Senior Finance Officer - Acute & Community FIN10b in Wolverhampton

The Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull (BBCS) ICB Cluster is seeking a Senior Finance Officer Acute & Community to join our Finance Directorate. Reporting to the Senior Finance Manager you will provide financial management support to budget holders across a portfolio of Acute and Community services whilst contributing to wider strategic objectives anchored in the 10 Year Health Plan for England.

• Commissioning for Value and Outcomes
• Accelerating Neighbourhood Health
• Making Best Use of Digital Solution in Care Pathways
• Improving Financial Discipline and Service Productivity
• Advancing Heath Equity
• Integrated Partnership Working

We are looking for an individual educated to degree level in a related subject (or equivalent qualification) with significant NHS financial management experience, excellent analytical skills who is able to build positive working relationships, has a demonstrable understanding of equality and diversity and able to manage their own workload. In return, you will join a supportive, forward-thinking team offering flexible hybrid working, professional development opportunities and the chance to make a real difference to the health of our communities.

Main duties of the job include:

• Support the Senior Finance Manager in delivering financial management, accounting, and reporting services.
• Produce monthly management accounts and forecasts, maintain financial records, and manage ledger processes.
• Provide financial support to commissioning teams, programme managers, and budget holders for Sandwell & West Birmingham, Dudley acute and Community contracts.
• Undertake financial analysis, investigate variances, support budget setting and in-year monitoring, and provide financial advice to support decision-making.
• Process journals, invoices, purchase orders, accruals, and credit notes, ensuring compliance with financial policies, standing financial instructions, and statutory requirements.
• Prepare financial reports, support audits and external returns, respond to information requests, and assist with contract and project financial management.
• Maintain effective relationships with finance teams, commissioners, providers, local authorities, and external organisations.
• Contribute to cash flow, funding allocations, projects, service developments, business cases, and performance reviews.
• Promote good governance, accountability, and financial stewardship while meeting deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

About us: Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull Integrated Care System bring together the NHS, councils and voluntary sector to serve 2.7 million people. Our vision is to be the healthiest place to live and work, improving life chances and reducing inequalities.

You will model system values, champion inclusion and actively address health inequalities, helping create an environment where everyone can thrive. In return, the Cluster offers a supportive, ambitious and inclusive environment with opportunities to develop and work across partners to deliver meaningful change.

The ICB is committed to having a workforce which is representative of the population of Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull Cluster. We would actively welcome applications from women and people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds for this role.

The ICB is registered as a Disability Confident Employer. We actively welcome applications from applicants with a disability and commit to shortlisting all such suitable applicants who meet the essential criteria for an interview. Please let us know of any reasonable adjustments you require to participate in the recruitment process.

Job responsibilities include:

• Supporting the Senior Finance Manager with monthly accounting processes including supporting monthly reporting to budget holders.
• Supporting the Acute and Community team with the financial arrangements for ICBs partnership arrangements, mainly with the Local Authorities in relation to the Better Care Fund for the local place.
• Supporting on the completion of Freedom of Information requests that require financial input relating to ICB Acute and Community Service contracts or Better Care Fund agreements in accordance with the legislation.
• Support the Senior Finance Manager Acute & Community with co-ordinating the financial performance of placed based responsibilities to the relevant commissioning board and project groups.
• Undertake monthly reconciliation of the ledger to ensure that all transactions are coded correctly, to post ledger journals where required.
• Undertaking in-depth financial analysis, interpreting data trends and variances, and presenting findings to senior finance colleagues and stakeholders to inform strategic decisions.
• For a range of specific healthcare contracts and programme/projects to be responsible for budget setting and in-year monitoring and reporting of variances and areas of risk.
• Processing mandate payment schedules in line with contract values, processing of Non-Purchase Order invoices ensuring these are correctly validated and coded.
• Liaising and working with providers for the relevant contracts/projects and resolving payment queries.
• Producing complex financial analysis and modelling to tight deadlines and to a high standard of accuracy, using information from various sources outside of the general ledger.
• Preparation of sales invoices and processing of credit notes and raising of purchase orders and liaising with suppliers and the finance team to ensure prompt and accurate payment of invoices/reimbursements.
• Following financial policy and process to ensure funding allocations are spent in line with guidance and relevant accounting/procurement processes.
• The post holder will support the Financial Control team with the month-to-month management of the ICB cash requirements providing cash flow forecasting and supporting with cash management for specific budget areas.
• Completion of reconciliations relating to contracts and other areas as required.
• To support the implementation of projects and provide the financial support in the development of business cases as appropriate.
• Providing financial information to support financial returns/requests to external stakeholders, e.g. financial submissions to NHS England, Freedom of Information Requests, ensuring that all financial information is accurate and submitted on time.
• Working to tight timescales and fixed deadlines with peaks in workload requiring increased focus and effort, particularly at month end and during the year end accounting process and the annual contracting round.
• Utilising benchmarking data to assess performance against standards set both internally and externally by NHSE.
• Contributing to the continuous improvement of financial processes, identifying efficiencies, and supporting wider financial projects as directed by senior finance staff.
• To contribute to the development and improvement of the ICB finance team as a service provider by suggesting improvements to working practices; documenting procedures; maintaining a robust filing structure; organising own time to meet departmental and statutory deadlines; and supporting the development of other members of staff.

