Job summary
Our Trust is on an ambitious journey. With a 2.6 billion turnover, a bold 2024--29 strategy and a clear commitment to making the best use of our resources, we are strengthening how we understand, measure and improve financial performance. At the heart of this is the Deputy Head of Financial Performance -- a senior leader who will help shape our financial sustainability and recovery at a pivotal time.
This role is for someone who blends analytical rigour with credibility; someone who sees financial performance not just as reporting, but as a driver of improvement, value and resilience. You will work across all sites, divisions and corporate teams, helping leaders understand performance drivers and make decisions that support longterm stability.
You will bring clarity to complexity, offer confident stewardship under scrutiny and keep the organisation focused on sustainable financial health that underpins safe, equitable care. As part of the senior finance leadership team, you will influence how we meet our financial commitments, strengthen accountability and enhance our use of data and insight to drive improvement at scale.
This is a chance to shape Trustwide progress at the highest levels -- working with the Head of Financial Performance & Recovery, the CFO, Hospital Executive Teams and Group leaders to support a recovery programme that is both credible and deliverable.
Main duties of the job
In this highprofile role, you will lead and drive the financial performance and recovery programme. You will bring together data, operational intelligence and financial insight to create a coherent view of performance, helping senior leaders understand emerging risks, spot opportunities and respond at pace. Working collaboratively across the system, you will align our work with regional financial improvement plans and support the Trust to meet its obligations in a challenging national environment.
You will provide strategic business partnering to senior operational and clinical leaders, translating complex financial information into clear, actionable insight. You will oversee financial leadership while guiding and mentoring finance colleagues, building capability and championing a culture where financial discipline enables highquality care.
You will standardise how the Trust measures and communicates performance, creating consistent frameworks and dashboards that bring transparency to productivity, cost improvement and financial risk.
You will also drive cost improvement and efficiency plans that deliver sustainable, recurring benefits. You will challenge unwarranted variation and strengthen pathways. As part of the extended Finance leadership team, you will bring expertise, resilience and strategic perspective to the organisation's most complex decisions.
About us
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust strives to have an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong, can thrive, knows that they add value and feels valued. We do this by developing compassionate and culturally competent leaders, being values driven in all that we do and by creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace that thrives on the diversity of our people. As such we want to attract and recruit talented individuals from all backgrounds, and for each of you to feel supported for the diversity you bring, to achieve your full potential. For those staff with a disability, including physical disability, long term health condition, mental health or neurodiverse condition, this also means being committed to making reasonable adjustments needed for you to carry out your role.
Job description
Job responsibilities
*Please Note : For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*
Job description
Job responsibilities
*Please Note : For a detailed job description for this vacancy, please see attached Job Description*
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Recognised Professional Accountancy Qualification -- i.e. Fully Qualified member of CCAB.
Desirable
- Completion of evidenced ongoing Continuing Professional Development, in accordance with guidelines produced by the relevant Professional Accountancy Body.
Experience
Essential
- Be a qualified accountant with significant experience working in a large, complex organisation. Possess specialist knowledge of costing, statistics and Information analysis and the use of information.
- Experience of leading, managing and developing a team.
- Extensive relevant experience of Financial Management and Business Partnering including substantial post qualification experience operating at a strategic level and influencing senior operational leadership.
- Track record of leading change in a large and complex organisation.
- Extensive experience of the financial elements of business planning, the preparation of business cases and the practical application of investment appraisal techniques
- Programme Management experience, including planning, coordinating and reporting upon significant change programmes with senior stakeholder engagement.
- Experience of multi-professional collaboration at a senior level.
- Development and utilisation of internal and external benchmarking techniques including the use within business case appraisal.
- Experience of suggesting and making changes to local systems and processes.
Desirable
- Evidence of delivering savings within a health or social care setting
- Specialist, expert knowledge of specific NHS policies/procedures for example Payment by Results, Coding, Patient Choice, Foundation Trusts, GIRFT, Model Hospital
- Good working knowledge of and proven interest in the NHS including understanding of key targets and the performance management framework.
- Familiarity with relevant changes in clinical practice and the consequent impact on resource utilisation.
Additional Criteria
Essential
- Excellent written communication skills including the ability to summarise highly complex financial issues into concise financial reports and prepare complex, multi- faceted business cases.
- Good verbal communication and presentation skills including the ability to explain highly complex financial issues clearly and persuasively to non-financial staff and communicate sensitive or contentious information in order to influence decision making.
- Excellent negotiation skills are required to overcome barriers to understanding arising from the complexity of issues. The ability to empathise with a conflicting point of view and work in a co-operative way in order to facilitate a workable compromise is essential.
- Standard keyboard skills.
- Strong inter-personal skills including the ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues at all levels from within the organisation and external stakeholders
- Awareness of organisational politics in order to keep healthcare professionals on board with the change and resource management agenda.
- Ability to effectively lead and motivate teams to manage change and achieve organisational goals
- Flexibility to work autonomously with the skills to make decisions independently and delegate effectively
- Proven ability to use own initiative, prioritise work to meet tight deadlines delegate appropriately and apply problem solving skills effectively.
