Job vacancy: Senior Financial Accountant, NELFT NHS Foundation Trust, Rainham

Job summary

Main area

Financial Accounts

Grade

NHS AfC: Band 6/7

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time
Part time
Flexible working

37.5 hours per week (Full time - 37.5 hours per week)

Job ref

395-CC541-24-A

Employer: NELFT NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: CEME Centre
Town: Rainham
Salary: £35,392 - £50,056 per annum pro rata plus 15% HCAS
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 11/07/2024 23:59

Senior Financial Accountant

NHS AfC: Band 6/7

Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, Essex, Kent and Medway. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.

The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for three consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.

Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To undertake all duties in compliance with the Trust’s SOs and SFIs and other operational policies, procedures and targets.
Ensure good standards of working for the control of the financial database, ensuring they are updated accurately and timely.
To manage the Financial accountants and staff underneath ensuring the personal and professional development of the sections including regular staff supervision sessions and annual appraisals.
To assist in the production of the Trusts statutory Annual Accounts and Notes and Trust Returns in accordance with IFRS.
Ensure that the capital programme and fixed assets are accounted for correctly, in line with the relevant statutory and NHS accounting policies and procedures.
Responsible for recording, monitoring and analysing commitment and expenditure against budgets. Reconciling monthly accounts and producing periodic variance reports appropriate to differing management levels.
Works with scheme managers to plan and develop robust forecasts of expenditure in order to monitor project cost against budget and to project cash flow and the resulting capital charges.
Monitors actual and projected cash flows against the NHS improvement Threshold and giving early notification of any forecast variation.
Maintains the Trust asset register in full compliance with the NHS Trust’s, including additions, disposals, revaluations, impairments and transfers. Production of monthly reconciliations to the general ledger.
Prepare all working papers, as required by the external auditors in their "prepared by client schedules" in advance of their final audit visit. This information will be used in preparation of the Trust’s Annual Accounts.
Calculate the capital charges estimate for the Trust’s Annual Plan and provide capital charges forecasts as and when required to SLR Manager.
Ensure that the proper procedures and process are in place for the reporting of and accounting for capital and asset revaluation.

Person specification

Educational/Technical

Essential criteria

CCAB part qualified, or fully qualified Accounting Technician with significant post qualifying experience

Experience

Essential criteria

Significant experience of working in an NHS Organisation
Extensive experience of working in a Financial Management role
Significant experience in Staff Management
Experience in preparing financial plans
Ability to communicate effectively and pass on knowledge to all levels of staff especially directors and senior managers and clinicians

Desirable criteria

Significant experience working in public sector finance
Previous Experience of Strategic Financial Management gained in a public sector setting
Experience of involvement in medium term financial planning
Experience of managing change
Experience of preparing, writing and presenting reports including on a range of complex financial issues
Experience of negotiating and supporting contract and service level agreements

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Fundamental knowledge of NHS accounting principles

Desirable criteria

experience in annual accounts
experience in capital accounting
experience in cash management

Skills/Abilities

Essential criteria

Able to manage, and organise own work and input from other stakeholders to complete task by agreed dates.
Able to produce reports and present information to large groups in a clear and concise way and with confidence
Able to work with senior managers and clinicians
Able to fully cost projects and services
Able to interpret non-financial data and to link it with financial information
Excellent negotiation and influencing skills
Good decision making and prioritisation skills
Good analytical and judgemental skills
Good IT skills, including spreadsheets, databases and cost apportionment
Clear and accurate written and verbal communication skills
Good understanding of NHS finance
Ability to travel efficiently throughout the business unit
Ability to work flexibly and adjust to changing requirements

Desirable criteria

Experience of organising and providing finance training to non-finance and junior finance staff

Benefits

We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:

A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our efforts to support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.

Supporting our Armed Forces

We recognise the valuable contribution that the Armed Forces community make to our organisation. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieved Gold Award under the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme. We have supportive policies, guaranteed interview schemes for veterans. reservists and military spouses and give additional leave to our Reservists so that they can attend their annual camp.

Equal opportunities employer

We are committed to equal opportunities and diversity and positively encourage applications from all sections of the community regardless of any protected characteristic.

We are a Disability Confident employer and have made the pledge to commit to employing more people with disabilities. If you require this application in another format i.e. Braille or audio tape please contact the recruitment team on 0300 300 1530 or email [email protected].

Correspondence with us

You are advised to regularly check your emails (including any junk mail/spam folders) for correspondence related to this post.

In the event of a high number of responses to any advert, NELFT reserves the right to close the vacancy early. If you do not hear from us within three weeks of the closing date then please assume you have not been successful on this occasion.