Head of Financial Management
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Detailed job description and main responsibilities
PRINCIPLE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Provide a high quality professional financial management advice and support service, acting as lead accountant and contact point for a range of clinical and non-clinical divisions. To ensure that these divisions/directorates achieve financial balance and that financial pressures are highlighted at an early stage and appropriate action identified. Continue to develop financial reporting and planning to reflect the needs of the divisions/directorates and improve accountability.
2. Provide specialist strategic, financial and business skills input into the planning of any service development including strategic change within the division/directorate as appropriate, ensure that divisional/directorate objectives are affordable within available resources consistent with organisational financial strategy.
3. Act as deputy for the Assistant Director of Finance (ADoF) and be accountable for specific team wide areas of responsibility, ensuring the ADoF is kept informed of divisional and team issues.
4. Lead on and provide input to projects within finance or across the Trust as assigned.
5. Co-ordinate the production of Trust/divisional monthly financial management information in line with agreed timetables and to feed into the trust reporting framework with reports taken to internal committees as well as reported externally. Internal committees to include divisional board, capital and workforce planning group, drugs management committee, research committee, charitable funds committee, management board and trust board of directors.
6. Co-ordinate the budget setting process for division(s)/directorates by establishing and maintaining systems and procedures and ensuring the production of working papers to enable the formulation of the Trust budget book. Contribute to the financial planning process to enable the formation to the Trust's annual plan.
7. Interpret financial information and communicate variances from budget and any areas of potential risk to senior managers and offer guidance and advise to enable action plans to be formulated which maximise the financial resources available.
8. Proactively assist colleagues in managing budgets and continually act to promote financial control and stewardship to safeguard the use of funds and promote value for money and ensure the appropriate use of funds within the division/directorate.
9. In conjunction with the division(s) and the Programme Management Office, proactively identify, monitor and evaluate schemes to ensure achievement of Cost Improvement Programme (CIP) targets, and contribute to CIP working groups by being the nominated finance representative.
10. Accurately forecast the year end financial position of the division/directorates on a monthly basis to enable the year-end position for the trust/charity to be provided to the board.
11. Act corporately, upholding the professionalism, position and focus of the Finance Directorate, whilst also being an integral and trusted member of the divisional team(s).
12. As a member of divisional board(s), develop a close working relationship with other members of the board and divisional senior management team. Present financial information to clinicians, managers and other staff to improve financial awareness and efficiency.
13. As a senior member of the division(s), contribute to the effective operation of the division(s), leading on projects where appropriate.
14. Provide the division with information on the links between the achievement of performance targets and the financial performance of the division. This will include advising the divisional board on Local Delivery Plan's; cost and price implications of service changes and advising of financial implications of changes to local tariff and payment by results.
15. Link with the Income, Costing and Contracting team in the production of profitability reporting through divisional/directorate agreement of cost and income allocation and understanding of service contribution to the running of the trust.
16. Link with the Financial Services Manager to ensure the accurate reporting of the trust balance sheet and cash flow statement, to also ensure the trust maximises its cash balance on a daily basis.
17. Contribute to and where appropriate lead on identified corporate financial projects, for example the preparation of elements of the Annual Accounts process.
18. Work co-operatively across the finance function to ensure that common standards of accounting practice are maintained within the Trust and to share information and best practice to achieve more effective use of resources or enhance productivity. Attend and contribute to the weekly section meeting chaired by the ADoF.
19. Authorised signatory for cheques and bank payment transfers ensuring requests meet the Standing Financial Instructions and Standing Orders of the Trust.
20. Exercise independent judgement and initiative when problems arise and take appropriate action to resolve areas of concern.
21. Responsible for prioritising own work and that of specific sub-teams(s) within the divisional financial management team (the post requires no direct supervision), and where appropriate that of the wider divisional financial management team. To line manage specific sub-teams(s) within the divisional financial management team including appraisals; training and development; sickness absence; disciplinary matters; recruitment and selection decisions; personal and career development and workload allocations, and to supervise where appropriate the wider divisional financial management team.
22. Lead on the provision of financial training to managers, clinicians and all budget holders within the division/directorates and the Trust.
23. Lead on the development and implementation of policies, procedures and protocols for the provision of financial management information to ensure the trust complies with statutory and internal requirements, in conjunction with the ADoF.
24. To provide cover for other financial management team members' absences, including supporting other divisions.
25. Work with the ADoF to agree Personal Objectives, and a Personal Development Plan and keep up to date professionally through mandatory continuing professional development.
This job description is not intended to be exhaustive, but reflects the main responsibilities of the post holder. Other duties may be required from time to time, which are commensurate with the grade of the post. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- CCAB/CIMA Qualified Accountant
- Demonstrate Continuing Professional Development
Desirable criteria
- Degree
Experience
Essential criteria
- Have extensive post qualification experience in a senior role, working as a senior manager within a complex finance department, have an advanced understanding of financial management and financial accounting principles
- Experience in working in a multi - agency and disciplinary environment
- Extensive experience of management accounting
- Experience of managing, motivating and developing staff, including professionally qualified staff
- Experience of computerised financial systems
- Experience of NHS finance and the NHS financial regime
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working at a NHS Foundation Trust
- Have experience in the preparation of the statutory annual accounts process
Skills
Essential criteria
- Excellent analytical and reasoning skills
- Ability to prepare and present financial information to non financial people
- Planning, monitoring and influencing skills
- Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills to people at all levels within the organisation
- Proficient in the use of computerised and manual financial systems, including spreadsheets and database packages, and have the ability to develop systems to maximum benefits to users
- Possess a robust understanding of financial and activity systems and to be able to extract, interpret, manipulate and present information in a meaningful way
- Ability to manage, motivate and develop staff, including professionally qualified staff
- Ability to work without supervision and to deliver to deadlines
- Ability to be both a team leader and a team player
- Ability to lead change and have a positive influence on others
- Evidence of past achievements and ability to deliver
- Ability to lead and proactively contribute to business cases, providing an effective and professional financial input
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- In depth knowledge of the NHS financial regime and the impact on Trust income
- Knowledge of the FT financial regime including an understanding of the compliance framework
Desirable criteria
- Understanding of the NHS Cancer Plan and Trust performance targets and to be able to understand the impact that these have on the Trust
The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.
Application Information - If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.
Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.
Pre-Employment Checks - To confirm your suitability for the role, we will carry out pre-employment checks in line with NHS Employment Check Standards. These include:
- Identity verification
- Right to work check
- Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role, payment of this will be the applicants responsibility)
- Professional registration and/or qualification check
- Occupational health assessment
- Employment history and reference validation
All applicants external to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust will be required to provide their HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years employment. This information will used to validate employment history and references.
If you require sponsorship, we will assess your eligibility based on current government guidance. If the role is not eligible and you cannot demonstrate your right to work, your conditional offer may be withdrawn.
✓ If You're Offered the Role - you will be agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.
The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.
Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.
No Smoking Policy - You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.
Additional Information - We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect. The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels. In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.
We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.
As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in all our activities. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery in any of its forms, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, and human trafficking. We are fully committed to acting ethically and with transparency in all our business dealings and relationships, and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our organisation or supply chains.
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
- Job Description & Person Specification (PDF, 220.6KB)
- The Christie Values and Behaviours (PDF, 919.5KB)
- Strategy Brochure (PDF, 1.0MB)
- Travel to The Christie (PDF, 3.8MB)