Head of Financial Governance and Strategic Investments

Job overview

The post holder will operate as a senior Trust-level finance leader, providing authoritative oversight, assurance and expert professional advice across financial governance, investment oversight, technical financial assurance and value optimisation. The role is accountable for setting, assuring and continuously developing Trust-wide financial governance, assurance and control frameworks, and for ensuring material investment decisions and technical financial opportunities are aligned to the Trust's strategic priorities, stewardship responsibilities and financial sustainability objectives.
The role provides independent assurance and advice to the Chief Finance Officer, Director of Finance, Executive Directors, Audit Committee and Trust Board on complex, sensitive and high-risk financial matters. It requires significant autonomy, expert judgement and the ability to influence senior clinical, operational and corporate leaders where issues are contentious, financially significant or carry organisational risk. It also leads senior teams responsible for governance, assurance, systems, investment support and technical value optimisation, ensuring the Finance Directorate supports robust decision-making and maximises value for patient services.

Main duties of the job

• Provide senior Trust-wide leadership for financial governance, controls, assurance and risk management.
• Lead the Finance relationship with internal audit, external audit and counter fraud, and oversee key assurance requirements.
• Lead and coordinate the Trust's Annual Report and Accounts, providing senior oversight of complex technical accounting matters.
• Lead financial oversight of significant business cases, investments and benefits realisation.
• Identify and oversee opportunities to improve financial value through accounting, VAT/tax, capital and revenue treatment, and balance sheet management.
• Provide senior leadership for finance systems, digital enablement, data, controls and business continuity.
• Lead and develop teams across financial governance, assurance, systems, investment and technical finance, providing expert advice to senior leaders and Trust committees

Working for our organisation

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury. For more information on OUH please view OUH At a Glance by OUHospitals - Issuu

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community.

We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.

These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.

Person specification

Qualifications and Experience

Essential criteria

• CCAB qualified accountant, with evidence of continuing professional development
• Substantial senior finance experience gained within a large and complex organisation
• Expert knowledge of financial governance, accounting, internal control, audit and assurance, including experience operating across organisational boundaries.
• Demonstrable experience of advising senior decision-makers on complex, sensitive or high-risk financial matters
• Experience of interpreting complex policy, professional guidance and accounting requirements, including matters involving significant financial consequence or judgement.
• Strong analytical and communication skills, with evidence of translating highly complex financial and non-financial information into clear advice and written material for senior audiences
• Proven leadership and people management experience, including developing staff and leading across professional or organisational boundaries.
• Strong understanding of finance systems, data quality, digital reporting and system controls

Desirable criteria

• Senior finance experience within an NHS provider organisation
• Experience of reporting to or working with Board, Executive or Audit Committee-level stakeholders
• Experience of investment governance, business case assurance and/or benefits realisation
• Experience of finance systems, digital finance or transformation
• Specialist knowledge or experience of VAT, tax, capital accounting, investment appraisal or financial value optimisation.
• Working knowledge of Power BI, automation or AI-enabled financial analysis
• Postgraduate leadership or management qualification

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

Application numbers

Please note that this job advertisement will close automatically once the application limit is reached, regardless of whether this occurs before the advertised closing date.

Documents to download

• Job Description - Head of Financial Governance & Strategic Investments (PDF, 526.9KB)