Would you like to join our Finance team and become part of one of the largest non-acute Foundation Trusts in the country? CNWL provides mental and community health services across London and Milton Keynes, plus a variety of specialist services including addictions, prison health and sexual health. The finance department offers a range of opportunities to partner and advise these services as they meet their operational challenges.

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Main duties of the job

We are looking to appoint a self-motivated CCAB-qualified accountant to fill a Finance Manager Maternity Cover vacancy within the finance department. As well as providing business partnering support to your clinical directorates you will line manage one Management Accountants in supporting their own services. You will need to work within tight deadlines, work under pressure and possess a real drive to succeed as well as strong interpersonal skills.

This post will support the Goodall Division, covering adult mental health and community services across.

About us

CNWL's finance department offers a diverse and friendly environment for professional development. We are a large team with many opportunities to progress your career, and have set ourselves the target of finding a mentor for every team-member who wants one. Our staff are based across various sites and we welcome flexible working. We also have the benefit of being an accredited employer for ACCA, CIPFA and CIMA.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Main Duties & Responsibilities

To contribute to the financial management of the Finance Directorate as a member of the senior finance team and to ensure the provision of a management accounting service that is agreed and acceptable to both the Chief Finance Officer and Executive Board of the Trust.

To provide effective budgetary control to the Trust by producing regular, meaningful and accurate income and expenditure information to budget holders by the formulation of appropriate budget setting methodologies and ensuring these are accurately recorded in the financial ledger system.

To ensure that budgetary units develop and act as effective businesses units within the Trust, ensuring cost efficiencies are delivered and margins maximised.

To develop strategies that will maximise the Trusts financial position through effective co-ordination between income, expenditure and business management.

To provide expert input into the formulation of business cases bringing together budgetary plans as well as assessments of risk.

To analyse costs and make recommendations to develop cost improvement plans. Thereafter to monitor cost improvement schemes to ensure targets, timescales and Trust expectations are met, reporting deviations as appropriate.

To ensure the production of accurate financial returns to commissioners and other external stakeholders as required in line with set deadlines.

Ensure their team of Management Accountants delivers month end financial information within the 5 working day turnaround.

To identify and notify internal control risks, taking adequate and appropriate action as necessary.

Proactively participate and assist colleagues in managing budgets, planning service developments, identifying and achieving targets and participating in the development of business cases.

Deliver formal and/or informal training to budget holders to assist them in understanding the financial information provided to them and managing their budgets.

To maintain accurate budgets as a result of pay awards, service changes, virements and new developments.

To analyse and report significant budgetary variances as part of the month end review of performance.

To meet and discuss with budget holders where necessary, remedial action to address financial issues.

To actively promote cost improvement ideas and deliver monitoring arrangements for identified schemes.

To oversee the maintenance of accurate financial records of staff in post, and to ensure that this information is provided to budget managers on a monthly basis and is reflected in the Trusts budgeting software.

To assist and work closely with to produce forecasts of expenditure and devolved income and to ensure that explanations for variances and deviation from forecast outturns are communicated effectively.

To work closely with service and other Finance Managers on areas such as service development, performance management, business planning, service reviews and key performance indicators.

To produce relevant, timely and accurate adhoc reports as requested by internal managers and external stakeholders to meet their needs and obligations.

To ensure that sound financial systems exist for the complete, accurate and efficient recording of transactions and their adherence to Standing Financial Instructions (SFIs). This will include well documented systems and procedures through a series of procedure notes, revised as and where necessary to maintain relevance and promote best practice.

To jointly manage and implement the annual expenditure and devolved income budget setting process whilst ensuring effective links with business planning.

Where necessary, interpret, formulate and implement financial plans to achieve NHS reforms as they arise.

To work with the Head of Costing and their teams to further the development and roll out of service line reporting and patient level costing across the services.

To work closely with the Associate Director of Financial Management to ensure the effective closedown of the Trusts accounts at year-end.

Communication

Ensure all budget holders have the opportunity to access dedicated financial support and that a visible presence is achieved by the arrangement of regular meetings, updates, presentations.

Assist in the maintenance of an appropriate financial culture within the Trust, thus promoting awareness of relevant financial procedures and constraints.

Management

Manage the day-to-day aspects of the Management Accounts department and provide professional and managerial leadership to staff. This will be achieved by co-ordinating and facilitating effective and timely working within tight deadlines realised through the setting and monitoring of standards and objectives in the course of regular staff supervision sessions and annual appraisals. This will allow the development of staff skills, knowledge and motivation ensuring a professional and efficient service to internal and external stakeholders.

Responsibility for the recruitment, training and discipline of Management Accounts

As a senior Trust manager, to contribute in Trust-wide working groups as necessary and to participate in formal processes such as Directorate management meetings and disciplinary procedures.

In conjunction with other sections within the Finance Department, Executive Directors and Service Directors, continually review current practices, procedures and systems to ensure that the most optimum use of resources is achieved in order to meet current and future demands.

Other

Maintain an effective working relationship with members of the Finance Department, staff within the organisation and external contacts in order to deliver a professional service focused on achieving the production of management accounts and provision of financial advice.

To take a lead role in the research and development of new initiatives which affect the Financial Management & Planning department, ensuring the Trust continues to benefit from advances in business technology.

To keep technically up-to-date and maintain a continuing professional development plan in accordance with professional requirements.

To maintain and enhance the professional reputation of the Finance Directorate to internal and external stakeholders.

Support the Head of Financial Management & Planning across a range of duties by acting on his behalf as directed and in accordance with Trust needs.

To be fully aware of the Trust policies on the Code of Conduct of staff including the Nolan Principles, Whistle Blowing and Fraud.

This job description is intended as a guide to the scope of the duties and responsibilities of the post and not meant as an inflexible specification. The post holder may be asked, and is expected to, undertake any other duties commensurate to the grade of the post. The Job Description will be reviewed and updated from time-to-time in consultation with the post holder in line with changing circumstances within the organisation.

Person Specification

Education, Qualifications, Skills, Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Degree or equivalent.
• Qualified professional accountant from one of the Consultative Committee of Accounting Bodies or able to demonstrate equivalent experience (via a written test).
• Significant work experience within a Finance environment with a majority of the experience within Management Accounting.
• Expert knowledge of fundamental accounting principles and how they apply to the NHS
• Computer skills: Highly developed skills in Microsoft Excel and experience of working with a general ledger system.
• Standard keyboard skills for using financial general ledger, spreadsheets and word processing applications.

Personal & Managerial Competencies

Essential

• Communication
• o Leadership
• o Influencing & Negotiating
• Planning, Monitoring & Controlling
• o Costing
• o Analytical Information & Solving Problems
• o Focusing on Business & Customer
• o Working in & leading Teams
• o Creating a safe, secure, fair employment environment
• Continually update on changes in government legislation e.g. VAT and Taxation.
• Making Decisions

Technical Competencies

Essential

• Technical Competencies
• Understand services provided by the NHS and how it interacts with patients and the organisation.

Other

Essential

• Declared medically fit by the Occupational Health department to perform the duties of the post.
• The post holder must have the ability to understand and implement the Equal Opportunities Policy at a level appropriate to the job.

Employer details

Employer name

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Beaufort House

Cricket Field Road

London

UB8 1QG

Any attachments will be accessible after you click to apply.

333-C-HQ-0610