Chief Financial Officer

Job summary

Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week - VSM

We have an excellent opportunity for a Chief Financial Officer to join the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Accountable to the Chief Executive Officer, the role holder will be responsible for all aspects of financial strategy, delivery and planning for the Trust. The post will be an Executive Director.

The role holder will have a positive impact on patient care by ensuring that patients' interests are at the centre of decision taking and developing innovative financial, procurement and estates functions to drive healthcare improvements, thereby enabling exceptional care in line with our vision of providing NHS care locally that our staff and our community are proud of.

The role is a statutory board position and is a member of the Trust's leadership structure, Executive Directors Group and Board of Directors, playing a key role in delivering Safe, Kind, Effective and economically sustainable services through strong governance and professional, decision making and leadership.

We are looking for someone who can demonstrate strong leadership and professional skills as a collegiate Board Member. The role holder must be able to think strategically, communicate effectively, and work collaboratively across systems with a sound appreciation of the collective challenges and priorities that we and the local health and care economy face.

Please complete a short online application form and provide a CV and covering letter.

Main duties of the job

To be the professional expert on finance for The Council of Governors, Unitary Board, Executive Directors Group, Clinicians, and others in order that they understand the financial implications of their strategic and service delivery plans and be aware of financial performance.

Ensure through robust systems and processes, the regularity and propriety of expenditure is fully discharged.

Providing support for strategic decision-making, financial leadership, and guidance.

Contributing to the organisation's overall strategic vision, management, and leadership.

Playing a leading role in operational planning including estate management from a financial perspective which supports delivery of financial balance and other in year financial duties, long term financial sustainability and delivery of the Trust's key strategic objectives.

Leading the governance to provide assurance on the delivery of the Trust's Cost Reduction Strategy.

Contributing to the development and maintenance of the organisation's governance framework.

Oversee robust audit and governance arrangements leading to propriety in the use of Trust resources.

Oversee the Commercial and Trust Procurement departments.

Develop good relationships with partners, internal and external stakeholders, and regulators.

Oversee contractual discussions and arrangements.

Chair or attend as appropriate, meetings with varied internal and external key stakeholders to facilitate the delivery of the strategic objectives.

About us

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:

• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds.
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility
• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.

The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.

The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.

We are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and welcome applications from all diverse groups.