Detailed Job Description and Main Responsibilities
RELATIONSHIPS
* To support and develop the Finance Business Partners and Management Accounts teams ensuring strong and highly effective relationship between finance and the operational managers.
* To support in ensuring Care Group Management Teams have an excellent understanding and take ownership of all elements of their current and future financial performance.
* To challenge all operational managers wherever possible to provide best value for money whilst upholding patient safety and maximising the quality of care.
* To ensure a highly effective working relationship exists between the Management Accounts team and the Finance Business Partner team.
BUSINESS PLANNING
* To support in guiding and influencing Care Group(s), Service Lines and Executive Management Teams in all aspects of financial strategy. Assisting the Associate Director of Finance - Financial Performance in the preparation, validation and presentation of baseline budgets, cost pressures and developments.
* Work with the Head of Financial Management to ensure the team work to a strong and efficient budget setting framework, and clear workforce planning assumptions.
* Work with the Associate Director of Finance - Contracts and Trustwide to ensure the team work within a clear framework for capacity and demand planning.
* To ensure that the budget framework is well understood by Operational managers.
* Manage the Finance Business Partners and Management Accounts team to ensure capacity plans, contract levels and budgets are set accurately.
* Encourage and influence Care Group and Service Line Management Teams to ensure cost-effective decision making by management, using highly developed persuasion, motivation, and negotiation skills.
* To support and influence Care Groups to identify, develop and implement Financial Saving Plans.
FINANCIAL REPORTING
* To manage and assist in developing the Management Accounting team to deliver accurate budgets, in month financial reporting and annual forecasts.
* To work closely with the Associate Director of Finance - Financial Performance to develop the accuracy and efficiency of monthly financial reporting for Service Lines, Care Groups and Executive Teams.
* Produce or assist in the production of reports to the Trust Board.
FORECASTING
* To work in alignment with the Associate Director of Finance - Financial Performance to create a strong and efficient forecasting framework.
* To ensure that the forecasting framework is well understood by the Management Accountants, Operational Managers and Clinicians.
* Work with Operational Management Teams to generate annual forecasts of Service Lines financial performance as required, considering likely profiles of activity, cost behaviours, savings plans and other influencing factors.
* To review Care Group(s) and Service Line forecasts and challenge the financial assumptions made within them ensuring consistency and maximising accuracy.
* To support the development, implementation, and monitoring of corrective action plans to ensure that financial targets are delivered.
SPECIALIST BUSINESS ADVICE
* Utilising advanced specialist knowledge of complex NHS/Trust accounting systems, processes, regulations, financial techniques, and relevant legislation; NHS Tariff guidance and Contractual requirements, together with general commercial awareness, for individual Services to:
o To influence and support the development of Care Group financial strategies ensuring that services provide value for money and are financially sustainable whilst delivering key operational standards.
o Utilise the Model Hospital, GIRFT (Getting It Right First Time) information and other available benchmarking to work with Care Groups and Service Lines to identify and deliver improvements, reduce variation, and improve efficiency.
o Work with Care Group Managers and Directors on developing their Financial Improvement Programmes, assisting with oversight and challenge to support the Associate Director of Finance - Financial Improvement. Ensure the team accurately measure, monitor, and forecast achievement.
o Work with Care Group Managers and Directors to assist them in their oversight, clarity and understanding of the service line viability position for their service lines. Encourage and influence Service Line Management Teams to ensure cost-effective decision making by management, using high developed persuasion, motivation, and negotiation skills.
o Investigate highly complex financial queries on income and expenditure, conducting regular complicated analytical reviews of the Service Line financial position, predicting income, developing, and using complex models and multiple inputs including activity projections and case mix issues.
o To have an understanding and strive to improve the accuracy and integrity of your Care Group/s Service Line financial information including profitability reports and National Cost Collection/Patient Level Costing returns.
o Ensure monthly reconciliation of all changes to service line positions, working closely with the Costing Team and Finance Business Partners.
