Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
JOB DESCRIPTION
GENERAL INFORMATION
Title:
Head of Finance
Salary/ Grade:
8C
Job Location:
Internal Relationships
Director of Finance
Director of Financial Operations
Other Directors and their teams
Assistant Directors of Finance
Senior members, including executive and non executive directors, of the organisation
External Relationships
Monitor
Financial Advisors
Internal and External auditors
Other external partners
Responsible for:

Leading the financial support for a clinical division or for the range of corporate
directorates.
Reports to:
Assistant Director of Finance
Organisation Structure:
Director of Financial
Operations
Assistant Director Financial Ops –
4 x clinical HoF
Assistant Director –
Income/Planning
Assistant Director –
Financial Reporting–
Assistant Director –
Financial Control
Head of Financial
Planning
1 x Head of Reporting
Head of Financial
Services
Head of Income and
Costing
Head of Finance
(Corporate)
Head of Finance
Performance
Improvement and
Development
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Job Summary
To provide the lead financial support to a clinical division or a range of coporate
directorates.
To maintain a professional reporting line into finance, objectively resolving conflicts
between financial requirements and divisional needs
To drive profitability and return on investment, developing short and medium term financial
and savings plans aligned with strategic plans.
To work closely with the QIPP/transformation team to generate and drive delivery of
improved profitability.
To support directors and clinicians in accessing and understanding financial information for
their areas of budgetary responsibility.
To support commercial propositions and to undertake or oversee the financial
management of key contracts.
To lead on the financial support for large strategic projects or service developments
To be an active participant on clinical divisional management teams
Main tasks and responsibilities
Analysis and service development
To drive profitability and return on investment, developing short and medium term financial
and savings plans aligned with strategic plans.
To benchmark profitability and cost efficiency. Through market analysis or networks,
develop ideas for improving or developing profitability
To analyse capital investment in order to understand and monitor current and planned
levels of return on investment
Advise on the financial viability of tenders and on tender pricing. Support the tender lead
on ensuring tender responses are commerical
To work closely with the income and contracting teams to understand the contracting and
income position of service lines. Support the directors in resolving information or income
issues. Identify and drive improvements to the income position. Attend meetings with
commissioners where appropriate, in particular for discussions regarding the development
of contracts and alternative approaches to PbR reimbursement
To lead on large strategic business cases ensuring that the costs, benefits, risks and
income and expenditure of such schemes are fully understood and prepared for
presentation to the Board for approval. Where developments encompass services
provided by more than one division, the post hodler will be expected either to lead on the
analysis for the whole Trust or provide timely input to the lead for the development.
To lead for finance on the evaluation of large procurement tenders, ensuring that value for
money is achieved.
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To ensure team meets all financial reporting requirements.
Resource management
To lead the finance team for their area, including the business analyst and (though not
directly line managing them), the management accounts team for the division
Act as a leader in the department, setting appropriate standards and mentoring and
supporting staff in their development
Design and lead training sessions with clinicians on relevant financial developments and
with finance staff.
Deputise for any of the Assistant Directors of Finance as required.
To be cognisant of the impact of any proposed initiative on other areas within the Trust
Responsibilities for information resources and/or systems
The post holder will be expected to advise senior members of the Trust on the potential
(mainly financial) consequences of proposed actions, the risks involved and means by
which such risks might be minimised.
Their ability to identify the key areas and highlight the salient points of a project will be key
to ensuring that the Trust makes the correct decisions on whether to process with a
specific project or not.
To use Microsoft Office software, (Excel, Word, Access, Powerpoint and Outlook) to create
and format spreadsheets, model scenarios and databases for both own work and to
produce output reports, with financial consequences for external bodies and other senior
staff.
To understand how systems and software may enhance the financial analysis available for
the division (for example, simulation software) and ensure that any such developments are
integrated with existing analytical tools. Design, adapt and introduce financial information
technology tools to widen the depth, completeness and quality of financial information
available to stakeholders;
To comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act with regard to the
confidentiality of personal information and patient confidentiality.
Communication
To work closely with the other Heads of Finance, both clinical and corporate to set
standards of analysis and reporting and to share best practice
To represent the Royal Free at external meetings, for example, with NHS England or
commercial companies
The post holder must have highly developed communication skills and be able to
communicate potentially confusing financial information effectively and persuasively, both
verbally and in writing, to people at all levels within the organisation, and to external
stakeholders.
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They will be dealing with highly complex financial information and must have the ability to
distil complex problems into simple formulae and statements which can then be used to
present, model and explain data to those with a less mathematical background.
Focused/Structured/Concise verbal communication
The post holder must be able to persuade and challenge effectively, leading directors and
other senior managers to consider alternative ways to approach developments that may
have a better financial impact
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PERSON SPECIFICATION
GENERAL INFORMATION
Post:
Grade:
Directorate:
Head of Finance
8C
Finance
REQUIREMENTS
ESSENTIAL
EDUCATION &
QUALIFICATIONS



