Job Title: Audit and Compliance Lead
Location: Hybrid - within one of our offices (Nottingham & Alfreton)
Contract type: Permanent
Salary: £64,062 with the potential to rise to £75,367 over 3 years
NHS Supply Chain currently has an exciting opportunity for a qualified accountant with relevant post‑qualification experience to join our team during a period of significant transformation, as we continue to make it easier for the NHS to put patients first. The Audit and Compliance Lead plays a pivotal role in safeguarding the organisation’s financial integrity and strengthening governance across NHS Supply Chain. As a key member of the Financial Control Leadership Team, the role is responsible for leading the delivery of the Annual Report and Accounts, and overseeing both internal and external audit activity, ensuring robust assurance and driving continuous improvement in financial controls and processes.
The role provides strategic oversight of financial compliance, including risk management, business continuity, delegated authorities, financial policies, and systems access. It also offers expert technical accounting support and financial oversight across month‑end and reporting activities. In addition, the Audit and Compliance Lead manages the expenses function, ensuring colleague claims are processed efficiently, accurately, and in line with policy, while continually improving the service provided. Working closely with finance colleagues, the wider business, and external partners, the role helps embed proportionate, effective compliance across day‑to‑day operations.
Responsibilities
Lead audit, risk and compliance activity across finance, planning and coordinating external and internal audits, preparing high‑quality evidence, responding to findings, and driving timely closure of audit actions while strengthening controls and assurance.
Own the governance framework, maintaining financial policies, approval hierarchies, schemes of delegation, risk registers, business continuity plans and records of processing activity, ensuring they are up to date, practical, and embedded in day‑to‑day ways of working.
Manage and develop the expenses function, providing clear leadership to the team, ensuring claims and queries are processed accurately, efficiently and in line with policy, and continuously improving the colleague experience.
Provide financial oversight and technical support, coordinating month‑end reviews, supporting the Financial Reporting team as required, and offering technical accounting guidance to ensure accurate, timely and compliant reporting.
Collaborate and influence across the organisation, working closely with the Financial Control Leadership Team, wider Finance colleagues, IT partners and external auditors to improve systems access, prevent fraud, enhance controls, and deliver continuous improvement initiatives that add value.
Key Skills and Experience
Strong experience in audit, compliance and technical accounting (ideally IFRS), combined with a robust controls background, enables the delivery of accurate, timely and high‑quality Annual Report and Accounts, supports financial reporting requirements, and ensures successful audits with clean outcomes and timely closure of actions through effective engagement with internal and external auditors.
Confident leadership and stakeholder management skills support the effective management of the expenses team and enable close collaboration with the wider Finance team, IT partners and business stakeholders, making compliance straightforward, maintaining high service levels in expenses, and helping colleagues focus on value‑adding activity.
A strong understanding of risk management, business continuity and governance underpins the development and maintenance of clear financial policies, effective governance structures and resilient finance systems, ensuring key risks are identified, controlled and mitigated, and that robust continuity plans are in place.
Proven experience in process and controls optimisation, paired with a continuous improvement mindset, allows for the identification and implementation of efficiencies across finance and expense processes, strengthening controls, enhancing user experience, and driving measurable improvements in efficiency and effectiveness.
Highly organised, proactive and values‑led in approach, with excellent attention to detail and communication skills, enabling the ability to anticipate issues, take ownership of solutions, deliver joined‑up outcomes across teams, and role model inclusive behaviours while operating as a trusted member of the Financial Control Leadership Team.
What can we offer you?
* Hybrid working opportunities, giving you the flexibility to work collaboratively in the office and remotely.
* We recognise our employees' hard work and contributions with annual bonus schemes, long service, and colleague recognition awards.
* We are dedicated to your development, through in‑house training, support, and access to external qualifications to maximise your potential.
* A focus on your well‑being offering 1 day of paid well‑being leave and free access to the 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme.
* Generous pension scheme (with us contributing 12% when you contribute 6%).
* Access to our Flexible Benefits Scheme, where you can choose from a variety of benefits such as Life Insurance, Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection, Health Cash Plan, Dental Insurance, and additional pension contributions that suit you.
* 2 days of paid volunteering leave allowing you to give back to your community.
* Access to many discounts from the Blue Light Card to NHS Discounts.
NHS Supply Chain – who are we?
Our role is to support the NHS to save lives and improve health. We are a part of the NHS family, and our role is to source, deliver and supply healthcare products, services and food for NHS trusts and healthcare organisations across England and Wales.
We serve every NHS Trust and operate a national network of distribution centres, managing relationships with more than a thousand suppliers and delivering more than 8,000,000 orders each year to more than 17,000 locations. Doing all of this on behalf of the NHS gives NHS staff more time to focus on their main priority of providing excellent patient care.
Our Inclusive Commitment
At NHS Supply Chain, we are committed to building an inclusive environment where difference is not only valued, but celebrated, giving everyone the opportunity to thrive in their career. Developing our people is key to our success, so if this role sounds like the right next step in your career but your experience doesn’t match perfectly with the job advert, we encourage you to still apply.
Struggling to complete our application form, and require additional support? Reach out to our Talent Acquisition team at careers@supplychain.nhs.uk who will be happy to help you with alternative ways to apply.
We reserve the right to close any vacancy from further submissions when we have received sufficient applications from which to make a shortlist. Please apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.
SCCL is a company registered in England and Wales, with company number 10881715, to act as the management function of the NHS Supply Chain.
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