Head of Finance

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS seeks a Head of Finance to oversee financial management and provide strategic advice. The ideal candidate will have significant experience within the NHS financial landscape and a strong CCAB qualification. This role involves leadership and the provision of expert financial analysis to drive performance improvements across the Trust.

Benefits

Personal development opportunities

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Qualifications

• CCAB qualified with significant post-qualification experience.
• Educated to Masters level or equivalent experience.
• Strong understanding of NHS financial systems.

Responsibilities

• Provide financial and commercial advice to achieve Care Group goals.
• Lead on annual budget setting and financial forecasting processes.
• Ensure effective financial management and reporting.

Skills

Leadership

Financial Analysis

Negotiation

Education

CCAB qualification

Masters Degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Excel

Financial accounting packages

Job description

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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Strategic Responsibilities

Provision of financial and commercial advice and insights to achieve the strategic and operational goals of the Care Group, Corporate areas and wider Trust. Provision of advice, guidance and support to business leaders and clinicians, enabling and influencing decision-making to achieve optimal performance

Identification of issues to be addressed by the Board, Executive Team or Care Group/Corporate Group

Ensure advice is consistent across the financial management department ensuring shared learning and development of a one trust approach.

Work in collaboration with the Financial Management department to continuously identify and improve the effectiveness of accounting systems and financial reporting contributing to the services financial sustainability plan and developing efficiencies, consistency and centralisation of processes where appropriate

When necessary deputise for the Assistant Director of Finance on financial management matters

Financial Management

To have overall responsibility for all aspects of financial management within the allocated Care Group / corporate area in conjunction with the Associate Head of Financial Management.

Review and approve for distribution the monthly performance reporting packs for the Care Group and corporate areas

Provide financial advice and support to the Executive team and senior management within the Trust translating complex and technical financial issues into meaningful management information.

Monitor non-financial performance indicators (e.g. length of stay, theatre utilisation) to identify areas where the use of resources can be improved. Work with operational managers and clinicians to improve productivity and demonstrate the impact of this on financial performance.

Where performance differs from plan, develop recovery measures in consultation with Care Group and corporate areas leadership.

Contribute to the evolution and development of Care Group reporting, in collaboration with the Associate Head of Financial Management.

Improving Value

Work with the care group and corporate senior management, to develop efficiency schemes in accordance with overall trust and national requirements, identifying opportunities and provides financial, support, advice and direction.

Ensure there are robust, credible and effective short-, medium- and long-term plans in place to deliver the service improvement programme, and that appropriate resources are available to support delivery of the programme.

Assess, monitor and review the delivery of efficiencies and associated financial benefits, working with Care Group and corporate areas to address any issues.

Ensure that the financial content is developed for PIDs for schemes that will be taken forward.

Promote and maximise the use of PLICS to identify and develop transformational efficiencies.

Planning, budgeting and forecasting

Lead on the provision of finance/business planning advice in relation to strategic planning, service redesign/modernisation proposals and new business for their specific Care Group or Corporate Group.

Lead on the annual budget setting process for the Care Group and corporate area, including the setting of objectives to achieve key performance targets in order to meet the Trusts business and financial objectives. Identify, co-ordinate and quantify Service Developments, Cost Pressures, Improving Value Programmes and Capital Bids to support the annual objectives. Ensuring deadlines set by the Associate Head of Financial Management are met and can be incorporated by the reporting team.

Review and approve amendments to budgets, including any amendments to the next year base budget.

Ensure that financial forecasting is robust and provides effective early warning to the Care Group and Corporate area of potential future problems and enabling financial risks to be effectively managed.

Where forecast out-turn deviates from plan, lead the process of preparing a financial recovery plan.

Ensure budgets are approved and signed off before the start of the financial year.

Business Cases

To take overall responsibility for the financial element in business cases, to coordinate input and sign off any detail to enable sign-off from the Care Group and corporate area in the development of the case.

Ensure the financial elements reflect the case and meet the required quality standard set for the Financial Management function.

Lead review of the accuracy of financial analysis and triangulation of highly complex data from a variety of sources. Ensure the application of recognised investment appraisal techniques to facilitate decision making and ensure that developments withstand robust financial scrutiny.

Present business cases alongside operational colleagues to the relevant approval groups on the financial consequences of different options.

Lead training sessions for finance and non-finance staff on financial issues, including e-learning and the Trust finance training courses, ensuring consistency with the standards and training materials set for the Financial Management function

Leadership/Management

To provide senior management and leadership to the wider Financial Management Team

including responsibility for staff development to enable them to perform to best of their abilities

Assist the Head of Finance - Financial Management to regularly review the workload/capacity in the department, where volume of work is unpredictable and externally driven, making judgements about how the work will be best managed.

To assist in the review of staffing resources for the service in conjunction with the wider team and Trust strategic goals to ensure that longer term staffing needs, skills and personnel are built into the staff recruitment and retention strategy.

Ensure that all managed staff meet their statutory and mandatory training and appraisal requirements, ensuring personal development plan are in place.

Ensure that the service runs effectively during absence due to sickness or annual leave.

To support team members when dealing with distressing information, signposting them to Occupational Health and wellbeing support available

Effectively manage staff under Trust HR policies and procedures as required.

