Senior Finance Manager

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust is one of the top performing organisations within the NHS. Our staff think this is a great place to work and we hope you will agree. We have recently been rated as 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following our most recent inspection.

We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the whole county. This includes our Community Teams in North Warwickshire.

We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity. Over 6000 people work for the Trust and many of them have been here a long time. People find they don't need to go elsewhere to find a fulfilling career in healthcare.

The first thing you will notice about us is how we take our values seriously. We believe that our values underpin everything we do. If you are interested in a role with us you need to make sure our values match your own.

Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide inclusive, safe, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

Probationary Period

All new staff to the Trust will be subject to a standard 6 month probationary period, the details of which will duly follow in your contract of employment.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust is committed to creating and sustaining a positive and inclusive working environment for all our employees. Our aim is to ensure that employees are equally valued and respected and that our organisation is representative of all members of society. We define diversity as valuing everyone as an individual - we value our employees, job applicants, students, patients and visitors as people. This is reflected within our values of being Inclusive, Safe, Effective, Compassionate and Trusted.

Agile and Flexible Working

All our staff will have a work base. However the Trust operates as an Agile Working Team therefore staff may be working from home on a regular basis as required by the service. However, occasionally travel around Warwickshire and into your base will be required so access to your own transport would be helpful.

The Trust also welcome staff to work flexibly and we would welcome the conversation at interview regarding flexible working.

Staff Benefits

The Trust offers a wide range of additional benefits to staff. Anyone who joins us on a substantive basis can assess things such as the Lease Car Scheme, Electronics Scheme, Discounted Leisure and Travel, Cycle to work scheme amongst many others available.

Car Parking

The Trust have recently completed the construction of a multi-storey car park at our Warwick Hospital site which has allowed us to reduce waiting times for car parking passes.

To keep up to date on our latest recruitment activity follow us on twitter @swftrecruit or look us up on Facebook (Recruitment - South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust).

Job Overview

South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust has a vacancy for the role of Senior Finance Manager to lead one of our divisions.

As an essential member of the Financial Management team you will be responsible for providing a comprehensive financial management service for the division. The post holder and their team will be responsible for divisional budget setting, financial planning, forecasting, monthly monitoring and reporting within corporate standards and timetables.

Technically strong, with in-depth financial management experience and an appreciation of the current NHS regimes. Due to the complexities of the information that you will be dealing with, it is essential you have the capabilities to understand, interpret and convey financial concepts clearly and persuasively to finance and non-finance colleagues. Strong communication skills, both verbal and written will be essential.

If you would like further information please contact Ravi Basi, Deputy Chief Finance Officer on [email protected]

Main Duties of the Job

1. To provide leadership and accountable management for the identified services that form the Division, ensuring effective use of the Division's financial resources in pursuit of agreed Divisional and Corporate goals.
2. To take full responsibility for providing comprehensive financial management and support service to the Division, providing a full range of advice to the Associate Director of Operations and Associate Medical Directors on divisional, departmental and specialty budgets.
3. To lead on Divisional budget setting, financial planning, forecasting, monthly monitoring and reporting within corporate standards and timetables.
4. The post holder will be required to constructively challenge all aspects of divisional performance whilst maintaining a team ethic within the Division.
5. To be responsible for the overall management and performance of a small team.
6. To ensure all statutory NHS accounts and returns are completed to timescales and legal requirements, as well as represent a true and fair view.

Working for Our Organisation

Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further.

We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.

Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core.

Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities

The post holder will be responsible for the provision of financial information, advice and support to the Associate Director of Operations, Associate Medical Directors and Service/Departmental Managers, meeting regularly with members of the management team to ensure that the financial position of the Division and the Trust is understood and that any potential financial problems are identified early enough for corrective action to be taken. The post holder must be capable of influencing the team to ensure achievement of the Trust's financial objectives and balancing the budget.

The post holder is required to have extensive expert knowledge and experience of financial management as they will have overall responsibility for all aspects of budgetary management within the division, including monitoring of performance and providing advice on corrective action as necessary. To take a lead role in the division in the annual budget setting process.

The post holder will be responsible for leading in the delivery of financial plan for the division and for the management/monitoring of cost improvement and cost control programmes to support the achievement of the plan.

