MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

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Business and Strategic Planning & Development

• To provide professional and complex financial and commercial information to managers at all levels within the Trust, to support the preparation of revenue and capital business cases. Specifically, review investment appraisal and associated revenue costs and income streams and to advise the Finance Director on the merit of business cases.

• To actively participate, with senior colleagues, in reviewing divisional business plans to ensure value for money and consistency with the Trust’s strategic aims and objectives. To provide financial management staff with support and advice on financial and non-financial aspects of the business plans to ensure that finance; workforce, capacity and activity are aligned to meet agreed plans and required service standards.

• Responsible for implementing and managing the annual budgeting process across the Trust, ensuring that all budgets are agreed and signed-off in accordance with a timetable agreed. This will include providing and agreeing written instruction to all budget holders.

• To assist and advise on identifying and achieving cost improvements and improving productivity using benchmarking and other comparative data to inform this process.

• To design and develop the discipline of capacity planning to support finance staff and divisions in implementing strategies to flex capacity and expenditure to enable required activity levels to be delivered cost effectively and efficiently.

• Coordinate identification and analysis of the consequences and risks of short and long term local service changes and national financial and other policy developments.

• Lead the analysis of financial performance indicators including various efficiency indices to identify areas where cost efficiencies and improved value for money may be obtained.

• To lead the development of financial information systems so that they meet the needs of management and provide sound financial control operating to the highest professional standards

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Financial Reporting and Budgetary Performance

• Accountable for all aspects of the trust management accounting service, including management of the monthly reporting cycle and delivery of effective financial reports to agreed deadlines. This includes ensuring that all income and expenditure ledger entries balance accurately and timeliness of provision of summary and detail reports as required across the Trust.

• Manages the production of multi-layer forecasts of trust financial performance at all points in time, ensuring incorporation of the effects of all pressures and actions being taken across the Trust.

• Leads the monthly review of the trust’s financial performance at all levels within deadlines and make recommendations on actions to ensure trust financial performance meets targets and is fully understood and agreed by the divisions.

• Identifies and highlights quickly and appropriately any evidence of divergence from financial plans, targets or forecasts at any level in the trust and works with budget holders to develop mitigations to return performance in line

• Support the Finance Director in influencing site, group and executive directors to hold divisions and corporate directorate budget holders to account through formal periodic reviews of all financial performance.

• Develop and agree with the Finance Director a long-term strategy for the financial management service in the context of the shifting healthcare environment

• Manage, and/or work closely with, the Income and/or Costing teams to ensure all Trust income is included in the ledger and financial reports in an accurate and timely manner.  Further, that opportunities to make savings/increase productivity/efficiency are identified, communicated and supported.

• Works closely with the Associate Director of Financial Services to ensure the integrity of data content in all financial systems, with adequate training of staff with access to systems. Ensures close management and prioritisation of data requests for financial information from across the Trust.

• Corporate reporting – responsible for compiling and agreeing with other senior finance staff the content of Board, Finance and Investment Committee, Trust Executive Committee and other internal reports and for formally agreeing the report with the Finance Director before distribution in a timely manner.

• Lead the development of a robust and detailed financial forecasting process utilising technical resources to ensure that a timely and accurate projection is made each month and that the accountable budget holders are engaged in the process.

Management

• Be responsible for the overall management of the Financial Management team, including motivating staff to meet deadlines and targets, recruitment, training, appraisal, implementation of HR policies and dealing with disciplinary/performance issues.

• Be responsible for the personal development of the Financial Management team and ensure that every member of staff is regularly appraised and has a Personal Development Plan.

• Maintain an up to date, in depth specialist knowledge – theory and experience – of financial and accounting procedures, financial aspects of NHS legislation and NHS financial policies.

• Ensure that Standing Financial Instructions (SFIs) are followed within the Division, involving training and advising staff and monitoring compliance. Where breaches are discovered, ensure appropriate action is taken, in compliance with Trust policies.

Communication

• The post holder will require excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

• The post holder will be required to present highly complex and highly sensitive financial information to large audiences of varying experience, disciplines and seniority. This will require highly developed presentation and influencing skills.

• The post holder will require highly developed negotiation and persuasion skills when communicating contentious information to staff and directorates where there may be significant barriers to acceptance.

• Attend committee and board meetings, as required by the Director of Operational Finance providing responses both written and verbal on financial performance issues. This will often include complex issues, which are open to interpretation and will require multi layered communication and influencing skills.

Policy and Service Development

• Maintain an up to date, in depth specialist knowledge – theory and experience – of financial and accounting procedures, financial aspects of NHS legislation and NHS financial policies.

• Contribute to and ensure that Standing Financial Instructions (SFIs) are followed within the divisions, involving training and advising staff and monitoring compliance. Where breaches are discovered, ensure appropriate action is taken, in compliance with Trust policies.

• Leads continuous process review and improvement for the financial management service, to ensure that:

  • Processes and procedures are up-to-date, relevant and efficient, minimising manual transactions, and delivering standardisation.

  • Reporting solutions are cutting edge and effective

  • Financial systems are appropriate, efficient and effectively used.

• Contributes to and influences process improvement and transformation throughout the trust to ensure financial requirements are appropriately met and financial governance is maintained.

• Contributes to the development of the system of controls to ensure that the Trust’s standing financial instructions and financial procedures are adhered to at all times.

Personal and Professional Development

• Commitment to improve skill levels and knowledge by participation in appropriate training and learning opportunities.

• Attend mandatory and statutory training as required.

• Attend relevant education, training and study days as required.

• Devise and implement a personal development plan and participate in relevant study days.

• Responsible for maintaining own professional development including being aware of new developments within the sphere of the role.

Other Role-Specific Duties

• As a member of the finance senior management team, provides financial advice (as required) on all aspects of the activities and financial governance of the organisation.

• As a very senior member of staff, the post holder will be expected to work closely with the Finance Director, and work flexibly at a high level to respond to any new projects or challenges which occur. The post holder will be able to represent the Trust and their department professionally and command respect through their knowledge and expertise to be able to deputise for the Finance Director successfully.

• Carry out any other reasonable duties commensurate with the role and delegated or requested by the manager or supervisor, as the needs of the service require.

• The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the Department and the Organisation.

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