University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is looking for an ambitious and motivated Finance Business Partner to join our team at an exciting time of transformation.
This is a high-impact role where you will work alongside senior clinical and operational leaders to improve patient flow, reduce waiting times and support the Trust’s long-term financial sustainability.
About the Role
You will act as a trusted advisor at the heart of decision-making, using insight and analysis to shape services and drive real change. Your work will directly influence how care is delivered across one of the UK’s largest acute Trusts.
Working across Trust-wide programmes, you will:
- Lead financial insights on major financial improvement and transformation initiatives
- Provide expert financial analysis, modelling, and advice on complex issues
- Work closely with clinical and operational teams to improve performance, capacity, and patient flow
- Develop business cases and long-term financial sustainability plans
- Help deliver sustainable, high-quality patient services.
Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and ‘At Risk’ status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.
Main duties of the job
About You
We are looking for a dynamic and collaborative finance professional who:
- Is a CCAB-qualified accountant (or equivalent)
- Strong experience in business partnering, improvement programmes or financial management
- Commercially minded with excellent analytical skills
- Confident influencing senior stakeholders
- Is passionate about driving change and improving services for patients
We are committed to developing future finance leaders and welcome applications from individuals who can demonstrate strong potential. Where appropriate, candidates may be appointed into a development role at a lower band, with a clear pathway to the substantive post.
For an informal discussion, please contact Samantha Newcomb, Head of Productivity (Samantha.Newcomb1@nhs.net)
Job responsibilities
- Utilising specialist knowledge of complex NHS/Trust revenue and capital financial arrangements, regulations, financial techniques and relevant legislation; NHS Tariff guidance and Contractual requirements, together with general commercial awareness, to:
- Identify and maximise the financial and operational efficiency impact of Trust Wide Financial Improvement Programme (FIP) schemes to support improved patient flow and reduce waiting times.
- Give sufficiently clear and concise financial information to decision making groups including the Trust Board and NHS England.
- Work closely with Divisional Managers and Clinical Directors on their Financial Improvement Programme, assisting with oversight and challenge to deliver productivity improvements and timely service delivery for patients.
- Work closely with the existing Finance Business Partners (including Senior Capital Finance Business Partner) to ensure that the information used for financial improvements is robust and that the outcomes of projects are integrated into Service Lines and Divisions strategic and operational Business Plans, as well as the long term plan. This will include the identification of associated savings expected from capital projects and efficiency gains that support capacity improvements.
- Provide and present high quality financial advice to project leads, senior managers, Service Line Management teams and Executive Directors about the financial improvement opportunities that exist and their potential impact on efficiency and waiting time reduction.
- Work with the clinical and transformation project teams to support services to make changes that ensure optimal use of resources and improved patient access and flow.
- Produce financial information to support Trust wide projects and business cases.
- Encourage and influence individuals / teams to ensure cost-effective decision making by management, using highly developed persuasion, motivation and negotiation skills.
- Investigate highly complex financial queries on income and expenditure, carrying out regular complicated analytical reviews of the Service Line financial position, predicting income, developing and using complex models and multiple inputs including activity projections and case mix issues to inform capacity and demand planning.
- Interpret highly complex financial data and give advice on financial risks and opportunities for improvement.
For further information please see attached job description.
Person Specification
Knowledge & Experience
- Demonstrable experience of supporting financial improvement, or productivity programmes. Proven ability to demonstrate highly developed theoretical and practical knowledge at an advanced level in financial management, accounting procedures and relevant legislation. Demonstrable experience working within complex organisations. Demonstrable experience of working with front line teams to deliver change and efficiency improvements. Demonstrable experience of interpreting financial information to inform operational decision-making and performance improvement (including demand, capacity, and referral to treatment). Proven ability to demonstrate recent Continuing Professional Development including specialist training and demonstrable experience relating to national accounting standards. Demonstrable experience of liaising with Internal and External Auditors. Awareness of NHS Tariff regime, contracting and business planning process. Proven ability to gain clinical engagement. Awareness of the current NHS “Agenda” and national directives. Proven record of providing all aspects of Finance business advisory service. Proven record of using benchmarking information to identify opportunities.
Qualifications
- CCAB or equivalent (e.g. CIMA) Professional Qualified Accountant with current registration and relevant demonstrable post qualification experience
- Proven evidence of recent CPD including specialist training and experience relating to finance and national accounting standards.
- Proven ability to analyse and communicate highly complex data sets as described in the person spec
- Advanced financial modelling skills, Demonstrable experience of using data visualisation tools (e.g. Power BI)
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Ground Floor, Brittany House, 1 Brest Road
£49,387 to £64,750 a year Per Annum Pro Rata
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours
Reference number
216-LT-CO8031569
Job locations
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
Ground Floor, Brittany House, 1 Brest Road
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