners to do their best work and that we seize new opportunities to develop our offer.
• We are about to embark (along with partners across the North West London sector) on a major systems transformation project, implementing a new ERP system and establishing a new NWL in-house shared financial services centre to work alongside our existing shared procurement service.
• You will be in the thick of this complex and ambitious project both during delivery and after implementation, making sure we successfully deliver change and improvement that can unlock further progress in the Trust's financial and operational performance.
• You will need the leadership skills to guide your team through major change, but also to work collaboratively with a range of partners across teams and organisations to shape the new model. You'll need to operate as a senior manager and leader, finding ways to enable your team to be their best, but you will also be able to get things done yourself when that's the right way of supporting the team.

About us

At Imperial College Healthcare you can achieve extraordinary things with extraordinary people, working with leading clinicians pushing boundaries in patient care.

Become part of a vibrant team living our values - expert, kind, collaborative and aspirational. You'll get an experience like no other and will fast forward your career.

Benefits include career development, flexible working and wellbeing, staff recognition scheme. Make use of optional benefits including Cycle to Work, car lease schemes, season ticket loan or membership options for onsite leisure facilities.

We are committed to equal opportunities and improving the working lives of our staff and will consider applications to work flexibly, part time or job share. Please talk to us at interview.

Job responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required.

For both overviews please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.

Person Specification

Education/ Qualifications

• Expert knowledge of financial and accounting procedures, financial reporting standards, and financial & other aspects of relevant legislation, gained through full membership of Professional Accountancy Qualifications (CCAB) or equivalent
• Further relevant specialist CPD in technical skills and NHS financial management (including the NHS financial regime)
• Further training in formal project management approaches
• Further training in management and leadership
• Further training in IT systems, data or reporting

Experience

• Providing high quality accounting services and expert financial advice and support to senior financial staff
• Managing month and year end financial processes in a timely and accurate way
• Experience of leading and managing the annual external audit cycle including
• Working effectively and efficiently at senior level in a fast-changing and complex environment
• Leading and managing high-performing teams, and developing staff competences and behaviours, including managing difficult conversations
• Managing a wide range of internal and external stakeholder relationships, including external auditors, and negotiating outcomes to complex problems
• Experience of initiating and leading substantial change with an impact within the team and across the organisation
• Experience of developing policies and practices to guide financial management, and of delivering training to service users
• Experience of managing or working with transactional financial services including maintaining a suitable control environment
• Experience of managing outsourced financial services
• Experience of providing financial support to business cases and capital projects
• Significant experience of managing complex technical accounting queries, including complex audit queries

Skills/Knowledge/ Abilities

• Expert user of relevant financial systems and advanced skills in Excel
• Able to solve complex, multi-dimensional issues, including complex accounting, financial and audit queries, requiring concentration for long periods of time and analysis of complex data and interpretation of accounting guidance
• Conveys financial concepts clearly and persuasively to non-financial managers
• Advises and persuades senior budget holders on financial issues
• Advanced skills in relevant financial systems and tools (including advanced Excel, Power BI or similar)

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.