Management Accountant

at  Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Based off experience, this job role may be offered as permanent/ fixed term/ secondment.
An opportunity has arisen for the role of Management Accountant, playing a key role in managing and reporting the financial position of the organisation. We are looking to recruit a motivated and an enthusiastic individual who is ready to develop their career in an acute healthcare provider with strong track record of delivering five star quality care for its patients.
The postholder will provide expert financial advice to operational colleagues and play a key role in providing an effective financial management and reporting service. They will support and work closely with the Senior Financial Management team to generate, analyse and report financial information to stakeholders internal and external to the Trust.
The successful candidate will hold a CCAB or CIMA qualification, with financial management experience in a large organisation and knowledge of the NHS finance regime. They will have excellent I.T. and communication skills and experience of managing and developing staff. They will have demonstrated the ability to deliver timely and accurate financial reporting.
Please be aware that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated, should a sufficient number of applications be received. You are therefore advised to apply at your earliest convenience.
Permanent and Fixed Term opportunities available. Secondments will also be considered.

THE MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT’S MAIN DUTIES WILL BE TO:

Provide expert financial advice and oversight of financial management for their areas of responsibility
Lead aspects of the month end reporting process, ensuring timely and accurate reporting of the monthly financial position both internally and externally to the organisation.
Monitor financial performance against agreed budgets, analysing and reporting on variances and assisting in formulating corrective actions.
Co-ordinate the budget setting and forecasting processes for their areas of responsibility.
Ensure the provision of high quality financial reporting to budget holders and other non-finance managers in order to support delivery of the Trust’s strategic, corporate and financial objectives, including delivery of Cost Improvement Programme (CIP) efficiencies.
Establish and maintain strong working relationships to enable effective working. The post holder will be expected to liaise with both internal departments and external bodies.
Manage and develop staff
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
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, freeing up space for more unwell patients. 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.

KEY DUTIES

Corporate Governance
To establish and maintain strong working relationships with both key internal and external individuals to ensure effective working. The post holder will be expected to liaise with both internal departments and external bodies.
To ensure the provision of high quality financial advice to budget holders and other non-finance managers to enable the delivery of the Trust’s strategic, corporate financial objectives.
To monitor financial performance against agreed budgets; analysing, reporting on variations and assisting in formulating corrective actions. Proactively support the delivery of targets by sharing good practice, identifying areas for improvement and agreeing and monitoring action plans.
To take the lead on ensuring accurate financial information is maintained for all budgets relating to the Care Group.
To ensure that external financial monitoring returns and reports are prepared and submitted in a timely and accurate manner and are analysed and interpreted where necessary.
To attend the relevant divisional and specialty business meetings on behalf of Financial Management and provide relevant financial support, advice and information.
To maintain the integrity of the financial ledger and other financial systems to ensure that compliance with audit requirements is adhered to.
To contribute to the formulation of the annual budget setting for the Trust and ensure pressures are reported and monitored.
To promote effective financial management and financial control amongst the divisional management teams. To provide appropriate advice and support with the divisional structure to ensure all efforts are made to achieve financial stability, including the review and monitoring of establishment information.
To evaluate and monitor saving schemes including maintenance of detailed working papers to ensure accurate records are kept and all adjustments and transactions are processed appropriately.
Costing & Pricing
To accurately cost development and other operational change proposals as requested by divisional teams.
To contribute to the annual reference cost process as and when necessary, providing support to the cost accountant.
Management & Leadership
Responsible for the production and monitoring of timely and accurate financial information and reporting to strict deadlines, enabling the proactive management of budgets by budget holders.
To contribute to the development of financial management information and communicate ideas and suggestions for departmental improvements to the Senior Management Accountant and Head of Financial Management.
To allocate work to staff members within the department and provide training within own areas of work enabling them to develop in accordance with their KSF outline. Deputise for the Senior Management Accountant as required.
Education & Development
To provide training to non-financial managers within the Trust on all matters relating to budgetary control and financial management, including effective use of information systems/reports