MRP- Assistant Director of Operational Finance

NHS ENGLAND; Highgate; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

NHS England Midlands is seeking a qualified accountant with senior finance experience to join the Midlands Operational Finance Directorate. You will work with senior NHS England and local system leaders to oversee financial performance, provide clear financial advice, and lead regional planning while monitoring performance and managing risks.

You will join an experienced team working on major NHS financial, operational, and strategic challenges, with a focus on system leadership, transformation,

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with senior finance experience.
• Experience in NHS or public healthcare finance.
• Proven track record leading finance teams.

Responsibilities

• Oversee financial performance and provide clear financial advice.
• Lead regional planning, monitor performance and manage risks.
• Collaborate with providers, ICBs and national finance leads to deliver NHS priorities and support action when needed.
• Engage in system leadership, financial recovery, planning, business cases, regulation, productivity, transformation and improvement.

Skills

Senior finance experience

Job description

We are seeking a qualified accountant with senior finance experience in the NHS or a related public healthcare organisation to join our Midlands Operational Finance Directorate.

You will work with senior NHS England and local system leaders to oversee financial performance and improvement. You will provide clear financial advice, lead regional planning, monitor performance, and manage risks. You will also work with providers, ICBs and national finance leads to deliver NHS priorities and support action when needed.

You will join an experienced and supportive regional finance team working on major NHS financial, operational, and strategic challenges. The role covers system leadership, financial recovery, planning, business cases, regulation, productivity, transformation, and improvement.

The role offers broad experience and supports progression to more senior NHS finance leadership roles. You will make finance a trusted partner to clinical and operational colleagues. We are looking for someone with relevant financial experience who has led finance teams and has a strong commitment to NHS values and purpose.

NHS England Midlands works with 40 NHS providers, five ICB clusters and national NHS and DHSC teams. It provides strategic leadership to deliver reform and transformation under the NHS 10-Year Health Plan. It also oversees regional performance across finance, quality, access, productivity, and population health.

The NHS Midlands Finance team collaborates with partners to lead the development and delivery of revenue and capital plans. It oversees provider and ICB budgets, assesses financial risks, supports organisations facing challenges, shares good practice and takes regulatory action when needed., NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.

Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms -- enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.

In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.

If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR).This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.

Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.