Key Relationships include:

• Finance team colleagues
• Senior finance leadership team (CFO, deputy CFOs, associate directors of finance)
• ICB staff across several directorates relevant to financial budgets, including commissioning managers and business intelligence analysts.
• Staff from other NHS organisations, e.g., NHS England and NHS providers
• Staff from non-NHS organisations e.g., local authorities, third sector and independent sector providers
• Staff from internal/external audit as appropriate in responding to audit requests
• Staff from SBS

Communication responsibilities include:

• Communicate, establish, and maintain constructive relationships with a broad spectrum of key stakeholders, gaining their cooperation to support successful delivery of programmes of work within the portfolio in agreement with departmental managers and head of service as appropriate.
• Participate in relevant internal and external working groups/projects to provide information/analytical advice and expertise to the team and wider stakeholders.
• Develop and share a clear communication plan for the service to ensure the ongoing delivery of the project objectives for the project.
• Create and present information, including complex issues through the development of briefings and reports to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required relating to project.

Organisation and Planning responsibilities include:

• Develop and assist in the maintenance of project documentation to monitor progress and resources.
• Contribute to performance improvement, taking a lead for identified areas and actions where agreed.
• Provide coordination of and participate in relevant internal and external working groups and provide project advice, expertise and support where requested.
• Work directly with other project coordinators and officers on projects and support appropriate management and recording of information.
• Work directly with the programme lead to support the programme meetings and outcomes and support appropriate management and recording of information.
• Provide relevant and timely specialist advice and guidance on own portfolio of projects/function.
• Work with members of the internal and external teams to investigate the causes of any variance from target/plan and proactively contribute to the implementation of solutions.
• Management of a risk and issues tracking mechanism and its proactive resolution and escalation processes.
• Contribute to the strategic planning of the projects, identifying interdependencies across projects/functions, potential impacts on wider organisation, resource requirements and building in contingency and adjustments as necessary.
• Contribute to the development of performance and governance strategies in line with the national networks and implementation.
• Contribute to short, medium and long term business plans, achieving quality outcomes.

Person Specification includes:

• Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information.
• Able to use initiative to decide relevant actions and make recommendations, with the aim of improving deliverables.
• Ability to make decisions autonomously when required, working to tight and often changing timescales.
• Ability to travel across sites as required.

Skills and abilities required:

• Putting the long-term health, social care and well-being needs of the population first (system first).
• Working collaboratively with other leaders to achieve excellence in everything we do.
• Holding yourself and others to account for delivering better outcomes.
• Being inclusive, supportive and empowering at all times.
• Engaging and enabling those working towards the aims we have as a collective.
• Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly.

Experience required:

• Significant experience of successfully operating in a politically sensitive environment.
• Experience of presenting budget reports and corresponding at a senior level to a range of audiences.
• Significant experience of working within a finance department.
• Demonstrated experience of co-ordinating projects in complex and challenging environments.
• Experience of setting up and implementing internal processes and Procedures.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office with intermediate keyboard skills with the willingness to embrace technological advancements.
• Ability to Analyse, interpret and communicate useful financial information from large volumes of data in accordance with strict deadlines.

Desirable experience includes:

• Experience of monitoring budgets and business planning processes.
• Experience of financial management accounting in the NHS.
• Understanding of the public sector.

Qualifications required:

• Educated to degree level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification or significant experience of working at a similar level in specialist area.
• Post-graduate degree in a relevant subject or equivalent.
• Evidence of continued professional development.

Desirable qualifications include:

• Actively studying towards a professional accountancy qualification CIMA or CCAB accountancy bodies.

Employer details:

Employer name: Black Country Integrated Care Board

Address: Wolverhampton City Council, St. Peters Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SH, United Kingdom.