Senior Finance Officer

Job responsibilities

Carers and Wellbeing

NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board is committed to a Carer friendly working environment that is supportive and inclusive to Carers and ensures that all its policies and procedures are Carer friendly. It actively encourages working Carers to self-identify as Carers and that all working Carers that are identified are offered a working Carer passport and supports managers to ensure they are trained in supporting staff that are Carers.

Equality & Diversity

Treats people with dignity and respect

Promotes and adheres to equality of opportunity and diversity within and out of the organisation

Carry out your duties in a way that supports equality and values diversity in relation to service users, carers, work colleagues, people in other organisations and members of the public

Health and Safety

Take care of your own health and safety and that of people who may be affected by what you do, or do not do.

Promote an ethos of encouraging best practice regarding health and safety initiatives

Attending all statutory and mandatory health and safety training, appropriate to the role

Safeguarding

Familiarise yourself with, and adhere to the safeguarding policies, procedures, and guidelines for both children and adults at risk of abuse or neglect. This must be in conjunction with the Multi-agency Safeguarding Children and Safeguarding Adults at risk of abuse or neglect Multi- Agency Policy, Protocols, and guidelines.

Attend mandatory safeguarding children and adults at risk of abuse or neglect training and updating relevant to their position and role.

Promote an ethos of encouraging best practice regarding safeguarding matters

Manages Self

Maintains the highest standards of conduct and integrity within organisation adhering to relevant Codes of Conduct.

Participate in the organisations appraisal system, matching organisational aims with individual objectives.

Complies with all organisational and statutory requirements.

Ensures that a professional service and image is always maintained

Our Organisation

NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board [ICB] is responsible for the commissioning of health services to a population of around 2.6 million people across West Yorkshire. Our four aims are to reduce health inequalities; manage unwarranted variations in care, secure the wider benefits of investing in health and care and use our collective resources wisely.

The role of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board is to join up health and care services, improve peoples health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities.

Our Partnership, including the integrated care board, works across many different organisations in the health and care sector, including the NHS, councils, care providers, hospices, Healthwatch and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

Job Statement

The main purpose of the role will be to provide senior leadership and staff oversight for the delivery of a financial accounting and financial services function to the ICB and its five constituent places.

The role will provide senior support to produce annual statutory financial accounts and be cover for aspects of treasury management.

This role will provide senior support for the creation and implementation of sound financial controls, reconciliations, cash management, invoice approval and payment in line with the ICBs prime financial policies and other policies and procedures for the protection and probity of financial resources allocated to the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.

The role will have responsibility for supporting the development of wider expertise and understanding of functions within financial services and financial accounts.

Work autonomously with significant discretion to work to broad occupational policy.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

The role will be a senior level manager within a central ICB team for the purpose of delivering financial accounts and financial services functions.

The role will support a focus on improvement of systems and processes to ensure the financial control function is as effective and efficient as possible, as well as managing delivery of day-to-day responsibilities.

The role will provide senior leadership across financial accounts and financial services functions including Annual Accounts, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable functions and will support the preparation of statutory accounts and returns, ensuring work is completed in line with timescales and legal requirements, including Agreement of Balance with NHS organisations and Whole Government Accounting (WGA) bodies.

The role will offer technical accounting advice on issues which may be complex or sensitive in nature e.g., VAT and payroll and a customer-oriented service in respect of financial queries from customers, suppliers, and staff.

The role will be the senior contact for ensuring all outsourced third-party service provider (e.g. Financial Shared Services and Payroll) matters which affect the smooth running, accuracy and integrity of the Oracle financial ledger are resolved.

The role will provide senior support for the provision of a comprehensive financial services function and financial accounting function for the organisation.

Stakeholder Relationships

To discharge the duties of this role effectively, the post holder is required to work seamlessly with all finance colleagues, across the five distinct Places and ICB Central West Yorkshire teams, maintaining effective working relationships across all systems that we will be operating in.

Proactively work to gain the cooperation of others (finance, non-finance, senior level colleagues and other service users) to change procedures both within and outside of finance in ensuring good financial stewardship of the budgets we oversee.

Key Relationships

Counterparts across the West Yorkshire Central teams at the ICB and the five places and the wider integrated systems partners across West Yorkshire.

A wide range of senior professionals, Board level colleagues and stakeholders across the wider regional or national footprint

Internal and external audit, other regulatory bodies, and any third-party providers of financial services to the system the organisation operates in.

Levels and extents of accountability to ICB places and ICB Corporate Finance functions will crystallise as the new system takes shape.