- Strong understanding of operational issues and how organisational pressures affect broader resource utilisation.
- Strong analytical skills including the ability to make sound judgements and decisions on highly complex issues to minimise financial risk in situations where there is a multiplicity of targets / objectives, imperfect information and no obvious precedent.
- Ability to make judgements on financial risks where expert opinions may conflict is required.
- Ability to remain calm and perform consistently in stressful situations, including formal meetings with Executive Directors and senior staff from external organisations.
- Confidence to advise on certain courses of action/decisions which may have far-reaching and long-term strategic consequences for the Trust.
- Comprehensive IT skills including the use of Financial Systems / General Ledgers. Experience with Microsoft Office products/other software packages including the ability to design highly complex spreadsheets, reports and databases to manipulate and analyse technical data and convert it into an accessible, user-friendly format
- Good understanding of operational issues and how organisational pressures affect broader resource utilisation.
- Reliable, punctual, proactive approach. Ability to travel to fulfil the role, both between hospital sites and elsewhere, as required.
- Demonstrable commitment to Continuing Professional Development in accordance with the requirements of the professional bodies
- Commitment to development and training of staff
- Displays smart appearance and integrity
- Adhere to and ensure compliance with relevant Health and Safety legislation.
Desirable
- Experience of transformation or change management
- Member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Recognised Professional Accountancy Qualification -- i.e. Fully Qualified member of CCAB.
Desirable
- Completion of evidenced ongoing Continuing Professional Development, in accordance with guidelines produced by the relevant Professional Accountancy Body.
Experience
Essential
- Be a qualified accountant with significant experience working in a large, complex organisation. Possess specialist knowledge of costing, statistics and Information analysis and the use of information.
- Experience of leading, managing and developing a team.
- Extensive relevant experience of Financial Management and Business Partnering including substantial post qualification experience operating at a strategic level and influencing senior operational leadership.
- Track record of leading change in a large and complex organisation.
- Extensive experience of the financial elements of business planning, the preparation of business cases and the practical application of investment appraisal techniques
- Programme Management experience, including planning, coordinating and reporting upon significant change programmes with senior stakeholder engagement.
- Experience of multi-professional collaboration at a senior level.
- Development and utilisation of internal and external benchmarking techniques including the use within business case appraisal.
- Experience of suggesting and making changes to local systems and processes.
Desirable
- Evidence of delivering savings within a health or social care setting
- Specialist, expert knowledge of specific NHS policies/procedures for example Payment by Results, Coding, Patient Choice, Foundation Trusts, GIRFT, Model Hospital
- Good working knowledge of and proven interest in the NHS including understanding of key targets and the performance management framework.
- Familiarity with relevant changes in clinical practice and the consequent impact on resource utilisation.
Additional Criteria
Essential
- Excellent written communication skills including the ability to summarise highly complex financial issues into concise financial reports and prepare complex, multi- faceted business cases.
- Good verbal communication and presentation skills including the ability to explain highly complex financial issues clearly and persuasively to non-financial staff and communicate sensitive or contentious information in order to influence decision making.
- Excellent negotiation skills are required to overcome barriers to understanding arising from the complexity of issues. The ability to empathise with a conflicting point of view and work in a co-operative way in order to facilitate a workable compromise is essential.
- Standard keyboard skills.
- Strong inter-personal skills including the ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues at all levels from within the organisation and external stakeholders
- Awareness of organisational politics in order to keep healthcare professionals on board with the change and resource management agenda.
- Ability to effectively lead and motivate teams to manage change and achieve organisational goals
- Flexibility to work autonomously with the skills to make decisions independently and delegate effectively
- Proven ability to use own initiative, prioritise work to meet tight deadlines delegate appropriately and apply problem solving skills effectively.
- Strong understanding of operational issues and how organisational pressures affect broader resource utilisation.
- Strong analytical skills including the ability to make sound judgements and decisions on highly complex issues to minimise financial risk in situations where there is a multiplicity of targets / objectives, imperfect information and no obvious precedent.
- Ability to make judgements on financial risks where expert opinions may conflict is required.
- Ability to remain calm and perform consistently in stressful situations, including formal meetings with Executive Directors and senior staff from external organisations.
- Confidence to advise on certain courses of action/decisions which may have far-reaching and long-term strategic consequences for the Trust.
- Comprehensive IT skills including the use of Financial Systems / General Ledgers. Experience with Microsoft Office products/other software packages including the ability to design highly complex spreadsheets, reports and databases to manipulate and analyse technical data and convert it into an accessible, user-friendly format
- Good understanding of operational issues and how organisational pressures affect broader resource utilisation.
- Reliable, punctual, proactive approach. Ability to travel to fulfil the role, both between hospital sites and elsewhere, as required.
- Demonstrable commitment to Continuing Professional Development in accordance with the requirements of the professional bodies
- Commitment to development and training of staff
- Displays smart appearance and integrity
- Adhere to and ensure compliance with relevant Health and Safety legislation.
Desirable
- Experience of transformation or change management
- Member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
