Executive Director of Finance

NHS; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 100,000

Job description

Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (CNTW) NHS Foundation Trust

Due to our current Director of Finance leaving to take up a Chief Executive role, we have an exciting opportunity for someone who wants to make their mark in the world of NHS finance. We are looking for someone who puts the people and the communities that we serve first. Someone who is a team player, who will work tirelessly with colleagues within the executive team and others across the Trust to provide expert support, advice and guidance as we move into the next phase of delivering our strategy With You in Mind.

We are looking for someone who deeply understands the benefits that financial and business knowledge can bring, but has an enabling, innovative approach. The right candidate needs to understand and believe that real and sustainable financial delivery can only be achieved by engaging our people. Giving them the tools, the information and the clarity that they need and working with and through them to ensure long term sustainability. Our focus is delivering our strategy, and our financial and business approach needs to underpin, and be fundamentally aligned to that.

We have a robust but challenging plan for the year ahead and will plan for a small surplus. That will involve the delivery of a significant programme of change across the organisation at pace. At the same time, we are now fleshing out our 5-year plan, so this represents a perfect time to step into the role and influence and shape our approach to delivering our strategic ambitions.

Main Duties of the Job

The right candidate will fit into a strong, coherent executive team, which welcomes mutual challenge but is also deeply supportive of each other and our common goals and corporate responsibility. They will look to build strong relationships across the organisation to influence, coach, and develop our people. This is not a desk job.

As one of the biggest organisations of our type, we cover a large geography and a wide range of communities, and the post holder would be expected to spend a lot of time out across the organisation, understanding what we do and the impact of our actions. We are a leading organisation providing mental health and disability services; we strive to be an excellent partner, and we are confident in our ability to deliver. We are ambitious and have a radical agenda for change and improvement. The right candidate will buy into and be inspired by the opportunities that this gives both to develop themselves and to radically shift and improve our offer to the people and communities that we serve.

About Us

To make the best possible decisions, CNTW requires diverse, inclusive, and compassionate leadership. To have a Board made up of people with a mix of experience and skills gained from a range of backgrounds and lived experience brings fresh ideas, greater challenge, and more robust decision making, helping us make a positive difference to the lives of people in our communities. We will have a commitment to tackling health inequalities in disadvantaged groups.

In doing so, we try to be reflective of our local communities to help the Board be in a better position to understand the communities and patients we serve and have a genuine commitment to service users and carers and the promotion of excellent mental health care services.

Job Responsibilities

If you have any queries regarding the application process, please contact Debbie Henderson, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs via email at [e-mail].

Should you be interested in this role and would like to have an informal discussion with James Duncan, Chief Executive, or any other CNTW representative, please contact the Corporate Affairs Team via email at [e-mail].

Closing date for applications: Midnight Monday 5 May 2025

Interviews will be held over two days during the week commencing 9 June 2025

Please note: successful candidates will be subject to the NHS England Fit and Proper Person Test Framework requirements.

Person Specification

• Educated to degree level / or equivalent in a relevant subject.
• Professionally qualified CCAB Accountant with at least 5 years post qualification experience.
• Evidence of continual professional and/or managerial development. Experience of working at board level for at least 1 year.
• The ability to think strategically across the health and social care system. Experience of managing significant change processes and projects.
• Experience of successfully building effective relationships and networks across a wide range of organisations and professions.
• Team player able to work flexibly and contribute to the wider aims of the organisation. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to influence and negotiate at all levels.
• Up to date knowledge of professional accounting standards and corporate governance and assurance standards.
• Resilient and the ability to maintain performance under pressure. Must be able to fulfil the mobility requirements of the post.
• Experience of working in an NHS organisation.
• Experience of working in other public sectors.
• Educated to higher or postgraduate degree level.
• Experience of leading projects outside of the finance discipline.

Personal Qualities

• Problem solving, leadership, influencing, vision and strategic thinking, personal commitment.
• Able to challenge and to receive challenge respectfully.
• Able to live to and role model the values of the Trust.

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.