Job overview
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is seeking to appoint an outstanding Executive Director of Finance at a defining moment in the organisation’s journey.
Serving a population of approximately 600,000, with 14,000 staff and turnover approaching £1bn, ELHT is one of the largest and busiest acute and community providers in the North West. The Trust has recently stabilised its financial position following a period of recovery and governance strengthening and is now moving into its next phase: delivering sustainable transformation across urgent and emergency care, community services and system partnership.
Reporting directly to the Chief Executive, the Executive Director of Finance is a full voting member of the Board and a central corporate leader within a stable and experienced Executive Team. This is not simply a financial control role. It is a strategic, outward-facing and system-shaping position, requiring a leader who is solution-focused, collaborative and comfortable operating at scale.
The successful candidate will combine financial credibility with visible, inclusive leadership, helping to shape a medium-term financial strategy that supports high-quality patient care, workforce sustainability and system reform across Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Main duties of the job
As Executive Director of Finance, you will:
Provide strong, visible and compassionate leadership of the Trust’s finance function, fostering a culture of accountability, professionalism and continuous improvement.
Develop and deliver a robust medium-term financial strategy and annual financial plan, ensuring sustainable delivery of efficiency requirements through transformational change rather than short-term measures.
Lead financial governance, probity and internal control, ensuring the highest standards of stewardship, transparency and regulatory compliance.
Work closely with clinical and operational leaders to redesign pathways of care, particularly within urgent and emergency care, aligning financial strategy with service transformation.
Play a central role in enabling neighbourhood health and community-based models of care, developing financial mechanisms that support left-shift and partnership working.
Represent the Trust across the Provider Collaborative, One LSC shared services vehicle and wider Integrated Care System, contributing constructively to collective financial sustainability.
Act as executive lead for procurement.
Provide clear, confident advice to the Chief Executive, Board and Committees, ensuring informed decision-making and early identification of financial risk.
Lead, develop and inspire senior finance colleagues, rebuilding confidence where needed and creating a modern, outward-facing and enabling finance function.
Working for our organisation
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is a large, high-performing acute and community provider serving a diverse and often highly deprived population across Pennine Lancashire.
The Trust operates one of the busiest emergency departments in the North West and delivers a wide range of acute, community and specialist services. Community services sit within the organisation, providing a strong platform for integration and neighbourhood health.
Following a period of focused recovery, the organisation is now well-positioned to move from stabilisation to transformation. Governance arrangements have strengthened, systems and processes are in a better place, and there is renewed confidence in the Trust’s financial trajectory.
The Executive Team is experienced and stable, united by a strong sense of purpose and commitment to improvement. The Trust also plays a leading role in One LSC, the shared corporate services vehicle for Lancashire and South Cumbria, offering significant system leadership exposure.
This is a Trust that understands its challenges and is ambitious about its future. Finance is central to that ambition.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We are seeking an experienced Board-level finance leader who combines strategic capability with practical delivery.
Essential criteria
* CCAB qualified accountant.
* Significant experience as a Board-level Finance Director within the NHS, ideally in a large and complex provider organisation.
* Proven track record of delivering financial recovery and large-scale efficiency programmes.
* Strong understanding of NHS financial governance, regulatory requirements and public accountability.
* Experience of working effectively at Board level, providing trusted and constructive advice.
* Demonstrable success in leading and developing large finance teams through change.
* Experience of system working, including collaboration with ICS partners and regulators.
Desirable criteria
* Experience of working within a Provider Collaborative or shared services environment.
* Experience of leading finance within a combined acute and community provider.
* Track record of supporting service transformation, pathway redesign or urgent and emergency care improvement.
We are particularly keen to hear from candidates who demonstrate:
A solution-focused mindset, with the ability to move quickly from problem identification to practical action.
Corporate leadership maturity, with comfort operating across organisational boundaries and within complex system relationships.
Political awareness and sound judgement, including the ability to balance local and system priorities.
Visible, inclusive and compassionate leadership, with the ability to rebuild confidence and develop talent.
Resilience, clarity and calmness under pressure.
A genuine commitment to public service and improving outcomes for patients and communities.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
* CCAB qualification