Deputy Chief Finance Officer - Operational

Deputy Chief Finance Officer - Operational VSM

Main area: Finance

Grade: VSM

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week

Job ref: 349-COR-

Site: Cobbett House

Town: Manchester

Salary: Dependent on experience

Closing: 27/04/:59

Interview date: 07/05/2025

Job overview

Lead Operational Finance at the UK's Largest NHS Trust.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) is looking for a dynamic and experienced Deputy Chief Finance Officer (Operational) to join our senior leadership team. This is a rare opportunity to take on a high-profile role within one of the most complex and ambitious NHS organisations in the country.

As the UK's largest NHS Trust, MFT serves a diverse population of over 750,000 people across ten hospitals and community services. With an annual budget exceeding £2 billion, we operate at scale, delivering world-class care while driving financial sustainability. Our finance function plays a crucial role in ensuring we meet the challenges of today's NHS, and we are looking for an outstanding leader to drive this agenda forward.

Main duties of the job

We are seeking a senior finance leader to take on the role of Deputy Chief Finance Officer (Operational) at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT). Reporting to Claire Wilson, Group Chief Finance Officer, you will provide operational leadership across a £2bn organisation, ensuring robust financial planning, reporting and governance.

You'll oversee all aspects of financial performance, while working closely with operational and clinical leaders to support effective decision-making and deliver high-quality, sustainable healthcare. A key part of your role will be driving cost improvement and transformation programmes, helping us deliver best value for the communities we serve.

You will engage regularly with national partners, including NHS England, ICBs and regulators, representing MFT at system level. The ability to influence, collaborate and lead in a complex environment will be critical.

We are looking for someone with strong NHS finance experience, ideally at Director or Deputy Director level, with a track record of leading high-performing teams and delivering financial improvement at scale.

This is a career-defining opportunity to shape the financial future of the UK's largest NHS Trust. If you are a strategic, ambitious and values-led leader, we would love to hear from you.

Working for our organisation

MFT is one of the largest NHS Trusts in England with a turnover of £2.8bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We're creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.

Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 30,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you'll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.

We've also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research, and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our Electronic Patient Record system which launched in September 2022.

We're proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What's more, we're excited to be embarking on our Green Plan which sets out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.

At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open, and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience you'll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the 'Supporting Documents' heading. So that you're even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, you'll need to take time to read the 'Candidate Essentials Guide' that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how 'we care for you as you care for others'. Most importantly, it also contains critical information you'll need to be aware of before you submit an application form.

Diversity Matters

MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating, and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at .

We're looking forward to hearing from you!

Person specification

• CCAB or CIMA qualified accountant
• Evidence of continuous professional development in financial management and leadership Skills, Knowledge, and Experience
• Significant post-qualification experience at Finance Director or Deputy Director level within the NHS or a similarly complex organisation
• Proven experience in financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and performance management
• Strong understanding of NHS financial governance, regulatory compliance, and statutory reporting
• Demonstrated leadership in cost improvement programmes (CIP), efficiency savings, and financial turnaround initiatives
• Experience of working closely with clinical divisions, operational managers, and executive teams, translating financial data into actionable insights
• Extensive experience in managing and developing high-performing finance teams
• Ability to influence and engage with external stakeholders, including NHS England, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), regulators, and auditors
• Strong track record in capital financial planning, investment decision-making, and business case development
• Experience in driving financial transformation initiatives, ensuring alignment between financial, operational, and workforce strategies
• Highly developed leadership, interpersonal, and negotiation skills, with the ability to work collaboratively at Board and system level

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.