Overview
The Head of Contracting is the Trust's senior lead for contracting and commissioning arrangements. The post holder will provide strategic and operational leadership for all aspects of contract negotiation, development, implementation, performance and assurance across Acute, Community and specialist services. The role acts as the principal expert advisor to Executive Directors, Divisions and external partners (ICB/NHSE/local authorities/independent sector), ensuring robust governance, clear performance mechanisms and accurate interpretation of national policy. The post holder will lead the Contracts & Income Team, manage contractual risk, and support the Trust's financial sustainability and long-term planning. In addition, the role provides strategic oversight of Trust income and activity flows (including coding accuracy and Points of Delivery) to ensure the Trust's position is accurately represented and protected in commissioner discussions and leads structured trust-wide approaches to stabilising fragile services and improving performance within existing resources.
Responsibilities
* Provide senior leadership for the Trust's portfolio of contracts, aligning contracting strategy with corporate objectives and the Financial Plan.
* Act as the specialist lead for contract management and commissioning matters, advising Executive Directors and senior leaders.
* Develop and maintain the Trust contracts register and ensure effective oversight and governance of all material contracts.
* Interpret and clearly communicate complex changes in national policy, assessing their financial and operational impact on the Trust, and ensure systems and processes are in place to support full organisational compliance.
* Provide strategic oversight of Trust income and activity flows, ensuring activity, coding accuracy and POD profiles are triangulated with financial assumptions and planning expectations.
* Set clear priorities for the Contracts & Income Team, establishing a consistent operating model, governance cycle and reporting cadence across Acute, Community and specialist services.
* Represent the Trust at system-wide forums and high-level negotiations, drafting and quality-assuring formal correspondence on behalf of Executive Directors.
Contract Development & Negotiation
* Lead the development, negotiation, review and agreement of all major contracts.
* Ensure appropriate contracting controls are in place to make sure that all income due to the Trust is obtained.
* Provide expert advice and support to Clinical and Business Managers in relation to contracting matters, ensuring decisions are made within available constraints, delivering value for money and compliance (including dealing with sensitive and contentious information that may be NHS or non-NHS related).
* Ensure effective contractual documentation, measurable KPIs and performance standards.
* Lead negotiations to secure appropriate commissioner funding where cost pressures or activity growth require re-baselining, preventing unfunded exposure for the Trust.
* Ensure service costings reflect the true cost of delivery (including workforce, inflation and overheads) and are transparently articulated in negotiations and variations.
* Standardise contractual documentation and align legacy agreements to the NHS Standard Contract, improving clarity, compliance and enforceability.
Contract Performance & Assurance
* Oversee the regular review and management of key contracts, working with divisions and colleagues to ensure delivery against activity, quality and financial assumptions.
* Represent the Trust at all Contract Review Meetings with Commissioners and coordinate Trust representative availability.
* Lead escalation and resolution of complex contractual queries and disputes.
* Triangulate financial, activity and quality information to support contract monitoring and decision-making.
* Strengthen assurance by triangulating performance, quality, activity and patient experience insight; require corrective action plans and time-bound recovery trajectories where standards are not met.
* Maintain expert awareness of financial regulations, NHS contracting rules and emerging policy, applying this insight to identify risks and safeguard the Trust's financial position.
* Provide contracting and technical input in relation to Business Cases for service development and improvement as they are compiled.
* Support the Assistant Director of Finance in the negotiation, agreement and monitoring of provider-to-provider service level agreements and ensure value for money and/or full cost recovery for the Trust.
* Provide relevant technical information to consultancy firms to enable conclusions to be drawn.
Leadership & People Management
* Provide day-to-day leadership and line management to the Contracts and Income Team, setting objectives and managing performance.
* Ensure appraisals, mandatory training and personal development plans are in place and delivered.
* Promote a culture of excellence, accountability and continuous improvement across the function.
* Deputise for the Associate Director of Finance as required.
* Build a high-performing team culture grounded in clarity, fairness and collaboration, creating a psychologically safe environment where colleagues develop and excel.
* Provide steady leadership during organisational change, ensuring continuity of contracting oversight (including recruitment of interim support and issuance of contracts where required).
Partnership Working
* Maintain strong collaborative relationships with ICBs, NHS England, local authorities, other providers and third sector partners.
* Work closely with Divisional Directors, Finance Managers, Clinical Leaders and operational teams to enable delivery of contractual requirements.
* Coordinate responses to commissioner queries, information requests and formal communications.
* Chair and/or co-chair Trust contract meetings and joint assurance forums, ensuring issues are proactively identified, transparently discussed and resolved.
* Develop constructive but robust relationships with providers and commissioners, applying consistent scrutiny to performance and compliance.