EXPERIENCE &
KNOWLEDGE

SKILLS &
ABILITIES
Professional qualification in accountancy (CIMA, ACA, CIPFA, ACCA)
A minimum of two years post qualification experience.
Expert knowledge gained through further post-qualification specialist training or
experience.Evidence of maintaining and developing technical accounting expertise and
of staying up to date with current accounting rules since qualification
Experience of business partnering, supporting senior managers and/or directors in
service developments

Experience of using complex financial models for assessing risk and informing
decision-making

.

Experience in making or advising on complex decisions involving financial risk

Experience of having worked with large, complicated sets of information, drawing
inferences and developing strategy on the basis of the analysis.

Experience of presenting complex financial information to non-finance managers and
directors

An understanding of the Payment by Results financial regime

Understand the concepts underpinning the development of a strategy and some of the
elements which can be arranged to gain competitive advantage

Leadership qualities and influencing skills:
- Ability to understand complex situations
- Ability to work in a professional and positive manner and meet challenging
deadlines
- Able to challenge effectively while maintaining relationships
- Pro-active, Dynamic and flexible
- Ability to work autonomously. Demonstrating initiative to work as an individual
to meet deadlines.

Ability to operate as part of the leadership of the department, proactively identifying
ways to improve and working with others in the deparment to initiate these changes

Strong analytical skills with the ability to solve highly complex financial problems

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

The ability to manage time, meet deadlines and prioritise delivering to tight deadlines
and managing the demands of senior stakeholders simulataneously

Ability to make use of systems (initially Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word) to prepare
and present accurate, clear information and to identify what can be produced from other
Experience of leading on large business cases or developments and assisting internal
customers in understanding the assumptions and risks inherent in those business
cases.
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financial systems
PERSONAL
QUALITIES

Strong organisational skills and ability to proritise

Flexible and able to manage workload to ensure delivery of both regular commitments
and the support of Trust wide initiatives

The ability to provide advice and support from across all of the accounting disciplines is
essential.

Able to influence others, and be able to present a coherent case in support of a desired
strategic outcome or plan

Ability to challenge assumptions, and articulate alternative interpretations, scenarios
and strategies

Must be able to set and negotiate priorities for themselves and others and subsequently
programme workload to achieve results and meet deadlines. They should understand
what motivates people to perform, and be able to gain the respect and support of other
staff and managers

Ability and credibility to represent the Trust at off-site meetings.

Requires standard keyboard skills

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Strong sense of quality and customer focus.
Self motivated
Pro-active and positive
Resilient to cope with challenge and criticism
Prepared to lead on the operational issues of the department and to take responsibility
for policy and service development for financial reporting for clinical and corporate
departments.
Ability to inspire confidence when presenting
Team player, willing to ‘roll up sleeves’ where necessary
Positive ‘can do’ attitude.
Highly organised approach and ability to prioritise own work in order to meet strict
deadlines and targets.
Embraces change.
Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to work closely and effectively with staff at all
levels within the organisation, including ability to persuade as well as be diplomatic
Excellent persuasion and negotiation skills are required to ensure delivery of balanced
financial plans.
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