This post is offered as a secondment opportunity. Please do not apply if you are not already working for an NHS organisation.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a highly skilled, experienced and motivated Deputy Director of Finance to join our dynamic team in the East of England to lead all aspects of support and assurance for systems in the region.
The Deputy Director of Finance System Assurance role is critical in supporting the region and systems in the delivery of statutory duties and financial performance. The role holder will maintain the primary financial relationship with the systems and Trusts and will also deputise for the Director of Operational Finance when required.
Key responsibilities:
It oversees the financial performance of the region by:
Ensuring risk is managed and balanced across organisations, systems and the region.
Managing and actively promoting system working to ensure best value for money.
Ensuring systems and processes are in place to enable sound financial control.
Providing necessary advice, support, challenge to organisations and the systems.
Work with systems and organisations to develop sustainable financial strategies
NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.
Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms — enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.
In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.
If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.
Main duties continued:
As a Deputy Director of Finance System Assurance, the post holder will lead and work as part of a dynamic team in delivering an effective service supporting managers and staff across the East of England region to:
Deliver functional finance responsibilities for the region as required, working with other regional and national colleagues to ensure that these are delivered in a single way as a single team.
Ensure the provision of expert, evidence based financial and business advice to regional and national colleagues.
Hold the primary financial relationship with systems and organisations and establish effective operating models working in a matrix way with the wider team to provide the appropriate level of support and escalation when needed.
Successfully build effective relationships with systems and organisations within the region.
Provide leadership and strategic direction for work assigned to the wider Financial Oversight and Delivery team. Working via a direct line management or matrix approach as required.
Lead financial planning, performance management, assurance and oversight for a number of systems – across revenue, capital and cash. Working closely with regional subject matter expert colleagues to help systems and organisations to deliver their financial targets and service plans, through the provision of oversight, advice and support and in accordance with national frameworks and policies.
Ensure all national reporting requirements are complied with to support month end and year end processes.
Ensure that appropriate advice is provided to systems / organisations on national approaches to financial planning and performance for both capital and revenue.
Ensure rigorous appraisal of system and organisational financial plans to ensure viability and that financial risks have been soundly evaluated and mitigated.
Support the delivery of regional financial targets ensuring that systems and organisations deliver value for money, financially sustainable and efficient plans, supported by effective cost improvement programmes utilising regional benchmarking, learning and best practice.
Ensure robust processes are in place to monitor financial performance to maintain a clear and up-to-date view of the financial position.
Provide robust forecasts, risk predictions and mitigations.
Ensure that systems, processes and information flows provide effective early warnings of potential failures in service quality, financial management, partnerships and performance. Take a risk-based approach, in line with national frameworks to intervene, anticipate and avoid such failures.
Play a key role with regional colleagues and work with them to tackle performance risks and issues, ensuring that support to improve is provided early.
Provide expert advice to inform formal regulatory interactions and/or interventions where necessary. Lead financial intervention processes in the event of material concerns about financial performance and financial risk within national frameworks.
Support national teams on planning, reviewing and agreeing cash requirements with systems and organisations within national policy.
Oversee and assure the financial planning and redesign of services within the region, particularly large scale and complex service reconfigurations, ensuring business cases are subject to rigorous financial appraisal, are financially viable and provide value for money.
Represent NHS England and its interests at national/public meetings/events as required, acting independently, decisively and effectively in sensitive and political situations. At times this involves delivering difficult messages and contentious information to high level audiences potentially in a difficult environment.
Promote the highest standards of finance professionalism within the region including the development and implementation of new initiatives.
Live the NHS values, lead with compassion and promote and foster these values in the wider team.
Support the priorities of the Finance Directorate adopting a flexible approach to ensure all priorities can be delivered from within available resources.
The post holder will have accountability and responsibility for the strategic and operational development of the Finance Directorate. Plans to achieve the strategy will be underpinned by the delivery of short to medium term objectives.
Key aspects of this role will be to: -
Ensure the strategy is formulated, understood by all stakeholders and is delivered utilising all available resources efficiently and effectively.
Ensure the development and management of relevant strategic plans, within the Sector.
Ensure appropriate system and processes are in place to enable the implementation of the strategy plans in the new organisations.
Proactively manage the key risks and issues associated with ensuring appropriate actions are taken to mitigate or respond.
Monitoring and establishing accountability on the overall progress of the strategy to ensure completion within agreed timescales.
Manage the whole budgetary implications of activity.
Avoid the destabilisation of business as usual.
Manage and actively promote the relationships with key stakeholders.
Evidence of line management experience to ensure a team perform at a high level to meet the exacting challenges required.
You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
Secondments
Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.