Detailed Responsibilities

The role will provide senior leadership and staff oversight for the delivery of a financial accounts and financial services function to the ICB and its five constituent places.

Provide senior support to produce annual statutory financial accounts and be cover for aspects of treasury management.

The overview, review, and implementation of systems of financial controls across the ICB in line with prime financial policies and procedures.

Be the key contact for Internal and External Audit, ensuring team delivery of audit brief information, review, and implementation of internal audit recommendations.

Key contact for counter-fraud, ensuring latest advice and risks are circulated across the team adjusting processes to improve controls for fraud detection and avoidance where required and ensure team are briefed by counter-fraud specialist on a frequent basis.

Responsibility for the delivery of the Agreement of Balances between the ICB and Providers for interim and annual year end requirements for the NHS England timetable.

The role will be responsible for the senior ownership of ensuring the integrity of the general ledger by ensuring the monthly completion of sound control accounts and reconciliations in line with the ICBs prime financial policies and other policies and procedures for the protection and probity of financial resources allocated to the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.

The role will provide senior leadership for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable transactional processes and controls ensuring that key performance indicators are produced and managed to support delivery of NHS England metrics for Best Practice Performance across a wide range of measures including invoice approval; invoice payment days; aged creditors, aged debtors.

Working with highly complex financial information, data, facts, and situations requiring analysis, interpretations, and comparisons on a range of options and making financial decisions on the most appropriate approach. This will include assessment of the value for money decisions.

Ensuring that there are effective mechanisms for anticipating, identifying, and responding to key risks in relation to financial position. Analysing its performance in line with organisational and departmental targets and objectives.

The role will provide complex technical advice to stakeholders on issues of financial control, IR35, VAT Accounting and International Financial Reporting Standards, employment tax legislation and will be responsible for escalating items to HMRC for technical support and guidance where advice is required on specific matters which arise.

The role will be the key contact for the stakeholder relationship with Shared Business Services and will make known issues which are highly complex and difficult to resolve through normal communication channels. These can also be sensitive issues and discussions.

The role will be the senior contact for ensuring all outsourced third-party service provider (e.g. Financial Shared Services and Payroll) matters which affect the smooth running, accuracy, and integrity of the Integrated Single Finance Environment (ISFE) financial platform are resolved.

Using various communication methods, provide timely advice on highly complex situations, provide information or support to internal and external stakeholders around related function, adhering to policies, legislation, governance requirements and best practice guidance.

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualified Accountant: CCAB or CIMA qualifications or equivalent knowledge and experience.
• Educated to degree level or equivalent.
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development.

Desirable

• Management Qualification.

Other criteria

Essential

• Has a responsive, solution focused approach to addressing issues and barriers.
• Able to work flexibly to meet the needs of the service and ensure a customer focused response.
• Able to regulate behaviour even when challenged
• Is open to change and possible alternatives to doing things differently
• Committed to continuous learning and improvement
• Engages and includes all groups of staff, empowering all voices to be heard
• Identifying key stakeholders both within and external to the ICB which the post-holder needs to influence and support them to move the vision and strategy forward.
• Demonstrates a flexible approach to provide and receive feedback
• Develops teams/ groups establishing clear goals for direct reports and the team.
• Maintains resilience and supports resilience in the team

Skills & behaviours

Essential

• Able to think conceptually, recognising assumptions, interpreting, and evaluating arguments and deducing inferences.
• Able to think on their feet when dealing with issues and problems.
• Computer literate with Proficiency in Microsoft office tools & Oracle Finance System.
• Able to analyse and interpret data to draw conclusions.
• Able to effectively manage resources (financial and others) to ensure delivery of a service/project.
• Able to provide, receive, convey, and present information in a clear way.
• Plan and organise complex activities.

Experience

Essential

• An understanding of the importance of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.
• Extensive knowledge and experience (or knowledge acquired through post-graduate/post-registration study obtained through a masters degree, significant formal training, or research) of working within a senior management role in a finance / contracting environment.
• Evidence of ongoing professional development.
• Significant experience of technical, VAT and income tax accounting rules and a sound understanding of accounting standards and their application in the NHS.
• Significant experience of leading and managing staff
• Experience of communicating and engaging effectively with external agencies/stakeholders.
• Understanding and knowledge of the workings of the NHS, the challenges it faces and of the reform agenda.
• Experience of using performance management / improvement systems.

Desirable

• Experience of working in the NHS.
• Knowledge and experience of programme and/or project management.
• A basic knowledge of matrix working & Population Health Management.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).