Management Accountant

 

Description:

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic individual who wants to develop their career in an Acute Healthcare provider with strong track record of delivering five star quality of care for its patients.

We are looking to recruit a motivated and dynamic finance professional to join the Financial Management team.

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is wholly committed to the delivery of personal, high quality care and a first class patient experience for all those it serves. The Trust has a turnover of c.510m and a workforce of c6,000 operating from two main sites in Whiston & St. Helens which have been through an extensive £330m development.

St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust provides a full range of acute in-patient, out-patient, day case and emergency services to the local communities of St Helens, Knowsley, parts of Halton and Liverpool, extending to the whole of Cheshire, Merseyside, North Wales and the Isle of Man with the Regional Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit.

Interview Date: Friday 29th April 2022

This post may be offered under Annex 21 AfC Terms & Conditions, subject to experience, competency and suitability.

 

Main duties of the job

 

Reporting to the Senior Management Accountant, you will provide financial advice and information to the Surgical Care Division. You will also support and work closely with the Divisional Management team to generate, analyse, monitor and report Divisional financial information and activity data to internal and external stakeholders. This division has an expenditure budget portfolio in excess of £113m.

You should be C.C.A.B. qualified (candidates working towards a relevant qualification will be considered) with financial management experience in a large organisation, preferably with some knowledge of the NHS finance regime. You should have excellent interpersonal skills and possess strong I.T. skills using the Microsoft office suite.

 

Working for our organisation

 

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is the only acute Trust in Cheshire and Merseyside, and one of the few in the entire country, to achieve the title of OUTSTANDING, rated by the Care Quality Commission.

We provide a full range of acute adult services to our local population of circa 360,000 and provide tertiary services across a much wider area in the North West, North Wales and Isle of Man. We are a Major Trauma Unit and the Mersey Regional Burns Unit.

Our '5 Star Patient Care' strategy is at the heart of all that we do; supporting our vision to provide world class services for all our patients by getting it right for every patient, every time.

Our latest achievements include:

• Acute Trust of the Year – HSJ Awards November 2019
• Trust rates Outstanding by the CQC – Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers and Health Service Journal)
• Best acute Trust in the North West for quality of care (NHS Staff Survey 2021)
• Best place to work in the North West (NHS Staff Survey 2021)

In the NHS Staff Survey 2021 the Trust scored the highest marks in the North West for the following areas;

• Standard of care
• Best place to work
• Care of patients being the Trust’s priority
• Staff engagement
• Staff morale
• Compassionate and inclusive
• Providing a safe environment for staff

 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Summary

The post holder will provide financial advice and information for the Trust’s Surgical Care Group division, supporting the Senior Management Accountant with the provision of a robust financial management framework to the division. Liaison with the Trust’s Operational Management teams to ensure satisfactory completion of financial performance reports, analysing and interpreting the information where necessary.

Duties and Responsibilities

Corporate Governance

• To establish and maintain strong working relationships with both key internal and external individuals to ensure effective working. The post holder will be expected to liaise with both internal departments and external bodies.
• Ensure the provision of high quality financial advice to budget holders and other non-finance managers is carried out to enable the delivery of the Trusts strategic, corporate financial objectives.
• To monitor financial performance against agreed budgets; analysing, reporting on variations and assist in formulating corrective actions. Proactively support the delivery of targets by sharing good practice, identifying areas for improvement and agreeing and monitoring action plans.
• To take the lead on ensuring accurate financial information is maintained for all budgets relating to the Surgical Care Group within the Trust.
• To ensure that external financial monitoring returns and reports are prepared and submitted in a timely and accurate manner and are analysed and interpreted where necessary.
• Attend the relevant Surgical Care Group divisional and specialty business meetings as Financial Representative and provide relevant financial support, advice and information.
• To maintain the integrity of the financial ledger and other financial systems to ensure that compliance with audit requirements is adhered to.
• Contribute to the formulation of the annual budget setting for the Trust and ensure budgets accurately reflect pressures.
• Promotion of greater financial management and financial control amongst the divisional management teams. Provide appropriate advice and support with the divisional structure to ensure all efforts are made to achieve financial stability, including the review and monitoring of establishments information
• To evaluate and monitor saving schemes including maintenance of detailed working papers to ensure accurate records are kept and all adjustments and transactions are processed appropriately.

Costing & Pricing

• Accurate costing of development and other operational change proposals as requested by divisional teams.
• Contribute to the annual reference cost process as and when necessary providing support to the cost accountant.

Management & Leadership

• Responsible for the production and monitoring of timely and accurate financial information and reports to strict deadlines, enabling the proactive management of budgets by budget holders.
• Contribute to the development of financial management information and communicate ideas and suggestions for departmental improvements to the Assistant Director of Finance and Head of Corporate Finance
• Allocate work to junior staff members within the department and provide training within own areas of work enabling them to develop in accordance with their KSF outline. Deputise for the Senior Management Accountant as required.

Education & Development

• To provide training to non-financial managers within the Trust on all matters relating to budgetary control and financial management; including effective use of information systems/reports.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• CCAB Qualified

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria

• Extensive financial management experience
• Experience within a finance function of a large organisation
• Ability to review and interpret financial statements
• Specialist knowledge of capital, expenditure and revenue budgets
• Staff Management skills
• Knowledge of accountancy policies and procedures

Desirable criteria

• NHS Finance experience
• Experience of contract monitoring and reporting

Skills

Essential criteria

• Ability to analyse, investigate and interpret financial information and queries
• Ability to report and present financial information to both finance and non-finance individuals (internal and external)

Other

Essential criteria

• Strong IT skills and experience using Microsoft Office suite

St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust are committed to providing an environment and services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity, we welcome applications from all sections of the communities we serve to enable us to reflect their diversity and improve the delivery of the services we provide.