Create a culture where staff feel empowered and accountable for service improvement at local level

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• CCAB qualification with significant Post Qualification Experience
• Educated to Masters Degree Level or equivalent experience
• Significant Evidence of Continued Personal and Professional Development.

Desirable criteria

• Project Management training / qualification
• Leadership training / qualification

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant knowledge of the leadership and management context of the NHS, the NHS financial systems and of financial system and processes necessary for delivering excellence in healthcare.
• Significant expert knowledge of public sector Financial Accounting policy.
• Significant track record of management experience at middle/senior management level in the NHS or other public healthcare related environment.
• Occasional exposure to Board /Executive meeting environments taking part in discussions
• Significant experience of translating national agenda/direction/policy locally to achieve necessary 'buy in'.
• Demonstrable experience of successfully leading delivery of priorities/outcomes in a highly complex partnership environment.
• Demonstrable experience of delivering presentations to large groups of stakeholders relevant to this role in potentially sensitive environments.
• Demonstrable experience of developing and leading programmes of major change.
• Experience of developing and leading new teams, motivating and inspiring people to work together to achieve common objective and priorities.
• Demonstrable experience in leading and prioritising delivery against budgets and working within financial constraints.
• Experience/knowledge in risk management.
• Demonstrable negotiation skills and contract monitoring
• Advanced ability to use Excel, Word PowerPoint and Financial accounting packages.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working in large and complex NHS organisation or organisation with equivalent complexity
• Experience of working with NHS Shared Business Services

Communication

Essential criteria

• Ability to communicate and disseminate highly complex and contentious financial information and concepts to a corporate stakeholder level with tact and diplomacy.
• Significant ability to provide informative reporting to governing body, Boards and Committees on progress against strategic and operational outcomes and associated impact.

Come and join our wonderful team at NUH. We are big believers in diversity and welcome new ideas to help develop our team in order to deliver world class healthcare to the vast patient populations we serve. With endless personal development opportunities available, at the NUH we will endeavour to turn your job into a career!

We particularly welcome applications from people who identify as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, or Disabled, as we are striving to be better represented at NUH.

Applicants are kindly requested to refrain from using AI at any stage during the recruitment process.

Closing Dates: Please submit your application form as soon as possible to avoid disappointment; we reserve the right to close vacancies prior to the published closing date if we receive a sufficient number of completed application forms.

Communication: All communication related to your application will be via the email address you have provided. Please ensure you check your email account including your junk email regularly.

Easy read application: if you have a disability and find it difficult to complete our online application form, you can apply via our easy read application which you can find on the intranet https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/easy-read-job-application

NUH are now able to offer application completion support and interview preparation support. Please follow the link to book onto our sessions: Support for NUH Job Applications

If you are aged 16 or 17 and applying for a role that is more than 20 hours a week, please be aware that you will be asked to commence an Apprenticeship within the Trust alongside your role, as long as there is a suitable apprenticeship standard available. This is in line with the current guidance in England that whilst young people under the age of 18 can leave school (on the last Friday in June) they must then do one of the following:

• Stay in full-time education, for example at a college
• Start an Apprenticeship
• Spend 20 hours of more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training

For more details visit; School leaving age - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Salary: The quoted salary will be on a pro rata basis for part time workers.

Disability Confidence: All applicants who have declared a disability and who meet the essential criteria for the post will be shortlisted.

At Risk of redundancy: NHS employees within the East Midlands who are 'at risk' of redundancy will be given a preferential interview where they meet the essential criteria of the person specification.

International Recruitment: If you are applying for a role with us from outside of the UK then please read the guidance on applying for a health or social care job in the UK from abroad.

ID and Right to work checks: NUH authenticate ID and right to work documentation including passports and driving licenses through a system called Trust ID. NUH will scan your ID and right to work documentation in to the Trust ID system at your face to face ID appointment. The system will run a check against the key security features within your documentation. The system will provide us with an outcome of your check which will be stored securely on your personal file along with all other pre-employment check documentation.

Consent:

• Transfer of information: If I have previous NHS service - I consent to the transfer of my Electronic Staff Record (ESR) data between this and other NHS Trusts. I also consent to the Occupational Health Department confidentially accessing my occupational health records from my current or previous employer in order to check the status of my vaccinations, immunisations s and screening tests as relevant to the post. I understand this is an automated process and the information will only be used for these purposes prior to me taking up the position at NUH.
• Disclosure and Barring Service: Your post maybe subject to a DBS check which incur a cost dependent on the level of check required (£49.50 for enhanced and £21.50 for standard). I agree to reimburse Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust the cost of a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check if it is required (by deduction from first month's pay). Should I decide to withdraw from my job offer, I agree to reimburse Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust the cost of the DBS check undertaken by cheque or other agreed method.
• For more information about our organisation and the career opportunities available, please visit our website and/or follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

• Head of Finance Job Description (PDF, 314.0KB)
• Head of Finance Person Specification (PDF, 176.6KB)
• Financial Management Structure (PDF, 16.7KB)
• Mindful Employer (PDF, 242.5KB)
• Equality and Diversity (PDF, 122.3KB)
• Equal Opportunities (PDF, 57.4KB)
• Disability Confidence Scheme (PDF, 51.0KB)
• Rehabilitation of Ex Offenders (PDF, 106.0KB)
• Application Process Booklet (PDF, 24.8MB)