Business Unit Accountant

Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England? Work for an organisation that was voted the best acute and combined acute and community trust in the country, based on the experience of its staff (NHS Staff Survey 2022). Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn\’t, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare and, this is…the Northumbria Way!

What the Northumbria Way means for you :

• Extensive staff health and well-being programme including access to our specialist Wellbeing Hub
• Support and connection through a variety of Staff Network groups
• A range of flexible working opportunities
• Generous annual leave and pension scheme
• Access to lease car and home electronics scheme (qualifying criteria applies)
• Opportunities to improve your professional development through our vast training programmes
• On-site nursery places via salary sacrifice
• Access to savings scheme via salary sacrifice with Northumberland Community Bank

We are proud to be one of the country\’s top performing NHS trusts – rated \’outstanding\’ overall by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). We provide a range of health and care services to support more than 500,000 people living in Northumberland and North Tyneside across the largest geographical area of any NHS Trust in England. Our teams deliver care from hospitals, a range of community venues and people\’s homes. Our hospitals include a specialist emergency care hospital (the first of its kind in England), three general hospitals and community hospitals. In the community we deliver a wide range of community and public health services.

We lead in innovation and quality, having opened the Northumbria Healthcare Manufacturing and Innovation Hub during the Covid-19 pandemic and have recently launched our Community Promise – a pledge to make a real impact not just in healthcare but on the wider factors that affect people\’s lives, such as education, employment and the economy.

If Northumbria Healthcare sounds like somewhere you could belong we would love to hear from you. Visit our website to catch up on our latest news.

Whilst Northumbria Healthcare are a highly innovative organisation, the use of Third Party Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a risk to the integrity of our Recruitment & Selection processes. If you use AI, and it poses a risk to the integrity your individual recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process.

Job overview

An exciting new opportunity has arisen for a Band 7 Business Unit Accountant within the Financial Management Team at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Working with the Chief Finance Manager and Principle Finance Manager, the post holder will be responsible for delivering financial management and business insights to the service leads and heads of department for clinical services. This role may rotate across clinical and non clinical business areas within the Financial Management department.

Main duties of the job

The Business Unit Accountant performs a key role specialising in the provision of financial reporting, planning and analysis to enable performance management and informed decision making. They will be skilled in supporting leaders in giving financial advice to facilitate high quality decision making within the resources available whilst supporting the Principal Finance Manager with finance responsibilities.

The fundamental principle of this role is to lead on the management accounting duties for the organisation, this includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Taking ownership and leading on all aspects of monthly reporting, forecasting and analysis of the financial position for the company with a clear understanding of key factors contributing current performance.

Embedding finance within the division to support leaders with their financial responsibilities to deliver an safe, efficient and effective service.
Appropriately training colleagues on budget management with effective challenge and investigation into performance variances.

Leading on annual budget setting, appropriately and clearly capturing the resource required to deliver on operational plans for the following year.

Working for our organisation

We manage three major locality hospitals at North Tyneside, Wansbeck and Hexham, plus a number of smaller community hospitals and clinics from Tynemouth to Berwick on Tweed, covering one of the largest geographical areas of any NHS trust in the country. Leading in innovation and quality – opening a state of the art Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital, the first of its kind in England. Do you want to work in one of the best performing NHS organisations in England? Work in an organisation that supports its staff and focuses on staff experience as much as it does the experience of its patients? You can live and breathe in an area that has the cleanest air, cost effective living, great nightlife, some of the best schools with a wealth of history available on your doorstep. Sound too good to be true? Well it isn\’t, this is what you get when you work for Northumbria Healthcare, this is the Northumbria Way! Please read \’applicant guidance notes\’ before submitting your application.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Supporting the Chief Finance Manager and Principle Finance Manager in providing a professional, high quality financial management service to Clinical and Non Clinical Business Units.
• Leading on the operations of the financial management team.
• Providing financial and business planning advice and insights across the Business Unit and to the Trust.
• Ensuring financial controls are maintained in line with all corporate governance requirements and NHS guidance.
• Delivering statutory accounts and returns that are accurate and meet agreed timescales and legal requirements, adding layers of analysis and insight as appropriate.
• Role modelling compassionate and inclusive leadership in order to shape the creation of a collective leadership culture within the Trust. This involves an approach that consistently engages, enables and empowers others; leads and coaches ownership of learning and quality improvement; and facilitates team working and collaboration within teams / departments and across organisational boundaries.

Person specification

Qualifications
Essential criteria

• Must possess a Professional Accountancy qualification (e.g. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy or The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) or equivalent knowledge, skills and experience.
• Ongoing participation in the relevant Continuing Professional Development programme as required by the professional accountancy body, or equivalent, is essential. A minimum of 30 hours per year must be devoted to structured development, underpinned by reading and private study.

Experience
Essential criteria

• Highly developed specialist knowledge and experience of Financial Management, acquired over a substantial period working alongside other professional accountants, attending appropriate courses and undertaking extended self study.

Desirable criteria

• Working knowledge of Oracle Financials computer system
• Knowledge NHS financial regimes and legislation

Other
Essential criteria

• It is an essential requirement of the role that the post holder has a valid driving licence and is either a car owner and able to use the car for work purposes, or has a Trust personal lease vehicle which may be used for the role. However, the Trust would consider making reasonable adjustments to the role, if necessary, to enable a disabled person to undertake the role

Applicants who are members of the Armed Forces, and those who have a disability that requires support in the work place (two ticks pledge) and who meet the essential criteria will be interviewed under the Trust\’s interview guarantee scheme.

We recognise the positive value of diversity and inclusion and are committed to a workforce that is diverse, equal and inclusive. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME people are currently under-represented in our workforce as well as other under-represented groups such as LGBT+ and disabled candidates. We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, a Stonewall Diversity Champion, we have a Gold award from the Defense Recognition Scheme, and we are delighted to support Apprenticeships, Age Posi+ive and are a mindful employer.

If you require any reasonable adjustments to attend interview please make the recruitment team aware as soon as possible by calling our HR Recruitment Team on 0191 203 1415 option 2.

Applicants who meet the Fit and Proper Person Requirements (FPPR) will require additional pre-employment checks in line with CQC and NHS England statutory guidance.

Make sure to read the \’applicant guidance notes\’ before submitting your application and make sure you know everything there is to know before joining our fantastic trust!

Certificate of Sponsorship

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust proudly hold a sponsor licence. In order to provide sponsorship you and the role you are applying for must meet UKVI eligibility requirements. Please check your eligibility prior to submitting an application. Skilled Worker visa: Overview – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Please note that it is a requirement of this Trust that all successful applicants pay for their own DBS certification if a DBS check is required for the post. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first monthly pay.

Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

Documents to download

• ADM7450 JD&PS Business Unit Accountant ( PDF , 296.1 KB )
• Northumbria Privacy Policy ( PDF , 520.6 KB )
• Northumbria Candidate Pack ( PDF , 624.3 KB )

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