The post holder is required to have expert knowledge of financial and accounting procedures, and NHS finance policies.

To undertake where relevant lead responsibility for the implementation and monitoring of recharging mechanisms to improve budgetary control. To take responsibility for the financial aspects of the Approval to Recruit process to ensure that funding is available.

The post holder will lead their team in the production, interpreting, forecasting and reporting of the financial position of the Division in accordance with both internal and external requirements as well as providing performance reports and formulating action plans as necessary.

The post holder will be responsible for the preparation of revenue budgets which are consistent with the financial control objectives and business plans of the Trust and which are relevant to the needs of the managers concerned and the changing requirements of Trust reporting. All plans to be negotiated and agreed with relevant stakeholders. This will include ensuring that resources match activity and income plans and monitoring performance against them during the year, taking/recommending action were necessary.

The post holder will work with the Trust's management to ensure that the needs of patients and clinical targets are met and delivered within the available resource envelope, ensuring compliance with Standing Financial Instructions and achievement of financial balance. Achieve financial duties in face of conflicting resource demands and multiplicity of service targets.

The post holder will assist the Associate Director of Operations, Associate Medical Director, and other managers in identifying and achieving cost improvement targets, income generation targets and ensuring value for money, undertaking reviews of all existing practices with the aim of improving efficiency.

The post holder will provide regular financial advice and support to the Management Teams, Service Managers, other Heads of Department and Lead Nurses on complex and sometimes confrontational issues. Creating performance, monitoring and correction reports where appropriate to allow informed decision making to take place.

The post holder will provide the Deputy Chief Finance Officer with corporate information necessary to enable corporate financial reporting. This will include explanation of significant variance movements for inclusion in the corporate Finance and Performance Executive reports and report to the Board of Directors.

The post holder will ensure that for the areas of responsibility, Budget Setting, Financial Planning, Forecasting, Monthly monitoring and Reporting to the division are done to the required standards and timetables.

The post holder will participate in the development of new costing and budgeting methodologies to provide information for both managerial and commercial purposes.

The post holder will review, for the division, the Trust's costs relative to national norms and other provider units and establishing verification of significant variations.

The post holder will monitor the service provided by the division to other Trusts in accordance with the Service Level Agreements. To discuss and renegotiate these SLAs as necessary.

The post holder will be responsible for the financial aspects in any competitive tendering process to ensure that best value is achieved. To prepare financial option appraisal reports for presentation to the Board of Directors incorporating recommendations.

The post holder will increase the financial capability of management teams through the provision of financial awareness training and continuous support for senior managers and service leads within the division.

The post holder will participate in ad-hoc working groups on particular issues as required, representing the finance department.

The post holder will be responsible for the day to day management of the financial management team including identifying training and development requirements in line with the Knowledge and Skills Framework requirements and ensuring that Personal Development Plans are in place and completed according to timescales.

The post holder will provide input as required to the Trust's statutory financial reports.

The post holder will ensure that the Trust's standing financial instructions and codes of procedures are adhered to at all times.

The post holder will assist generally in the financial management of the Trust.

The post holder will be responsible for ensuring that Clinicians within the Division are fully involved in all aspects of financial management of the Division.

The post holder will ensure that staff are fully engaged in the process of change management, and in particular, that Clinicians are fully involved at the forefront of service improvement projects.

The post holder will ensure that mechanisms are in place to discuss service improvement initiatives with Clinicians and to monitor the effectiveness of actions taken as a result of such discussions.

The post holder will ensure that information is made available to Clinicians to enable them to play an active part in the development of Service Line Reporting.

The post holder will be responsible for the design and development of Service Line Reporting, which is an information system, to meet the needs of the Divisional users.

The post holder will support the review of demand and capacity within the Division and analyse the impact on the Division's financial position.

The post holder is expected to influence strategic planning and provide challenge to the Associate Director of Operations, /Associate Medical Directors and management team. The post holder will communicate highly sensitive, complex and contentious information and will need to influence the team to ensure that services are planned in line with the strategic direction of the Trust. Highly developed communication skills and political awareness are necessary to the successful functioning of this role.

The post holder will work with the Divisional team and the Senior Finance Manager (Strategic and Financial Planning) to provide robust financial risk evaluations of business cases, service developments.

