Band 8c - Head Of Finance R&D - Moorfields

Moorfields Eye Hospital are recruiting a highly experienced Head of Finance to join their Research and Development team. Moorfields is the leading provider of eye health services in the UK and a world-class centre of excellence for ophthalmic research and education.

THE POST:

• To be the senior position reporting to the Head of Financial Management and working with the Research & Development departments senior clinical team.
• To provide financial leadership for your division’s, ensuring effective use of the division’s financial resources in pursuit of agreed divisional and corporate goals.
• Be responsible for and support all financial engagement with NIHR, commercial and non-commercial partners and all other external stakeholders and potential R&D funding providers.
• Take full responsibility for providing comprehensive financial management and support service to the division, providing a full range of advice to the Divisional Senior Management Team and other managers on Divisional, sub-specialty and cost centre budgets.
• To support the Division in the financial aspects of business case production and provide advice and support as necessary.
• The post-holder will also produce accurate costing statements for key internal stakeholder groups within the Trust.
• The post will complete Programme Budget returns for the Research Department.
• The post-holder will also be involved in the preparation and management of research grants and will need an understanding of the funding mechanisms in the University and the NHS.
• To ensure that Divisional budgets are appropriately maintained and financial results are reported accurately and in a timely manner on a monthly and annual basis.
• Lead, plan and coordinate the annual budget setting process for the Division.
• Provide specialist technical accounting and business knowledge, strong analytical skills, and effectively communicate complex finance issues to non-finance people.
• To be accountable to the Chief Financial Officer for the Division’s adherence to statutory accounting requirements, DH and NHS Improvement accounting standards and Trust Standing Financial Instructions and other policies for internal control, corporate governance and reporting requirements.

Main Responsibilities

• To have overall responsibility for all aspects of financial management within the division in conjunction with the Associate Director of Research, including monitoring of performance and providing advice on corrective action as necessary.
• Investigate and advise on highly complex projects spanning several years with many varied expenditure inputs and multiple external joint funding partners to provide strategic assurance and business planning advice for the sustainability and continuity of research projects individually and as a whole.
• To lead on the provision of financial information, advice and support to the division, meeting regularly with members of the management team to ensure that the financial position of the division and the Trust is understood and that any potential financial problems are identified early enough for corrective action to be taken.
• To provide the Head of Financial Management with the relevant information so that assurance can be gained that all relevant costs, income and financial risks within the division are reported in an accurate and timely manner.
• To assist in the design, management and development of information systems within the division to assist in the monitoring, tracking and reporting of project statuses, which feed into assurances surrounding the financial reporting.
• To lead the production of annual budgets covering Income, Pay, and Non-Pay for individual research projects and programmes of work across various services including the Biometric Research Centre, Clinical Research Facility, Diagnostic hub, Insight hub; and with contribution from various clinical divisions to inform research management and governance.
• This will include budgeting at all levels for the entire R&D Department and individual income streams for the Biomedical Research Centre (BMRC) through to individual programmes, contracts and project grants, including applications to the Special Trustees.
• To support the Research Department in the costing of all research related to any NHS resource according to the potential funding source i.e. both commercial and charitable / non-commercial research protocols.
• This will entail liaison with clinicians and other non-financial staff across various services in working up the protocols, and providing accurate and decisive financial support as to the financial viability of research protocols.
• This will also require close collaboration with accounting staff and systems at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.
• The post holder will also need to escalate to the attention of the Head of Financial Management, protocols that might be considered high risk.
• The post-holder will be required to understand and implement a ‘Full Economic Costing’ system within the Trust and apply it to all research projects and programmes across various services.
• The post-holder will also understand the costing methodologies behind Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs) and be able to apply them to research support services and be able to discuss the implications and differences between cost and price.
• This will require liaison and communication with non-financial staff, so clear and concise communication will be essential.
• The post-holder will take a lead on the production of management information including monthly financial statements of research accounts to the Research Office, highlighting areas of potential concern as soon as they become apparent.
• This will involve the completion of quarterly performance reports with a full and clear audit trail for consideration by the membership of all relevant committees within the R&D infrastructure.
• To have overall responsibility for reporting the financial risk rating for the division, working with other senior finance team members to develop information systems to allow the reporting of such measures.
• To have overall responsibility for the divisional financial forecast and the divisional business plan to inform the annual planning process.
• To advise the R&D divisional team and clinical divisions across the Trust on any R&D government policy or legislative changes that may affect their devolved income giving advice on how to counter any possible adverse effect.
• Also to advise on any legislation or external factors that may result in higher costs or savings for the Trust.
• To lead on Trust-wide R&D service developments such as Clinical Research Facility (CRF) and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) service development, Biometric Research Facility (BRF) bids for the Trust, and University College London (UCL) R&D development schemes.
• To design appropriate key performance indicators with the Head of Financial Management, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, General Managers and other managers to be able to report to the Trust on key performances including finance.
• To ensure financial implications for service change within the division are evaluated through the approved business case process and benefits are delivered.
• To be the finance lead for supporting business case production within the division.
• To provide management reports and analysis to support the consolidation of the Trust’s financial reports within deadlines.
• To ensure that appropriate monthly and annual maintenance of budgets takes place and that budgets and reported results are accurate and delivered as such in a timely manner.
• To work closely with the costing team to maintain apportionment and allocation methods for reporting contribution by site and service line and internal allocation of indirect costs and overheads where appropriate.
• To provide leadership and overall responsibility in the division for ensuring best value procurement, analysis of procurement data and development of the procurement work plan working closely with the procurement team.
• To increase the financial capability of divisional management teams through the provision of financial awareness training and continuous support for budget managers and service leads.
• To provide input as required to the Trust’s statutory financial reports.
• To ensure that the Trust’s standing financial instructions and financial procedures are adhered to at all times.
• Assure that appropriate financial policies and procedures are in place to support effective financial management and adherence to the regulations and Trust policies.
• Procedures are clear and communicated, understood by relevant staff and monitored at regular intervals.

