Senior Finance Manager, Planning & Reporting

Job overview

Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust is a £500m Acute NHS Foundation Trust, the largest provider of acute hospital services in Surrey. An exciting opportunity has arisen for a professionally qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) to join our growing Strategic Planning & Reporting finance team as a Senior Finance Manager.

The role covers a wide-ranging portfolio responsible for supporting Trust-wide financial strategy, budgeting, reporting and cost improvement programme performance management.

The post holder will have line management of 2 team members and will need to deliver to tight internal and external reporting deadlines, drive process improvement and innovation across the finance function, support change in the organisation, undertake complex financial modelling and proactively engage with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the finance function can meet the challenges of a Trust which aspires to be one of the leading healthcare providers in the country.

This is a hybrid role, with 2-3 days per week being based on-site at St Peters Hospital as standard and a requirement that the post holder will be flexible with these arrangements when required by the business.

JOB DESCRIPTION STILL SUBJECT TO FINAL JOB MATCHING

Main duties of the job

You will be an enthusiastic and conscientious qualified accountant with post qualification experience and excellent organisational and project management skills.  The successful candidate could have either NHS or a commercial background, but must have an understanding of the issues facing the NHS and a strong background in annual business planning processes, forecasting and financial modelling.

The post holder is expected to take a lead role in the annual Financial Planning process, take ownership of NHS England monitoring return submissions and lead the monitoring and reporting of the Trust’s substantial cost improvement programme.  Alongside this the post holder will be expected to drive initiatives to automate planning and reporting processes and improve the efficiency of the finance function.

You should have a passion for providing an exemplary service to the team, and ultimately the patients, and have a strong sense of personal responsibility and achievement.  As an organisation, we offer opportunities for training and development, access to the NHS Pension Scheme and on-site childcare provisions (nursery).

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The postholder will:

Play a key role in Financial Planning, ensuring that the plan is supported by robust assumptions, aligned with activity and people planning and consistent with detailed budgeting requirements and national guidelines.

Lead the monitoring and reporting of the Trust’s Cost Improvement Programme, ensuring accuracy and completeness and providing expert financial advice on efficiency opportunities and CIP development.

Lead the co-ordination and population of NHS England Monitoring returns, ensuring their accuracy and timely submission.

Drive process improvement and automation of routine planning and reporting processes.

Motivate and develop their team to provide an outstanding service with high quality, accurate and timely outputs.

Assist in developing long term financial models and scenario analyses.

Deliver robust financial control processes, ensuring high-quality monthly reporting, accurate forecasts, and early identification of financial risks and help to ensure strong financial governance across the organisation.