About this role
Job summary
Finance that makes care better
We are looking for an exceptional finance leader who believes that finance and procurement are not back-office functions. They are enablers of safer, more effective and more sustainable care. This is a role for someone who combines professional grip with humanity, curiosity and the courage to challenge.
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust is moving forward with ambition and honesty. We are proud of the progress we are making and equally clear that there is more to do.
As Deputy Chief Finance Officer, you will help turn that ambition into consistently excellent delivery. You will lead a talented finance function, bring insight to difficult choices, and ensure every pound supports the best possible outcomes for the people and communities we serve.
Main duties of the job
About the role
You will provide senior leadership across the full finance and procurement portfolio, including financial planning and strategy, financial management, financial services and technical accounts, costing, value improvement, procurement, capital and cash management, financial systems and innovation, audit, governance, productivity and finance workforce development.
You will deputise for the Chief Finance Officer as required and support the Trust to make clear, evidence-based decisions in a demanding and changing environment.
We are on the up, but not complacent
We are making progress, but we are not complacent. Our next challenge is to turn those stronger foundations into consistently excellent delivery across the Trust. We want a leader who can recognise progress without overlooking risk, and who will help us sustain improvement rather than simply describe it.
About us
Why this role? Why now?
We are one of the largest specialist mental health providers in the country, with approximately 7,500 colleagues, annual income of around £550m, services delivered across a large and diverse Greater Manchester geography spanning the five boroughs of Bolton, Manchester, Trafford, Salford and Wigan.
We have four operational Care Groups and strong partnerships across the Greater Manchester Integrated Care System. That scale gives this role real breadth, visibility and influence.
This is a pivotal time to join GMMH. We have stronger foundations, a clearer five-year direction and real ambition for the next phase of our improvement. Our strategy connects three priorities: delivering care that matters, working together and being fit for the future. Finance sits across all three. The Deputy Chief Finance Officer will make that connection real, every day.
For an experienced Deputy CFO, or an ambitious senior finance leader ready to take the next step, this is a genuine development opportunity towards a future Chief Finance Officer role.
You will work closely with the Chief Finance Officer, Executive Directors, Non-Executive Directors, operational leaders and clinical teams, gaining exposure across the full strategic, operational and system-facing finance agenda.
Job description Job responsibilities
Why this opportunity matters
You will work at the heart of an organisation whose purpose is to improve lives and whose ambition is to provide great places for care and great places to work. You will help translate clinical, operational and financial information into choices that improve outcomes, reduce unwarranted variation and protect long-term sustainability. You will shape how we use automation, AI and better data to reduce repetitive work, improve insight and release finance capacity to spend more time alongside services. You will influence beyond the Trust, working with NHS Greater Manchester, NHS England and partner organisations to support integrated funding, transformation and sustainable mental health pathways. You will help strengthen a culture of openness, constructive challenge and evidence-based assurance at Executive, Board and committee level.
The kind of leader we want
You will care about the work we do, not only the numbers we report. You will listen carefully, seek to understand the reality facing services and service users, and build trust through consistency and follow-through. You will also be confident enough to challenge assumptions, explain financial consequences plainly and say when something is not sufficiently evidenced.
We do not expect you to know everything. We do expect you to be curious, to admit when you are unsure, to ask the right people and to come back with a considered answer. That combination of humility and professional courage matters to us.
We are looking for someone who
Is professionally qualified (CCAB / CIMA), with significant post-qualification experience and a strong track record in NHS finance leadership. Canoperate confidently with Executive Directors, Non-Executive Directors, clinical leaders, operational teams and system partners. Combines strategic grip with analytical curiosity, commercial awareness and the ability to turn complex information into clear choices. Builds trusted relationships, supports constructive challenge and creates the conditions for high-performing teams to thrive. Brings energy, resilience, professional courage and a genuine commitment to improving lives through better use of NHS resources. If you want to lead a finance function with purpose, help shape the future of mental health care across Greater Manchester and turn better financial insight into better care, this is an opportunity to make a lasting difference.
Please contact David Warhurst (CFO) for more information via Diana Paul (Executive Assistant): [email protected].
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Education to degree level or equivalent Hold a professional accounting qualification and be a current member of a CCAB/ CIMA organisation. Undertake demonstrable and relevant continuing professional development.
Desirable
Management qualification Masters degree
Experience Essential
Significant senior finance leadership experience within a large, complex organisation. Extensive financial management experience, including substantial experience operating at sub-director or equivalent senior leadership level within a large organisation. Experience of working effectively across organisational boundaries with commissioners, system partners, regulators or other external stakeholders. Extensive experience of negotiating, establishing and managing SLAs and contracts for healthcare or other services. Extensive experience of managing large and highly complex financial services. Experience of leading financial improvement, productivity, efficiency or value programmes in a complex organisation. Experience of working with, or providing senior oversight of, procurement systems and processes. Experience of leading large and diverse teams. Experience of financial risk management within a large and complex organisation. Experience of leading change projects / programmes within a large organisation. Experience of preparing and presenting complex financial advice and reports to Board, Committees and senior management meetings.
Desirable
Significant senior finance experience within the NHS, wider health sector or similarly complex public sector organisation. Knowledge of national cross functional strategies / policies relevant to healthcare. Experience of developing wider business proposals and pulling together commercial packages. Experience of managing capital programmes.
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.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Address Prestwich
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
Prestwich
M25 3BL
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.gmmh.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)