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Job Title


Head of Finance


Company : Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust


Location : London, England


Created : 2025-09-24


Job Type : Full Time


Job Description

Detailed job description and main responsibilities Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities. Financial Planning & StrategyInterpret national NHS and NHSE policies and develop appropriate protocols and frameworks for the Collaborative to work with to ensure financial probity. Overall responsibility for the regional specialised mental health commissioning budgets for multiple service lines, delivered across the Collaborative's six NHS Trusts for the East of England region. Responsibility for developing policies and procedures for the Collaborative to effectively manage and account for the regional specialised mental health services budget devolved from NHSE. Prepare and manage the Collaborative 4-year Long Term Financial Model (LTFM) to forecast Income & Expenditure, integrating financials with activity, and including risk quantifications. Responsibility for providing financial advice and developing and monitoring the budgets across the Collaborative's six NHS Trusts. Develops an integrated financial plan, and the design and implementation of an integrated performance dashboard and report for providers. This will include, but is not limited to, finance, activity, and quality. Ensure all statutory / NHS returns are true and meet legal requirements. Ensure that the Collaborative's Financial Model and its Financial Strategy reflect the Collaborative's Clinical, Transformation and Business Development Plans. Lead for finance in the development of the Collaborative Business Plans. Assist in identifying savings plans and ensuring consistency with the Collaborative's strategic direction. Oversee the annual budget setting and business planning cycle, ensuring that budgets are set in line with the activity and financial plan. Responsible for the update of the Collaborative's Financial Strategy as agreed with the Managing Director and for explaining and presenting the Strategy to the Collaborative Board, other groups and to external stakeholders as required e.g., ICBs and NHSE. Prepare and manage key financial models and forecasts, including running multiple risk scenarios and sensitivities. Provide advice and support to the Managing Director and Head of Commissioning in contract negotiations with NHSE by providing data on finance, activity, capacity, and productivity. Business CasesDevelop business case policy, procedures and best practice on required levels of information (financial, activity, risk & benefits quantification, and other business case elements affecting financial assessment), ensuring it is updated to reflect changes in the regulatory framework governing NHSE business case approvals and funding mechanisms. Set up and maintain a central database of key Business Case data for all cases in progress, mapping planned investment, capacity (beds etc), demand, activity and outcomes. Develop approaches to integrate this information into annual Business Planning and Budget setting cycles. Play a key role advising on relevant business case and capital financing matters as required. Critically evaluate and quality-assure all financial outputs produced to ensure accuracy, validity, consistency and integrity of the work. Ensure clear and comprehensive documentation is maintained on each case to facilitate review, audit and post-project evaluation. Critically evaluate highly complex data, analyses and business cases for service development and capital investment involving significant resource implications for the Collaborative. Review any service costings or business cases produced within finance, to ensure that they are in line with national policy and guidelines. Present highly complex and contentious information and data in a manner appropriate for the audience, ranging from formal presentations to large audiences to one-to-one meetings with staff or external stakeholders. Put in place mechanisms to ensure high-quality information submissions across the Collaborative and submit collated information to NHSE as and when required. Produce regular reports and analyses for the Collaborative Board, member Trust Executives and NHSE. Analyse and interpret complex data to make reasoned and logical deductions and plans. Provide and receive highly complex and sensitive information relating to service delivery, workforce issues and political imperatives. Professionally manage knowledge of a personal nature relating to staff internally and at client organisations. Ability to absorb and process information from a variety of sources including internal and external professionals to determine and formulate appropriate action plans. Regularly demonstrate and deploy a wide range of personal attributes, e.g., the ability to lead, motivate, consult, negotiate and mediate to overcome significant barriers to acceptance or understanding. Regularly communicate and negotiate with EoEPC Executives, Chief Finance Officers, external and internal professionals, both verbally and in writing often on highly complex subjects. Ability to advise and persuade senior finance staff within partner trusts and NHSE on particular courses of action. Regularly present complex and contentious information to large groups and effectively communicate financial concepts clearly and persuasively to senior managers, who are not finance experts. To line manage a team providing a range of