Governance, Risk & Compliance
* Ensure compliance with Trust Standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions, NHS Standard Contract standards and statutory obligations.
* Identify, assess, escalate and mitigate contractual risks; ensure timely implementation of audit recommendations.
* Support information governance, data protection, and confidentiality requirements within contracting processes.
* Lead the systematic scrutiny of all contractual documentation and variation proposals, assessing potential financial, quality, operational and reputational risks to the Trust, and establishing robust mitigations or fallback positions where negotiation or dispute resolution is not successful.
* Continuously improve internal contract management processes and controls, including version control, document management and audit trails.
* Ensure appropriate hand-offs with Finance (income, planning, costing), Performance and Procurement so that contractual positions are consistently reflected in reporting and cash flow.
Qualifications
* Degree-level qualification or equivalent;
* Evidence of continued professional development
* Senior-level contracting and commissioning experience
* Experience leading governance cycles and contract registers
* Ability to interpret national policy and assess financial implications
* Experience scrutinising contractual documentation to identify risk
* Experience securing commissioner funding and preventing unfunded exposure
* Strong understanding of income flows, activity data, coding and POD structures
Desirable criteria
* Master's degree or equivalent experience;
* Project management qualification
* System level NHS experience
* Strategic or corporate financial management experience
* Knowledge of NHS Standard Contract and NHS Payment Scheme
* Knowledge of NHS Supply Chain, Highly developed influencing and negotiating skills
* Strong analytical and problem solving skills
* Ability to interpret and communicate complex information clearly
* Skilled at identifying contractual risks and developing mitigations
* Excellent presentation and communication skills
* Ability to lead teams and build collaborative relationships
* Ability to manage high workloads, competing priorities and tight deadlines
* Experience chairing multi agency contract review meetings
* Experience applying structured improvement methodologies
* Detailed knowledge of NHS policy and local health priorities
About Us and Benefits
At East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust our vision is to be widely recognised for providing safe, personal and effective care. We currently provide high quality services and treat over 600,000 people across East Lancashire and the surrounding area. We employ over 9,500 staff, many of whom are internationally renowned and have won awards for their work. One LSC is a new collaborative partnership shared service formed by the five NHS Trusts serving the Lancashire and South Cumbria population of 1.8 million people. We are a shared service run by the NHS, for the NHS and are hosted by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust on behalf of the partner Trusts of the Lancashire and South Cumbria system. One LSC stands for "One Lancashire and South Cumbria" and reflects the Lancashire and South Cumbria System ambition to have one team serving Lancashire and South Cumbria in a joined-up way. It is jointly run by the five Trusts as a collaborative partnership. The Trusts that make up One LSC are: Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust; Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust; Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust. One LSC brings together the Digital, Data and Technology, Estates and Facilities, Finance, People Services and Procurement and Logistics services from each of the provider Trusts to create one central community of professionals. Under one leadership team, they will provide services for and on behalf of all Trusts. The aim is to bring services more closely together so that we can deliver the best service possible to each of our partner organisations. At the core of One LSC delivery is eliminating duplication, removing unwarranted variation, realisation of the benefits of sharing common systems and processes and ensuring we deliver value for money for our partners, our system and, ultimately, for the communities we serve. The Finance Department has been at the forefront of change and continual improvement and has recently won a national HFMA award for embracing technology as well as the Public Sector Finance award for Training & Development. The Department is both FSD and FFF level 3 accredited so there is no better time to join this inspiring team. Our accreditation displays our commitment to being a leading edge Finance Function, supporting the wider improvement of the North West finance system and influencing local and national strategy. We provide a supportive environment in which to learn and develop, with the opportunity to further your skills and career within an exciting and evolving environment.
The Trust is an equal opportunities employer, committed to improving the working lives of our staff and operates a 'Zero Tolerance' policy to aggression, violence, bullying and harassment. We welcome applications from everyone irrespective of ethnic origin, gender, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, marital status, disability or social background, with a focus on BAME representation where appropriate. Appointments will be made on merit. We recognise that the recruitment process may present barriers for some and invite reasonable adjustments to enable participation.
We actively participate in mentoring and coaching programmes and all staff have opportunities for protected learning time. Joining our inclusive and innovative team comes with a range of benefits including flexible working arrangements, training options, a generous pension scheme and annual leave allowance. The Trust supports collaborative working with other Acute NHS Providers across Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Note: Salary advertised is for full-time hours. If the post is less than 37.5 hours per week, the salary will be pro-rata. This vacancy may close early. Shortlisting is against essential criteria. DBS disclosure costs may apply as part of the recruitment process. The Trust reserves the right to request DBS checks as required.
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