We are looking for a candidate who is keen to start or to develop a career in NHS finance.

The successful candidate will be actively studying CCAB/CIMA, who has a proven track record in effective financial management, possess strong management and communication skills, as well as excellent analytical, technical and IT skills from within the Public or Private sector. You will have the ability to work under pressure and to manage multiple and conflicting deadlines and have experience in working in a diverse team.

Main duties of the job

Your future role:Reporting to the Senior Financial Management Assistant, you will provide high quality, accurate and timely financial management advice, monitoring and reporting service to a range of Divisions.

Supporting the Senior Financial Management Assistant, you will provide an effective monitoring and reporting service and be an integral part of the Divisional team, being a key point of contact for budget holders and managers. Acting as accountant for the Division, you will also provide support and input to projects within finance and across the Trust.

The post holder will support the month-end process and production of the financial position for their division(s) and will provide effective financial input into service developments, including accurate costings. This post will be responsible for invoicing for the division(s) and will be key part of financial reconciliations.

We recognise how important a modern working practice to enable our employees to maximise their performance and productivity whilst maintaining an excellent work life balance and so have adopted a hybrid office/home working approach where employees have the opportunity to work either from home or flex their time between both.

About us

The Christie is one of Europe's leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country. We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services. We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.

Job responsibilities

• Support the Head of Financial Management (HoFM), Divisional Finance Manager (DFM) and Assistant Divisional Finance Manager (ADFM) in providing an effective monitoring and reporting service to the trust in accordance with the agreed timetables, procedures and standards prescribed within the trust.
• To assist in the preparation of revenue budgets and to provide financial advice/information to budget holders regarding these budgets. This includes the verification of previous years budget brought forward, setting for example staffing, income budgets etc. for the current year and is responsible for the reconciliation of budget entry on a monthly basis.
• To investigate material variances from budgets, using budget variance analysis (e.g. compilation of pay spreadsheets, completion of income reconciliations based on activity undertaken) under the direction of the DFM / ADFM and to report findings or conclusions and provide a range of options for resolution to the relevant managers within agreed timescales. This will facilitate forecasting the levels of expenditure/activity/income within those directorates whilst highlighting pressures as soon as they arise.
• To keep records of budget queries and any corresponding responses in a format determined by the DFM / ADFM to enable a regular review to be made of the service provided to the managers.
• Contributing to meetings with budget holders on behalf of the DFM / ADFM and ensuring that all discussions and decisions are documented. Develop a greater understanding of the division in order to present the information required in a format which is easily understood by budget holders.
• To assist in the day-to-day management of the general ledger, this includes input of journals, maintenance of the purchase ledger supplies accounts, creation of financial codes within the trust structure, maintenance of budget holders names within the trust structure and clearance of error suspense in accordance with accounting procedure.
• Ensure on a monthly basis that appropriate accruals and pre-payment are accurately included in the Trust current and forecast financial position.
• Preparation of monthly sales invoice information extracted from data files. This involves liaising with both departments and customers to resolve invoice queries to a satisfactory conclusion. Ensure that the sales ledger monthly timetable is adhered to meet invoicing deadlines.
• Provide detailed costing information to business managers on proposed changes i.e. Business & Service plans, staff working patterns. Update budget spreadsheets to reflect changes and upload budgets to the general ledger.
• To become an integral member of the finance department by participating in and contributing to identified corporate financial projects, for example the preparation of elements of the Annual Accounts process.
• Complete Change of Establishment Procedures inputting amendments onto EPS system and working together in collaboration with Human Resources Department.
• Plan and prioritise workload in accordance with the monthly timetable with limited supervision.
• Extensive daily data entry input involved in role to provide accurate information on a timely basis for the general ledger, Payroll system and relevant databases.
• Assist with any ad hoc tasks including telephone queries, postal duties, attendance recording and to cascade knowledge of procedures and tasks to other colleagues within the finance department.
• Cover for other staff, commensurate with grade, in their absence.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• AAT Technician/ NVQ level 4 finance/accountancy qualification/ studying final year of apprenticeship scheme or relevant experience
• A comprehensive secondary education (5 GCSEs or equivalent)
• Willingness to develop through internal and external sources
• Degree
• Actively studying for a CCAB/CIMA qualification

Experience

• Proven experience in a management accounts environment
• Previous experience in a NHS finance environment
• Previous experience working at a NHS Foundation Trust

Skills

• Competent user of Microsoft Office, in particular Microsoft Excel
• Able to present finance information to non-finance users
• Strong written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills to people at all levels within the organisation
• Able to exploit software packages to solve problems

Knowledge

• Possess a robust understanding of financial and activity systems and to be able to extract, interpret, manipulate and present information in a meaningful way

Values

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours

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.

£27,485 to £30,162 a yearper annum, pro rata