Finance Business Partner - Corporate

Job responsibilities

Performance Management and Delivery

Responsible for the communication of the monthly financial position to the relevant managers and budget holders. This includes information gathering to provide high quality variance analysis and full year forecasts working with the cluster manager and other relevant managers, and adhering to a timetable and reporting format as agreed with the Divisional Head of Finance.

The post holder will be expected to be the regular lead finance representative in cluster and departmental meetings, and may attend wider divisional or Trust wide meetings normally in the presence of the Divisional Head of Finance.

Provide financial information to keep budget holders informed of their financial position and provide advice and persuading appropriate corrective action.

Undertake investigations into financial related issues and the occasional review of commercial related issues. The information / advice provided will be used to achieve demanding financial targets.

Provide financial and business planning advice to relevant managers and budget holders giving the context of the wider Divisional financial position/objectives and therefore support the Divisional Head of Finance in delivering advice, guidance and messages.

Communicate highly complex financial issues to non-financial managers and persuade managers / negotiate agreement from a range of options, which will result in improvements to service delivery.

Produce monthly reports for designated cluster (services or departments) to show key financial performance indicators with appropriate narrative to an agreed standard format that you help to continuously develop in line with changing service needs.

Produce accurate monthly income & expenditure accounts for your cluster (services or departments) and manage the management accountants in your Division to support this function ensuring accuracy and timeliness of both their work and your own.

Support communication between budget holders and other departments within finance and with procurement by encouraging budget holders and managers to follow processes and procedures in place.

Respond in a timely way to queries raised by budget holders and managers (typically from a non-financial background) regarding the full range of financial issues, if necessary seeking advice from other departments within finance in order to respond.

To use specialist finance knowledge to support your cluster manager (service managers and department heads) with negotiations with suppliers and external bodies.

To contribute and pro-actively put forward suggestions for improvement and development of the financial ledgers, feeder and information systems used for forecasting, budget setting and FIP recording ensuring systems and processes are as efficient as possible to enable high quality financial business support.

To lead on the annual budget setting process for designated Cluster (services and departments) ensuring this is aligned with the wider Trust policies and procedures and the divisions objectives.

Communicate expectations/targets for efficiencies and other financial related targets to your cluster (services and departments) both verbally and in written reports, then pro-actively work with cluster manager (service managers and department heads) to identify and deliver FIPs (validating schemes and measuring financial impact) and highlight underperformance of achievement both verbally in performance management meetings and in written reports.

To advise on the financial viability of contract changes and other procurement changes for your designated areas obtaining information from SWL Procurement service and proactively alerting managers to the financial consequences and support your Divisional Head of Finance with any reports required to support committee approval in line with the organisations governance routes, ensuring standing financial instructions are adhered to.

Planning and Service Development

Participate in negotiations with third parties regarding purchase and provision of services by the Trust.

To lead on financial input in to business cases for your designated areas ensuring that the costs, benefits, risks and income and expenditure of such schemes are fully understood and prepared for review from the Divisional Head of Finance and Associate Director for your Division/Director of Corporate department. The post holder should complete the work in anticipation of presentation to the Board or relevant Committee for approval but advice and sign off should be sought from the Divisional Head of Finance with any suggested changes made before it goes forward to any such committee. The post holder must consider other stakeholders affected when completing business cases and pro-actively seek out support and input from them. The work is likely to include attending meetings with clinical staff and/or strategic planning team to work out assumptions and scenarios to translate in to financial options appraisal using excel modelling skills. Regular communication on progress on business cases and other intelligence gathered for example relevant deadlines being worked to, should be made to the Divisional Head of Finance and escalated to the Associate Director of Financial Management in the absence of the Head of Finance.

Ensure that all business decisions are made in line with the Standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions and procurement rules.

Developing Capability and Capacity

Undertake training on specific topics for groups of budget holders / managers within areas of responsibility.

Develop financial/non-financial information analysis skills and expertise across the budget holders in relevant division using a consistent data-based approach to decision making.

To supervise and support the development of the management accountants within the financial management team, to help enable them to achieve departmental and individual development goals.

Lead the department in achievement of specific departmental objectives that you have been tasked with. Pro-actively contribute to continuous development of departmental objectives.

Ensure that financial/non-financial information produced meets the individual and changing needs of its recipients.