functions: financial management and reporting, budget setting; financial accounting and business analytics. Person specificationEducation and Qualifications Essential criteria Expert knowledge of NHS financial accounting procedures and legislation CCAB Qualification Master's Degree or equivalent experience. Evidence of further specialist training and continuing professional development Experience Essential criteria Exceptional level of post qualification experience with advanced practical and theoretical knowledge in the field of financial planning and strategy and Business Case development Significant number of years' experience in a strategic finance and leadership role within the NHS or a large complex organisation. Desirable criteria Experience in a Mental Health service provision Working with NHSE regional teams Working with a group of organisations each with their own sovereignty and governance processes, which are working together on shared vision, objectives and plans; Skills and Abilities Essential criteria Well-developed persuasive, influencing and negotiating skills. Ability to challenge information and explanations from others who may be experts in their field. High level facilitation skills Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues, working to tight and often changing timescales. Excellent skills at partnership working and developing relationships with a number of key bodies and individuals. Able to interpret complex information and identify areas of focus and critical action. Ability to communicate complex statistical and /or highly sensitive reports and messages to a diverse range of people. Able to advise CFOs and senior finance managers and persuade them to a particular course of action Excellent communication skills in all formats Ability to present complex financial complex in a way that senior non finance managers can understand. Good at self-managing coupled with ability to delegate and achieve through others in motivational, effective and supportive manner. Knowledge and Understanding Essential criteria Expert knowledge of NHS finance and accounting procedures Expert knowledge of NHS finance policies and legislation Sound understanding of the NHS plans and the role regions have in them. Understanding of the public sector and awareness of the relevant social and political environments and impact on the health economy Understanding of NHS Plans and the role ICS / STPs play in the region. Understanding of the relationship between specialist regional commissioning, and community & CCG commissioning Expert knowledge of the NHS Standard Contract Good business sense and commercial acumen Physical Requirements Essential criteria Ability to travel across sites in the East of England area. Sitting for prolonged periods using a Computer. Ability to work flexibly from the normal working pattern (including out of hours / occasional weekend) to meet service needs. Here at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) we are dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion. We deliver many of the NHS services that are provided outside of hospital and in the community such as physical, mental health and specialist services. We are a health and social care organisation, offering a wide range of services, including: Integrated physical and mental health services for adults and older people; Specialist mental health and learning disability services; Children and young people/'s mental health services; Children/'s community services in Peterborough; Social care; Ground-breaking research We strongly encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including disabled people and members of our ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ communities. For further information about our positive equality, diversity and Inclusion work, please visit CPFT is looking to build upon its pool of temporary workers with Temporary Staffing Services (TSS). You will be asked at interview if you would be willing to register with TSS. This is an excellent opportunity for those looking to take on additional hours that are flexible around your personal circumstances. Please be advised that in line with the WHO Health Workforce Support and Safeguards List, 2020 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust currently are unable to accept applications from overseas candidates whose country of residence is classed as a 'Red List' country. Applicants who require entry into the UK will be required to provide a valid police certificate from the relevant authority from each country (except the UK) where the applicant has been present for 12 months or more, 10 years before the date of visa application, while aged 18 or over. If you are successful at interview you will be subject to pre-employment checks, including a DBS (if appropriate), references and Occupational Health. To ensure a smooth process please bring all identity documents to your interview. A list of required identity documents will be attached to your interview invitation. All communications will be sent to you via TRAC Systems. By applying for this post you are agreeing to CPFT transferring the information contained in this application to TRAC. If you are made an offer, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Employer certification / accreditation badges Documents to download Job Description (PDF, 390.8KB) Person Specification (PDF, 238.1KB) CPFT Values (PDF, 114.7KB) CPFT Mindful Employers (PDF, 51.3KB) CPFT Accommodation (PDF, 296.6KB) CPFT Benefits (PDF, 74.4KB)#J-18808-Ljbffr