Requirements

• Degree or equivalent professional experience.
• The post holder must be a qualified member of a CCAB body (ACCA, CIPFA or CIMA) and be actively undertaking Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
• Experience of supporting budget holders at a senior level.
• Experience of driving change in a large and complex environment.
• Experience of Management Accounting.
• Experience of producing and presenting financial results.
• Experience of financial forecasting and budget setting.
• Thorough experience of financial management gained within a complex environment, budgetary control, finance modelling, forecasting and management information processes.
• Advanced skills in MS Excel.
• Able to explain highly complex financial issues clearly and concisely to non-finance managers.
• Build excellent working relationships with all Finance Business Partners, Departmental Managers and Corporate Directors.
• Detailed knowledge and understanding of the financial issues facing the Research & Development environment and able to interpret the impact of these issues on Moorfields.
• Proactive approach to problem solving, anticipating issues before they arise, and developing solutions.
• In depth understanding of Financial Systems and how best to develop them, in conjunction with desktop applications, to provide a high-quality reporting and analysis function.
• Highly developed technical analysis skills, with an ability to produce complex financial models.
• Highly numerate and analytical.
• Excellent verbal reasoning.
• Advanced report writing skills.
• Ability to influence senior managers and clinicians.
• Ability to lead and motivate staff.
• Committed to Continuing Professional Development.
• Evidence of negotiating and influencing ability.
• Commands credibility and respect from operational managers, colleagues up to Board level.
• Professional and reputation for integrity.
• Flexible and supportive work colleague.
• Able to work under pressure and to plan and prioritise workload effectively.
• Driven and can demonstrate initiative, innovation and imagination.
• Sound judgement: able quickly to identify and explain the essential issues.
• Independence: challenges received wisdom.
• Empathy: ability to understand and respond to managers’ motivations to achieve successful behaviour change.
• Tenacity and resilience.
• Makes demands of self and others.

Benefits

• Flexible working hours.
• Weekly salary.
• Staffing Bank workers can contribute to their NHS pension.
• Priority of shifts over all agency workers.
• Competitive pay.

Apply now for this fantastic opportunity by uploading your CV, and a member of our recruitment team will be in touch.