Senior Finance Manager

Job description

Job responsibilities

Financial Planning and Business Planning

Lead the co-ordination of the annual Financial Planning and Budget Setting process, ensuring robust assumptions, high-quality documentation, and a comprehensive audit trail.

Support completion of the annual Financial Planning Return for NHSE, ensuring compliance with national guidance.

Responsible for the accurate financial reporting and provide effective business partnering for CHS, ensuring the consolidated position is clearly understood and well governed.

Contribute to the development of long-term financial models covering Income & Expenditure, balance sheet, capital, cash flow, and risk metrics.

Provide clear guidance and support to Divisional Finance teams to ensure consistency and quality in planning processes.

Represent the Trust at system-level planning groups, contributing to planning discussions, financial alignment, and joint decision-making.

Financial Reporting & Control

Lead the co-ordination and production of the monthly Provider Finance Return (PFR) and other statutory submissions, ensuring accuracy and alignment with Board reporting.

Deliver robust financial control processes, ensuring high-quality monthly and quarterly reporting, accurate forecasts, and early identification of financial risks.

Manage Trust Reserves, ensuring transparency, effective governance, and a clear understanding of commitments and risks.

Lead the business planning process for Technical Accounting and Reserves.

Investigate and interpret highly complex financial issues involving multiple targets and conflicting priorities, providing clear recommendations to senior stakeholders.

Ensure financial controls and processes comply with Standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions, and best practice.

Contribute to Internal and External Audit activity, supporting financial control reviews, facilitating audit access, providing information, and implementing improvements arising from audit recommendations.

Cost Improvement Programme (CIP) Management

Lead the reconciliation and weekly monitoring of the Trusts CIP tracker, ensuring accuracy, timely updates, and full understanding of recurrent and non-recurrent impacts.

Work in close partnership with the PMO to validate financial benefits, identify risks and mitigations, and support scheme development.

Provide expert financial advice to operational and clinical leaders on efficiency opportunities and CIP development.

Support the production of CIP reports for Finance & Performance Committee, Executive Board, and external regulators.

Systems, Reporting & Automation

Work closely with the Systems Accountant to ensure financial systems are configured correctly, produce reliable outputs, and support Trust financial processes.

Provide guidance and subject-matter expertise on financial reporting structures, ledger integrity, and coding.

Lead initiatives to automate routine financial reporting processes, reducing manual effort, increasing accuracy, and improving timeliness.

Support the development or enhancement of dashboards to support Board, Divisional and CIP reporting.

Ensure system changes or upgrades are effectively embedded into business processes.

Business Partnering & Leadership

Provide high-quality financial advice to senior budget holders and Divisional leadership teams, enabling informed decision-making and improved financial performance.

Develop strong relationships with stakeholders across the Trust, promoting shared accountability for financial management.

Provide training and education to non-finance managers to improve financial literacy and support improved financial decision-making.

Deputise for the Assistant Director of Finance as required, representing the finance function at meetings and contributing to organisational decision-making.

Maintain awareness of regional and national policies, evaluating their impact on the Trust and advising senior leaders accordingly.

Support a culture of continuous improvement within the Finance Directorate and contribute to wider organisational transformation initiatives.

Support ad-hoc projects and carry out other duties as required.

Person Specification

QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

Essential

• Professionally qualified accountant (CCAB, CIMA etc)
• Evidence of personal development
• Able to demonstrate continuing personal / professional development
• Demonstrates ability to lead and develop a team
• Demonstrates ability to train non finance staff

Desirable

• Management qualification

KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE

Essential

• Experience of working in a large organisation with complex management structures
• Significant post-qualification financial management experience
• Experience of business case development and implementation
• Experience of financial modelling and associated technical financial accounting skills
• Experience of partnership working
• Experience of providing board level financial information, forecasting and gaining ownership of financial information to support decision- making.
• Experience of financial risk assessment and reporting and the development of risk management strategies
• Knowledge of IFRS accounting standards in the classification and reporting of financial transactions.
• Knowledge, experience and expertise in a finance management role.
• Awareness of social, political, financial and business issues affecting the NHS
• Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Office and general ledger systems

Desirable

• Knowledge of NHS funding flows and the financial framework of an NHS Foundation Trust.
• Able to demonstrate experience of successful outcomes in service redesign and transformation
• Experience of working in finance in an NHS environment
• Experience of working effectively with clinicians
• Experience of delivering a long term financial model

COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONSHIPS (INCLUDING MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES)

Essential

• The emotional intelligence and stamina necessary to achieve demanding challenges and goals in a complex and challenging environment
• Demonstrates the energy and ability to lead and manage the complexity of tasks that supports the achievement of the organisation's objectives
• Excellent communication skills including, listening, influencing and persuading
• Ability to analyse highly complex problems relating to business case production and analysis and communicate key messages to clinicians and managers and directors
• Able to manage day to day business challenges, including cash flow, profit and loss, whilst not losing sight of the long-term strategic goals
• Ability to provide financial leadership.
• Ability to make judgments on financial decisions and financial risk where there is no precedent and where opinions may conflict
• Ability to develop and maintain communication with non-finance managers on complex financial issues, conveying concepts clearly and persuasively, anticipating barriers and taking action to improve communication as necessary
• Ability to works autonomously, and interpret available standards e.g. DHSC policy; Accounting Standards

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Huddersfield Royal Infirmary

Huddersfield

HD3 3EB

Employer's website

https://www.cht.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)