To work with both income, costing and contracting team, and workforce analytics team to align their data and returns with your own reports.

Support the income, costing and contracting team in the development of service line reporting for the provision and alignment of financial data and promote understanding of the connection between the 2 with your budget holders.

General

To make recommendations to improve current financial policies/ procedures. Responsible for the implementation of any new financial policy or procedure.

To be continually aware of the need for improvement of systems, procedures and controls.

Deputise for the Divisional Head of Finance when necessary and in rotation with other Finance Business Partners.

Financial

Authorised signatory for establishment control.

Access to confidential financial systems and processes throughout the Trust.

Staff Management

To undertake Personal Development Reviews and Appraisals on all directly managed staff, setting clear objectives and measurable outcomes.

To participate in the recruitment, selection and retention of staff.

To ensure staff receive annual mandatory training.

Will consider the most effective way to promote equality of opportunity and good working relationships in employment and service delivery and can take actions which support and promote this agenda.

Education and Training/Self-Development

Identify own training and development needs and undertake appropriate training/education as required.

Participate in an annual individual performance review process where objectives will be agreed, performance monitored and personal development needs discussed.

To attend/complete online where applicable all statutory and mandatory training as and when required to do so.

Act responsibly in respect of colleague's health, safety and welfare following safe work practices and complying with the Trust's Health and Safety Policies.

Adhere to all Trust Policies as applicable.

Any other adhoc duties as directed by the Divisional Head of Finance, AD Financial Management or Deputy CFO Operations.

Qualifications

Essential

• Hold a recognised Professional Accountancy Qualification/Finalist or has equivalent experience
• Degree or equivalent
• Evidence of CPD

Desirable

• Holds a recognised Professional Accountancy Qualification or is a finalist with a recognised accountancy body on target to qualify within 12 months
• HFMA advanced diplomas in Healthcare business & finance or working towards
• Better Business Cases qualification Foundation or Practitioner level or working towards - AMPG international endorsed by NHS England

Experience

Essential

• Minimum 3 years of management accounts experience
• Minimum 1 years' experience of providing financial business support to senior non-finance managers
• Experience of having worked with large, complicated sets of information and developing strategy on the basis of analysis
• Experience of presenting complex financial information to non-finance managers

Desirable

• Previous Financial Management experience within the NHS
• Acute Trust experience
• Evidence of working across a range of stakeholders both financial and non-financial

Skills

Essential

• Understand and be able to apply concepts and techniques to costing, variance analysis and financial reporting
• Advanced spreadsheet modelling techniques and ability to design and develop information and systems requirements to support the needs of the role
• The ability to influence and persuade others, creating successful and effective working relationships through strong, positive, professional interpersonal skills and excellent written and oral communication skills
• Able to challenge assumptions and behaviours made by others in relation to financial impact including in an open meeting environment
• Good organisational skills with an ability to prioritise, be flexible and always ensure that high quality, timely work is produced
• Ability to provide and receive, convey and present highly complex, sensitive and/or contentious information, responding openly to questions to ensure full understanding and engagement
• High level analytical skills and the ability to draw qualitative and quantitative data from a wide range of sources and present in a clear concise manner
• Demonstrates sound judgement in the absence of clear guidelines or precedent, seeking advice as necessary from more senior management when appropriate
• Ability to work on own initiative and organise workload, allocating work as necessary, working to tight and often changing deadlines
• Flexibility, and the ability to handle a rapidly changing and ambiguous environment
• Able to guide advice and motivate other staff to deliver a pre-determined objective to a required deadline

Desirable

• Complex analytical skills
• Financial Modelling skills

Knowledge

Essential

• Specialist knowledge of Management Accounting
• Expert knowledge of Microsoft office packages, excel and access
• Expert knowledge of Financial Accounting principals
• Specialist knowledge of accounting systems

Desirable

• A broad understanding of financial issues within the NHS
• Understanding of Statutory Financial Requirements within the NHS
• Expert understanding of NHS Trust financial framework, sound grasp of accounting techniques and principles (especially as they apply to the NHS), and expert understanding of Trust accounting systems

Other

Essential

• Team player
• Flexible
• Proactive and Assertive
• Customer focused
• Innovative

Desirable

• Ability to work under own volition and under pressure
• The ability to prioritise and manage a changing agenda
• Willingness to accept responsibility

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).