The post holder will liaise with clinicians / service managers to ensure all options have been considered, model assumptions are correct and to provide advice on accessing funding.

The post holder will work with the Divisional team and the Senior Finance Manager (Strategic and Financial Planning) to analyse the financial impact of capital equipment proposals and purchase options.

The post holder will work with the Senior Finance Manager (Corporate Financial Information) and their team to develop a corporate approach to streamline financial information production as well as develop the Trust's approach to Service Line Reporting.

The post holder is responsible for supporting the Senior Finance Manager (Corporate Financial Information) in the full roll-out of the Service Line Management to the Divisions.

The post holder will work with the Senior Finance Manager (Financial Services) to ensure that any statutory returns are completed and also understand the cashflow implications of the financial position.

The post holder will be required to communicate/present complex financial issues to clinicians and non-finance managers. The post holder will be required to convey financial concepts clearly and persuasively.

The post holder requires expert knowledge and experience of all finance systems and must be able to interrogate financial information systems and manage the data to provide managers with high quality and timely information for decision-making. Ability to use experience and knowledge to identify income and expenditure trends, and project year-end positions.

The post holder will be responsible for the financial management input into the design and development of a budget system as well as the introducing any new ledger upgrades or systems for managing the financial and accounting practices with the department.

Creates complex spreadsheets using advanced spreadsheet skills to provide ad hoc costings/information to managers. Uses other software packages for specific purposes e.g. Database.

To ensure that own professional skills and knowledge are regularly updated through mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Plans own workload and manages the team on a daily basis whilst ensuring that staff meet financial timetables/priorities/deadlines set by Deputy Chief Finance Officer.

Any other duties as commensurate with the grade of the post.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Graduate plus masters degree or equivalent Professional accountancy qualifications or experience
• Commitment and evidence of continuing professional development in line with the post holder's Professional Accounting body
• Further specialist finance training and experience relating to income management accounting

Experience

Essential criteria

• Extensive expert knowledge and experience in Financial Management or equivalent
• Minimum of five years at senior level in the Finance sector
• Expert knowledge of financial and accounting procedures and NHS finance policies

Desirable criteria

• Acute Sector Experience

Skills

Essential criteria

• Expert user of Financial Systems and Microsoft Excel
• Demonstrable evidence of influencing and persuading
• Highly numerate and analytical
• Excellent verbal reasoning
• Advanced report writing skills
• Understanding of current NHS structures and key policies
• Knowledge of acute hospital environment
• Ability to lead and motivate staff
• Able to plan and prioritise workload effectively
• Able to design a budget system or ledger upgrade

Desirable criteria

• MS Access skills

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria

• Committed to Continuing Professional Development
• Commands credibility and respect from operational managers and colleagues
• Able to concentrate and work under pressure
• Professional and reputation for integrity
• Flexible and supportive work colleague
• Commercially astute

Other

Essential criteria

• Knowledge and understanding of equal opportunities
• Able to travel between sites
• Occupational Health clearance

Desirable criteria

• Working towards ECDL

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Sometimes we get a lot of applications for our roles. On those occasions we might close the job early. If you don't want to miss out we recommend submitting your application as early as possible.

The Trust use an Applicant Management System called TRAC which helps us manage the recruitment process. All communications regarding your application will come via TRAC (even if you applied via NHS Jobs).

Please check your TRAC account regularly and ensure your email is set up to accept messages so they don't go into your junk/spam folder.

We aim to shortlist all vacancies within 2 days of the vacancy closing, we will get back to all candidates ASAP.

Please ensure all sections of the application form are completed fully. Please particularly ensure that you provide full details of all referees including business email address, telephone contact details and postal address.

South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust is an equal opportunities employer who is committed to Equality and Diversity and does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the grounds of any protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act 2010.

All South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust sites are smoke free. We feel it's a great way to help our patients, visitors and staff stay healthy.

The Trust is part of a 'Foundation Group' through a strategic alliance with Wye Valley NHS Trust, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. This partnership is great for the sustainability of all four organisations and allows us to share learning and maximise opportunities to ensure the delivery of high quality health and care services for our local populations.

Employer Certification / Accreditation Badges

Documents to Download

• Job Description ( PDF , 256.6 KB )
• Person Specification ( PDF , 152.6 KB )
• Functional Requirements ( PDF , 528.6 KB )