o Provide advanced financial support for business cases as appropriate describing the financial implications of the business case and investment appraisal techniques. Present business cases to groups of people conveying the financial case clearly and persuasively.
o Work with the Associate Director of Finance - Contracts and Trustwide to ensure visibility of contractual issue for your Care Groups, and that Finance Business Partners assist to construct any papers required.
o Ensure Service Lines accurately record all activity performed, and work with the Associate Director of Finance - Contracts and Trustwide to ensure it is properly priced within contract monitoring.
o Working with the Associate Director of Finance - Contracts and Trustwide to understand the impact of national tariff guidance across Care Groups. Interpreting guidance to assist Care Groups and Service Lines in understanding changes in guidance each year and the impact upon their services.
o Represent the Trust at meetings with Commissioner Colleagues as required to support any contractual issues within your Care Groups.
o Support the Associate Director of Finance - Financial Improvement with the production of information, provide specialist financial advice to meetings and jointly work with the Service Lines on their Clinical Strategy.
OTHER DUTIES
* Utilising professional and specialist finance knowledge and general management skills, for the Finance Directorate to:
o Deputise for the Associate Director of Finance - Financial Performance.
o Manage all aspects of own workload and the organisation of their team's workload to balance frequently changing priorities to deliver work within tight deadlines whilst maintaining the highest quality of information and meeting the needs of Service Line/Care Group Management Teams. This will include using time management skills to ensure that workload and individual projects are delivered in a timely and accurate manner and balancing the demands of the Service Lines' requirements with month end and year-end financial reporting timetables.
o To coordinate with Service Line staff and Finance staff to ensure smooth delivery of deadlines for all aspects of work.
o Take responsibility for developing and implementing discrete areas of financial policy and processes in line with latest accounting standards.
o To act in a professional manner at all times and instil the same standards in members of staff.
o To input and manipulate financial data in highly complex computer spreadsheets and reports, where speed and accuracy are essential.
o To undertake light physical effort and extended periods of computer use in an office environment.
o To concentrate when inputting data, checking, and reconciling information and making calculations.
o To cope with unpredictable work patterns and respond flexibly to queries and requests from Senior Finance and Care Group/Service Line Managers and Clinical leads.
o To work under intense pressure on occasions and to concentrate on highly complex accounting information for prolonged periods of time on a frequent basis.
o To supply internal and external auditors with any information and explanations they require regarding any aspects of the above.
o To act on own initiative and to carry out the above duties in accordance with broad professional accounting standards without reference to line manager.
o The postholder will be required to travel on occasion.
COMMUNICATIONS & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
* Internal - Face to face, Telephone, and virtual calls/meetings
o Executive Directors
o Chief Finance Officer
o Director of Operational Finance
o Associate Director of Finance - Financial Performance
o Associate Director of Finance - Contracts and Trustwide
o Associate Director of Finance - Financial Improvement
o Associate Director of Finance - Financial Reporting
o Head of Financial Management
o Head of Performance and Management Information
o Accountants
o Finance Business Partners
o Assistant Finance Business Partners
o Care Group Directors
o Cluster Group Managers
o Clinical Directors
o Service Line Managers
o Heads of Department
o Specialty Leads
o Specialty Managers
o Budget Holders
o Commissioning, Finance, and contracting colleagues from Commissioning Organisations
o Procurement and Logistics Managers and staff
o Other Service Line staff
o Other Trust staff as required
o Executive Board
* External - principally telephone and virtual calls/meetings
o Financial Shared Services Staff
o Other Providers
o Local ICBs
o NHS England
o Department of Health
o Trust debtors and creditors
o Other outside agencies including the external auditors, local authorities/social services
* Internal - Training delivery
o Finance Staff
o Service Line Staff
o Budget Holders
o Trainee Managers
o Junior Doctors
Person Specification
QUALIFICATIONS
Essential criteria
* CCAB or equivalent (e.g. CIMA) Professional Qualified Accountant with current registration and relevant post qualification experience.
