Business Unit Accountant

Job overview

An exciting new opportunity has arisen for a Band 7 Business Unit Accountant within the Financial Management Team at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Working with the Chief Finance Manager and Principle Finance Manager, the post holder will be responsible for delivering financial management and business insights to the service leads and heads of department for clinical services.  This role may rotate across clinical and non clinical business areas within the Financial Management department.

Main duties of the job

The Business Unit Accountant performs a key role specialising in the provision of financial reporting, planning and analysis to enable performance management and informed decision making. They will be skilled in supporting leaders in giving financial advice to facilitate high quality decision making within the resources available whilst supporting the Principal Finance Manager with finance responsibilities.

The fundamental principle of this role is to lead on the management accounting duties for the organisation, this includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Taking ownership and leading on all aspects of monthly reporting, forecasting and analysis of the financial position for the company with a clear understanding of key factors contributing current performance.

Embedding finance within the division to support leaders with their financial responsibilities to deliver an safe, efficient and effective service. Appropriately training colleagues on budget management with effective challenge and investigation into performance variances.

Leading on annual budget setting, appropriately and clearly capturing the resource required to deliver on operational plans for the following year.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Supporting the Chief Finance Manager and Principle Finance Manager in providing a professional, high quality  financial management service to Clinical and Non Clinical Business Units.
• Leading on the operations of the financial management team.
• Providing financial and business planning advice and insights across the Business Unit and to the Trust.
• Ensuring financial controls are maintained in line with all corporate governance requirements and NHS guidance.
• Delivering statutory accounts and returns that are accurate and meet agreed timescales and legal requirements, adding layers of analysis and insight as appropriate.
• Role modelling compassionate and inclusive leadership in order to shape the creation of a collective leadership culture within the Trust. This involves an approach that consistently engages, enables and empowers others; leads and coaches ownership of learning and quality improvement; and facilitates team working and collaboration within teams / departments and across organisational boundaries.