About this role
Job summary
The Deputy Financial Accountant plays a key role in maintaining the accuracy, integrity, and compliance of the Trust's financial accounts and reporting. Working within a supportive finance team, you will lead on complex balance sheet reconciliations, financial analysis, statutory reporting, and the resolution of financial issues, helping to ensure robust financial control across the organisation. You will work closely with a wide range of colleagues, providing expert financial advice and supporting the delivery of high-quality financial services.
Alongside your technical accounting responsibilities, you will support the ongoing development and operation of the Trust's financial systems. This includes helping to maintain system structures, user access and reporting tools, improving financial processes, and supporting finance system developments and projects. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys combining technical accounting expertise with finance systems work and is looking to develop their skills in a varied and rewarding role.
You will also contribute to the continuous improvement of financial processes and systems, helping to develop more efficient ways of working and supporting the Trust's wider finance objectives. You will support and develop junior colleagues through coaching, guidance, and day-to-day supervision
Main duties of the job
As Deputy Financial Accountant, you will play a key role in ensuring the Trust's financial information is accurate, reliable, and compliant. You will lead on complex balance sheet reconciliations, investigating and resolving discrepancies, analysing financial data, and providing expert advice to finance and non-finance colleagues. Your work will support strong financial governance, informed decision-making, and the production of statutory and regulatory financial information.
You will work closely with the Financial Accountant and Financial Systems Development Manager, providing support and cover where required. This will give you exposure to a broad range of financial accounting and finance systems activities, including helping to resolve system issues, supporting financial reporting processes, and contributing to ongoing developments and improvements across the Finance function.
The role requires strong analytical skills and attention to detail, with responsibility for investigating complex financial issues, interpreting data from multiple systems, and ensuring financial records remain accurate and up to date. You will use a variety of financial and reporting systems, including advanced Excel, to analyse information, identify trends, and support effective financial control.
About us
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
Our services
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please find attached detailed job description and person specification for main responsibilities and requirements.
Person Specification
Our Values
Essential
- We are Kind
- We are Open
- We are Inclusive
Qualifications
Essential
- NVQ level 4 Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) with experience equivalent to Degree level qualification
- Degree level qualification or experience equivalent to Degree
- Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) professional accountancy qualification or willing to work towards
Knowledge and Experience
Essential
- Significant financial accounting experience
- Supervisory experience
- Experience of working in NHS finance
- Experience of the Oracle General Ledger System including Business Intelligence
- Experience of providing training and support to others in own specialist area
- Evidence of planning and organising tasks required to achieve a specific outcome within a specified timeframe without direction from line manager
- Experience of analysing, interpreting and presenting complex financial data, including contributing analytical information to support forecasting and expenditure monitoring
- Highly computer literate including MS Word, Excel, Access. Able to extract data, create and manipulate complex spreadsheets
Skills
Essential
- Excellent standard of written and verbal communication skills
- Acts professionally in all dealings with colleagues and in liaising with external bodies; must be able to adapt style appropriately to deal diplomatically with senior personnel
- Excellent problem solving and analytical skills
- Well organised, able to plan and prioritise own workload
- Good negotiating, persuasive, motivational, influencing skills
- Ability to work under pressure and to meet tight deadlines
- Ability to support change
- Ability to manage conflicting priorities
Other
Essential
- Standard Keyboard Skills required
- Requirement to concentrate for long periods when inputting data and when analysing data/statistics
- Ability to undertake normal office duties, with sitting for prolonged periods
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).
Employer details
Employer name
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Address
Knowsley Community College
Stockbridge Lane
Liverpool
L36 3SD
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)