Senior Finance Business Partner - Clinical

NHS; Northampton; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare provider seeks a qualified accountant to lead the finance team, ensuring timely financial reporting and strategic support across the University Hospital of Northamptonshire. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in healthcare finance and the ability to present complex financial data clearly. This role requires a commitment to equality and inclusion within a diverse workplace. Applicants may be needed to work across multiple hospital sites.

Qualifications

• Significant post-qualification experience in a senior finance role.
• Advanced understanding of financial management and accounting principles.
• Experience managing and developing staff.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic business leadership and manage finance staff.
• Produce monthly performance reports and advise senior management.
• Coordinate annual business plans aligning with the Trust's objectives.

Skills

Analytical skills

Organisational skills

Presentation skills

Education

CCAB Qualified Accountant

Equivalent level of education or training

Job description

Overview

Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust have formed the University Hospital of Northamptonshire NHS Group (UHN), with joint Board and operational management. This new role sits within a fully integrated Finance function serving both Trusts. The post will lead a divisional finance team, ensuring accurate, timely financial reporting and business partnering support across UHN. It supports the Chief Finance Officer, Senior Finance Team, Divisional Managers, Directors, and the Integrated Leadership Team to meet financial and performance targets.

About us: Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust is on an exciting journey with all divisions committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have entered a Group Model with Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN). There may be a requirement to work across both the Kettering and Northampton hospital sites depending on service needs.

Our Excellence Values include Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity, and Courage, guiding how we work with staff, patients, and service users. UHN is committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion, and supports a diverse workforce and inclusive environment. We recognise the Armed Forces community and have signed the Armed Forces Covenant with Silver Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic business leadership within each Division, managing income, activity, expenditure, CIP, and workforce to optimise resources and achieve objectives.
• Lead comprehensive financial management support, advising divisional and directorate leaders and managing finance staff effectively.
• Produce robust monthly performance reports to inform decisions and brief key staff.
• Coordinate annual business plans and contribute to the Integrated Business Plan and divisional strategies.
• Apply technical accounting expertise, strong analytical skills, and clear communication of complex finance issues to non-finance staff.
• Constructively challenge performance, suggest improvements, and use Service Line Reporting to ensure delivery of targets.

Key duties

As a key member of the Divisional Board, you will act as Finance Business Partner, providing expert advice to the Divisional Director, Manager, and senior budget holders. You will communicate complex, sensitive financial and non-financial information clearly to senior managers and clinicians, presenting performance data at Trust and Divisional meetings. You will maintain and develop financial reporting and planning systems, ensuring they reflect Trust priorities, and produce comprehensive performance packs for review with divisional leadership. You will deliver accurate, timely financial performance reports, monitor results, and implement corrective action with budget holders to ensure targets are met. You will prepare robust forecast outturns, identify risks, and develop strategies to secure financial performance. You will interpret variances, provide guidance to senior stakeholders, and support action planning to maximise resources. You will coordinate divisional budget setting, design timetables and guidance aligned to the Trust's Integrated Business Plan, and ensure reconciliation in line with virement policy. You will advise, train colleagues, and support the identification, costing, and forecasting of efficiency schemes.

As a member of the Divisional Board, provide a full range of advice to the Divisional Director, Manager, Senior and other budget holders, developing a Business Partnering relationship with them. Communicate highly complex, sensitive information to the Division and present performance information at management meetings in an understandable manner to senior non-financial managers including clinicians. Maintain and develop financial reporting and planning systems to reflect Trust priorities and divisional needs, producing performance packs for review. Provide accurate and timely financial performance reports and monitor results, implementing corrective action with budget holders to meet financial targets. Prepare, review and maintain a robust forecast outturn position for the Division and develop alternative strategies to meet targets. Interpret variances and risks for senior stakeholders and enable action plans to maximise resources. Coordinate budget setting and maintain reconciliations in line with the Virement policy. Be the finance expert for the Division, providing training and guidance to colleagues, and support identification, costing, and forecasting of efficiency schemes.

Qualifications & Experience

Essential

• CCAB Qualified Accountant, or equivalent level of education, training or experience
• Demonstrate Continuing Professional Development

Knowledge & Experience

• Significant post-qualification experience in a senior finance role within a highly complex finance department
• Advanced understanding of financial management and accounting principles
• Experience of supporting Divisions in identifying, tracking and reporting efficiencies
• Experience of managing, motivating and developing staff

Skills

• Excellent analytical and reasoning skills
• Excellent organisational skills
• Ability to prepare and present complex financial information to non-financial people

Key Competencies/Personal Qualities

• Committed to Excellence values, with focus on empowerment, equality, diversity and inclusion
• Time management, prioritisation and meeting deadlines
• Ability to constructively challenge performance and support colleagues

Other information

Disclosures and Sponsorship: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and requires a Disclosure to the DBS. UK Skilled Worker sponsorship is welcome and will be considered alongside other applications. International checks and UK registration requirements apply as specified by NHS Careers and UK Visas and Immigration guidelines.

Location: University Hospitals of Northamptonshire, Cliftonville, Northampton NN1 5BD. Applicants may be required to work across Kettering and Northampton sites.