Senior Finance Business Partner

Senior Finance Business Partner - Clinical

Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust have formed the University Hospital of Northamptonshire NHS Group (UHN), with joint Board and operational management. This new role sits within a fully integrated Finance function serving both Trusts.

The post will lead a divisional finance team, ensuring accurate, timely financial reporting and business partnering support across UHN. It supports the Chief Finance Officer, Senior Finance Team, Divisional Managers, Directors, and the Integrated Leadership Team to meet financial and performance targets.

Key responsibilities include:

Providing strategic business leadership within each Division, managing income, activity, expenditure, CIP, and workforce to optimise resources and achieve objectives.

Leading comprehensive financial management support, advising divisional and directorate leaders, and managing finance staff effectively.

Producing robust monthly performance reports to inform decisions and briefing key staff.

Coordinating annual business plans and contributing to the Integrated Business Plan and divisional strategies.

Applying technical accounting expertise, strong analytical skills, and clear communication of complex finance issues to non-finance staff.

Constructively challenging performance, suggesting improvements, and using Service Line Reporting to ensure delivery of targets.

Main duties of the job

As a key member of the Divisional Board, you will act as Finance Business Partner, providing expert advice to the Divisional Director, Manager, and senior budget holders. You will communicate complex, sensitive financial and non-financial information clearly to senior managers and clinicians, presenting performance data at Trust and Divisional meetings.

You will maintain and develop financial reporting and planning systems, ensuring they reflect Trust priorities, and produce comprehensive performance packs for review with divisional leadership. You will deliver accurate, timely financial performance reports, monitor results, and implement corrective action with budget holders to ensure targets are met.

The role includes preparing robust forecast outturns, identifying risks, and developing strategies to secure financial performance. You will interpret variances, provide guidance to senior stakeholders, and support action planning to maximise resources.

You will coordinate divisional budget setting, design timetables and guidance aligned to the Trust/'s Integrated Business Plan, and ensure reconciliation in line with virement policy. As the division/'s finance expert, you will advise, train colleagues, and support the identification, costing, and forecasting of efficiency schemes.

About us

Please submit your application as soon as possible as we reserve the right to close adverts once we have received sufficient applications

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust is on an exciting journey with all of our divisions committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have also entered a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN). As part of this collaborative approach, there may be a requirement for you to work across both the Kettering and Northampton hospital sites, depending on the needs of the service.

Our Excellence Values

- Compassion
- Accountability
- Respect
- Integrity
- Courage

We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across UHN and help to unleash everyone's full potential.

UHN encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups. We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative.

We recognise the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community make to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Silver Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme.

We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for UHN.

Job responsibilities

As a member of the Divisional Board, provide a full range of advice to the Divisional Director, Manager, Senior and other budget holders, developing a Business Partnering relationship with them.

To communicate highly complex, sensitive, contentious information (financial and non-financial), advice and support to the Division. Present this and other performance information at Trust and Divisional management meetings on a regular basis in an understandable manner to senior non-financial managers including clinicians.

To maintain and develop financial reporting and planning systems to reflect the needs of the Trust and Divisional reflecting changes in Trust priorities where necessary. Produce comprehensive performance packs and statements to be reviewed with the Divisional Director and Manager.

To provide accurate and timely financial performance reports for the Division within the agreed timetable, to help with monitoring financial performance and implement corrective action with the relevant budget holders to enable the Trust to meet its financial targets.

To prepare, review and maintain a robust forecast outturn position for the Division and to produce alternative strategies as to what corrective action the division might take to ensure it meets its financial targets in accordance with the prescribed performance management framework.

Interpret financial information and communicate variances from budget/forecast and any areas of potential risk to senior stakeholders and offer guidance and advise to enable action plans to be formulated which maximise the financial resources available.

Co-ordinate the budget setting process for the Division designing effective guidance and timetables in conjunction with the Trusts Integrated business planning process. Maintain a reconciliation of budgets in accordance with the Virement policy.

To be the finance expert for the Division and their key contact for understanding financial matters; using own expert knowledge of financial and accounting procedures and other aspects of financial legislation to provide training to colleagues.

To support the Division in the identification, costing, forecasting of efficiency schemes.

Person Specification

Education, Training and Qualifications

- CCAB Qualified Accountant, or equivalent level of education, training or experience
- Demonstrate Continuing Professional Development

Knowledge & Experience

- Have significant post qualification experience in a senior finance role working within a highly complex finance department, have an advanced understanding of financial management and financial accounting principles
- Experience of supporting Divisions in identifying, tracking and reporting Efficiencies
- Experience of managing, motivating and developing staff

Skills

- Excellent analytical and reasoning skills.
- Excellent organisational skills.
- Ability to prepare and present complex financial information to non-financial people.

Key Competencies/Personal Qualities and Attributes

- Passionate and committed to bring our Dedicated to Excellence values to life, improving the way we work with each other, particularly focusing on empowerment, equality diversity and inclusion of our staff, patients and service users
- Be able to manage time effectively, prioritise and deliver to agreed deadlines
- Be prepared to constructively question and challenge the performance of team members and colleagues.

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.

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire

Head of Financial Performance & Productivity

£64,455 to £74,896 a yearPer annum / Pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

265-7493843

Job locations

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire

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