Principal Financial Planning & Reporting Analyst in Wakefield

NHS Supply Chain currently has an opportunity for a Principal Finance Analyst to join our team during an exciting period of transformation, working to make it easier for the NHS to put patients first and to deliver against our strategic objectives. We are seeking an experienced Principal Finance Analyst who will play a key role within the Finance team. This role has the responsibility for leading a small team of analysts, delivering accurate forecasting, analysis and reporting, as well as high-quality financial insight that supports the organisation’s operations and decision‑making.

You will work closely with Finance Business Partners, Commercial, Procurement and Operations teams, and external suppliers. You will act as a senior escalation point, provide leadership coverage where required, and drive continuous improvement across finance processes, systems and outputs.

Every day you will:

• Lead, coach and develop a team of finance analysts, ensuring high performance and professional development, setting priorities, allocating work and ensuring delivery of team objectives.
• Act as first point of escalation for complex stakeholder, customer or supplier queries.
• Provide high‑quality financial insight to senior stakeholders, translating complex data into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Support commercial decision‑making and the resolution of complex queries through data‑driven insight and close collaboration with commercial teams and suppliers.
• Deputise for senior management as required.
• Provide financial modelling and scenario analysis to support strategic planning, growth and decision making.
• Deliver month‑end processes and ensure accurate income recognition, including journals, reconciliations and reporting on commercial income streams such as rebates.
• Provide detailed sales, margin and rebate analysis, identifying key drivers, risks and opportunities.
• Lead the coordination and delivery of robust financial forecasts, ensuring assumptions are clearly understood, challenged and communicated.
• Support the production of the annual budget and wider financial planning processes.
• Drive and support business‑wide financial performance improvement and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Enhance financial planning and reporting processes, tools and controls, ensuring strong governance, accuracy and consistency across all outputs.

What can we offer you?

We want to reward you for your passion, enthusiasm, and hard work so we offer much more than a competitive salary:

• Hybrid working opportunities, giving you the flexibility to work collaboratively in the office and remotely.
• Annual bonus schemes, long service, and colleague recognition awards.
• In‑house training, support, and access to external qualifications to maximise your potential.
• 1 day of paid well‑being leave and free access to the 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme.
• Generous pension scheme (with us contributing 12% when you contribute 6%).
• Access to our Flexible Benefits Scheme, where you can choose from a variety of benefits such as Life Insurance, Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection, Health Cash Plan, Dental Insurance, and additional pension contributions that suit you.
• 2 days of paid volunteering leave allowing you to give back to your community.
• Access to many discounts from the Blue Light Card to NHS Discounts.

Who are we?

Our role is to support the NHS to save lives and improve health. We are a part of the NHS family, and our role is to source, deliver and supply healthcare products, services and food for NHS trusts and healthcare organisations across England and Wales. We serve every NHS Trust and operate a national network of distribution centres, managing relationships with more than a thousand suppliers and delivering more than 8,000,000 orders each year to more than 17,000 locations. Doing all of this on behalf of the NHS gives NHS staff more time to focus on their main priority of providing excellent patient care.

What skills will help you thrive in this role?

• Proven experience in financial planning, forecasting, reporting and commercial finance within a complex organisation.
• Experience of leading, coaching and developing teams.
• Advanced financial modelling and analytical skills, with the ability to interpret complex datasets and generate insight.
• Experience of month‑end processes including journals, reconciliations and consolidated reporting.
• Strong understanding of sales, margin and income analysis.
• Ability to influence and provide strategic financial advice to senior stakeholders.
• Excellent stakeholder management and business partnering skills across multiple functions.
• Qualified accountant (ACCA, CIMA, ICAEW) or equivalent experience.
• Advanced Excel and MS Office skills.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to present financial information clearly to non‑finance audiences.
• Proactive, organised and able to manage competing priorities effectively.
• Continuous improvement mindset with a focus on enhancing processes, accuracy and insight.

Our Inclusive Commitment

At NHS Supply Chain, we are committed to building an inclusive environment where difference is not only valued, but celebrated, giving everyone the opportunity to thrive in their career. Developing our people is key to our success, so if this role sounds like the right next step in your career but your experience doesn’t match perfectly with the job advert, we encourage you to still apply.