Senior Finance and Contracts Manager (NIHR) (XN07)

Integrated Care System; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading research organization in the UK is seeking a Senior Finance and Contracts Manager to enhance financial management across NIHR Academy programmes. The role demands extensive experience in finance within public sectors, strong analytical skills, and the ability to lead team efforts in a hybrid-working environment.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in financial management and reporting.
• Master's level education or equivalent experience.
• CCAB qualification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Oversee financial management for NIHR Academy programmes.
• Prepare quarterly finance reports and support financial strategic planning.
• Ensure effective financial practices in line with DHSC requirements.

Skills

Financial Management

Contract Management

Analytical Skills

Team Leadership

Education

Master's degree or equivalent

CCAB qualification

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Financial Systems

Job description

Senior Finance and Contracts Manager (NIHR) (XN07)

Areyou passionate about health and care research? The NIHR is looking for a Senior Finance and Contracts Manager with experience of finance andcontract management in the public sector and / or working in a researchenvironment to join our teams providing financial management (monitoringbudgets, business planning processes) for NIHR programme funding.

TheNIHR enables and delivers world-leading health and social care research thatimproves people's health and wellbeing and promotes economic growth.

The successfulapplicant will be flexible, proactive, responsible, have great communicationskills, and be able to work as part of a team to ensure delivery of therelevant portfolio of work.

Thisposition offers a great opportunity to work as part of an enthusiastic andskilled multidisciplinary team to provide excellent finance and contractmanagement support to colleagues across the NIHR Academy, playing a pivotalrole in attracting, training and supporting the best health and careresearchers to tackle the complex challenges of the future.

Thisis a great time to join NIHR as we look to expand many of our activities anddeliver an excellent experience for those developing their health and careresearch careers.

Pleasenote that a hybrid-working arrangement is in place where successfulcandidates can work a large percentage of their time from home. There arealso other flexible working arrangements available on request.

Main duties of the job

The successfulcandidate will be responsible for the provision of financial management andhigh-quality analytical review across all NIHR Academy Programmes (Domesticand Global).

Theywill support the Assistant Director - Finance, Governance and People (AD FGP)in delivering financial and contract management for the NIHR Academy ServiceLevel Agreement and the NIHR Academy research programmes; identifying keyissues from financial and other business information to ensure effectivefinancial management in line with general finance best practice and therequirements of DHSC/NHSE; and be involved in other diverse areas of work asrequired to deliver the NIHR Academy organisational business requirements.

Thepost holder will work with colleagues from the NIHR, the Department of Healthand Social Care and other stakeholders to ensure proactive and effectivedelivery of NIHR finance and contract management. They will:

• provideevidence and analysis to support the development of financial strategic plansand help decision making,
• providevisible leadership across NIHR on matters related to finance and contractmanagement,
• supporta culture of positive collaboration and engagement and
• drivecontinuous improvement and innovation, ensuring best practice and meeting therequirements of DHSC for assurance and audits.

Weencourage individuals who are considering applying to contact the office andhave a conversation with the hiring manager.

About us

Expected ShortlistingDate:

11/08/2025

Planned InterviewDate:

19/08/2025

TheNational Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has a mission toimprove the health and wealth of the nation through research. The NIHR playsa pivotal role in attracting, training and supporting the best researchersand complements the additional NIHR investment in world-class researchfacilities and a skilled research workforce.

Thisrole is hosted by the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust (LTHT) and delivers thework of the NIHR, leading on policy, strategy and delivery in respect ofacademic training in England and working closely with other NIHR centres andthe Science Research and Evidence (SRE) Directorate at the Department ofHealth and Social Care (DHSC).

LeedsTeaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk'members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all our job advertsare subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or removeadverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in theshortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while thisprocess is completed, and contact the named contact if you have anyquestions.