* Proven evidence of recent CPD including specialist training and demonstrable experience relating to finance and national accounting standards.
* Masters level Business or Management Qualification (or equivalent demonstrable experience).
KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE
Essential criteria
* Ability to demonstrate highly developed theoretical and practical proven knowledge at an advanced level and demonstrable experience and expertise in financial management, accounting procedures, relevant legislation, and NHS finance policies.
* Demonstrable experience in staff development and performance management.
* Ability to demonstrate recent Continuing Professional Development including specialist training and demonstrable experience relating to NHS Finance as well as national accounting standards.
* Expert proven knowledge of NHS Tariff regime, contracting and business planning process. Able to interpret and guide on aspect of this guidance to influence planning and decision making across the organisation.
* Ability to gain clinical engagement.
* Awareness of the current NHS "Agenda," national directives and all Governance aspects.
* Proven record of providing all aspects of business advisory service over a significant period.
Desirable criteria
* Extensive proven knowledge of GIRFT and model hospital.
APTITUDE & ABILITIES
Essential criteria
* Excellent level of numeracy.
* Able to deduce key points from large/highly complex volumes of data analysing several aspects of data.
* Advanced Analytical skills.
* Ability to resolve highly complex problems including integration of financial and operational aspects into Strategic and operational plans.
* Ability to review highly complex business cases and present to non finance managers giving clear and concise advice, comparing a number of options, including identification of risks.
* Excellent communication skills, written and verbal, with ability to demonstrate fluency, clarity, and effectiveness at all levels.
* Able to communicate highly complex/sensitive and contentious information effectively to large groups of staff.
* Excellent inter-personal skills including negotiation and presentation skills. Able to overcome barriers to acceptance.
* Ability to influence decisions at a senior level on occasions where there are strong conflicts of opinion.
* Ability to represent the Trust confidently at external meetings as well as representing Finance at internal meetings.
* Good attention to detail.
* Proficient with modern "Office" Packages pref. Excel, Word, Access, PowerPoint. Aptitude for IT.
* Able to demonstrate excellent team working skills.
* Organisational skills and able to work as team leader. Able to answer queries from staff.
* Able to lead the development of processes and reporting across the team.
* Able to prioritise own work and that of others effectively within ever changing priorities and tight deadlines.
* Constantly plans, reviews, and organises complex activities and programmes within the Finance Directorate, that will be used to cover all areas of the Trust.
* Able to contribute to the formulation of long-term strategic plans involving risk and uncertainty in Front Line Service Lines and at a Trust level.
* Ability to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service depending on monthly, quarterly, and annual cycles.
* Ability to work under intense pressure and to concentrate on highly complex accounting information for prolonged periods of time on a frequent basis.
DISPOSITION / ATTITUDE / MOTIVATION
Essential criteria
* Ability to interpret policies and procedures and act on own initiative without reference to line manager.
* Leads by example and instils a team approach to workload.
* Ability to contribute to overall strategic plans (both operationally and financially) of the Service Lines/Care Groups.
* Ability to challenge and deal with highly sensitive and contentious situations.
* Able to handle & convey sensitive information in an appropriate and discreet manner.
* Ability to bring about change and embed a continuous process improvement culture within staff.
* Proactive, flexible, enthusiastic, confident, and highly motivated individual who demonstrates a commitment to Trust objectives and the NHS as a whole.
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If you need support with the online application process or require reasonable adjustments with the application and/or interview process please contact the Recruiting Manager for this post.
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We welcome and encourage applicants who identify with all protected characteristics to apply for our roles. We believe that diversity strengthens our teams and improves our patients' experience. At UHP we aim to create an inclusive workplace and hospital where everyone feels they belong and included.
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* 216-SI-A6955720 ( PDF, 560.3 KB )
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