Job responsibilities

Thepost holder will be line managed by Assistant Director - FBS however, thereis a requirement to work flexibly across the organisation as the portfolio ofprogrammes and schemes are likely to vary over time. The balance of dutiesundertaken by the post holder will vary according to annual cycles, but willinclude the following:

• Takinga lead role alongside the other Senior Finance Managers in ensuring theinformation systems are in place to track and monitor NIHR Academy awardsfinances.
• Takinga lead role alongside the other Senior Finance Managers in the Annual Financereview of specific functions (award areas) and the reporting of year on yeartrend analysis
• Leadingthe preparation of the quarterly finance report to DHSC on specific functions(awards)
• Providefinancial expertise to the Senior Programme Managers and other seniormanagers responsible for analysing funding recommendations for newcompetitions,
• Leadingthe finance team on setting up new award contracts and supporting the reviewof finance requests within new contracts
• Leadingfinance contract monitoring, including payment profiling, maintainingschedules and forecasting.
• Supportingwith the costing of business cases
• Supportingwith the due diligence and assurance activities for all NIHR Academy GlobalHealth Research contracts in partnership with Senior Programme Managers
• Ensuringeffective financial management in line with ODA requirements e.g. desk topaudits and risk assessments
• Maintainingdetailed financial reports of normal adjustments to ensure the underlyingtrend analysis and year on year comparisons can be clearly reported to seniormanagement
• Ensuringthe integrity of the relevant finance systems and reporting issues.
• ImplementingStandard Operating Processes and work instructions within finance which mayimpact policy proposals across NIHR Academy and NIHR coordinating centres.
• Ad-hocsupport to finance management and any other reasonable tasks required including deputising for the AssistantDirector FBS alongside the other Senior Finance Managers when required

Communication

• Effectivelyline manage and support NIHR Academy colleagues
• Collaborateeffectively with NIHR Academy award programme leads working as a businesspartner when contracting, monitoring, reporting and forecasting for specificawards.
• Effectivelycommunicating the outcomes of annual finance reviews to award holders andhosts organisations
• Communicatingand working with a range of people nationally and internationally at alllevels of seniority both internal and external to the NIHR Academy Executive,in line with DHSC policies
• Developingand maintaining strong and positive working relationships within HigherEducation Institutions (HEIs), NHS Trusts and other health-relatedorganisations
• Contributingto briefings requested from Ministers offices and other governmentdepartments on award expenditure.

Person Specification

Experience

• Equivalent knowledge and experience to Professional Accountancy Qualifications plus knowledge, experience and expertise in a finance management role
• Experience of monitoring budgets, business planning processes and forecasting
• Experience of month end, quarterly and annual reporting
• Experience managing and leading a team
• Significant knowledge and experience of financial management, contract management and project management
• An understanding of public sector health research and its management
• An interest in health research and a willingness to work across discipline boundaries
• Knowledge and experience of accounting and financial policies and procedures, which impact in other areas of the NIHR Academy or external stakeholders
• Detailed Knowledge of NHS, DHSC or Research Finance Management and understanding of the public sector and health research capacity development
• In-depth specialist knowledge of financial and accounting procedures, financial aspects of NHS legislation and NHS finance policies
• Demonstrable experience in a healthcare environment
• Experience of working within a finance department on grant management

Qualifications

• Educated to masters level or equivalent level qualification
• CCAB qualification or equivalent knowledge and experience

Skills & Behaviours

• Ability to work as part of a team build and maintain good working relationships
• Ability to tackle complex problems, identify solutions and implement them
• Ability to organise own workload effectively, working to multiple prioritised tasks, targets and deadlines
• Effective liaison skills with the ability to deal tactfully with colleagues and stakeholders
• Positive attitude to change
• Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change
• Excellent time management, task management and organisational abilities with evidenced examples of working with conflicting deadlines
• Commitment to and focused on quality, promotes high standards in all they do
• Able to make a connection between their work and the benefit to patients and the public
• Values diversity and difference, operates with integrity and openness
• Evidence of Continued Professional Development
• Understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity and good working relationships
• An ability to maintain confidentiality and trust
• Experience of accounting systems and processes
• Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and procedures

Other Criteria

• Excellent oral and written communication skills including the ability to present financial information finance and non-finance managers offering advice when required
• Ability to analyse, interpret and present highly complex issues where material may be incomplete, conflicting and / or drawn from multiple sources, making judgements on financial decisions and risk
• Assimilate information quickly, and apply knowledge quickly and effectively to new problems
• Able to produce highly detailed reports for senior management and key stakeholders
• Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to a broad range of senior stakeholders as required
• Numerate and able to understand complex financial issues combined with deep analytical skills and ability to work with an attention to detail
• Knowledge of Financial Systems e.g. monitoring budget management, processing invoices and procurement
• Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft/ Google/ word processing, databases and advanced Excel skills