Assistant Director of Financial Operations
Band 8c
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
We are a responsive and innovative Foundation Trust that places our values of Caring, Safe and Excellent at the heart of everything we do. We take great pride in our staff and believe that investing in you is key to us achieving our vision of outstanding care delivered by outstanding people.
We work with a wide range of partner organisations to deliver care and support to people in their own homes and from a number of hospitals and community bases. We focus on delivering care as close to home as possible for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset.
We actively support anti‑racism, equality, diversity and inclusion so, if you’re excited about this job opportunity and you meet our Trust values, but feel unsure about applying, then please get in touch and we will be happy to have a conversation with you.
We are also committed to increasing diversity in the workforce, which is why we actively encourage applications from those groups of people who are currently under‑represented, which include, amongst others, people with disabilities; men from all socio‑economic backgrounds; people from diverse ethnic backgrounds; and people from the LGBTQIA+ community.
Good luck and we hope to hear from you.
Job overview
Join Our Leadership Team: Assistant Director of Financial Operations
Are you an ambitious and experienced finance professional ready to step into a pivotal senior leadership role? Do you thrive on ensuring robust financial health and operational excellence?
We are seeking a highly motivated Assistant Director of Financial Operations to join our team and become a key member of our Finance Senior Management Team (SMT). This is a crucial role where your expertise will directly impact the financial stewardship and success of the entire Trust.
As a senior leader, you will be responsible for the seamless, day‑to‑day operation of our entire financial operations function. Your portfolio will include comprehensive oversight and leadership across several critical areas:
Financial Stewardship: Ensuring the long‑term financial stability and accountability of the Trust.
Day‑to‑Day Financial Operations: Directing and optimising the processes that keep our finances running smoothly.
Financial Accounting: Leading all statutory financial reporting, compliance, and accurate financial statement preparation.
Capital Accounting: Managing and overseeing the accounting for our significant capital investments and assets.
Patient’s Finance Services: Ensuring sensitive and effective financial services are provided to our patients.
Treasury Management: Strategically managing the organisation's cash flow, investments and debt to maximise returns and mitigate risk.
Main duties of the job
This isn't just about managing numbers—it's about setting the standard for financial integrity and strategic execution across the entire Trust.
* You will be the key driver in establishing a financial governance framework that is not only effective but deeply embedded across the organisation. You will ensure that every financial transaction reflects impeccable due diligence, probity, accuracy and integrity, providing rock‑solid confidence to our stakeholders.
Be the Financial Authority: Provide high‑level technical advice and leadership input into significant organisational projects, including business cases, grant funding applications and complex capital accounting and financing arrangements.
Collaborate Strategically: Work hand‑in‑hand with our wider leadership group to drive critical cross‑departmental initiatives, such as the overarching Finance Strategy and major transformation projects.
Lead the Audit Cycle: Take full responsibility for the timely and accurate production of our statutory accounts and the successful management of the annual audit process.
Command the Balance Sheet: Lead all aspects of monthly balance sheet reporting and analysis, transforming raw data into actionable insights for leadership.
Implement Vision: Translate the organisational strategy into tangible results by leading the development and implementation of robust policies, procedures, systems and controls, ensuring we maintain the highest possible level of financial assurance.
Working for our organisation
Oxford Health is a great place to work and we ask that you read the “candidate guide to making an application” and tailor your supporting statement to the role you are applying for and address any essential criteria.
As a Trust we provide physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and Northeast Somerset. Our services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people’s homes, delivering care as close to home as possible. Our vision is that no matter who you are or where you are, you will tell us that you receive: “Outstanding care delivered by an outstanding team.”
Our values are: “Caring, safe and excellent.”
We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support your career and wellbeing. These include:
* Excellent opportunities for career progression
* Access to tailored individual and Trust‑wide learning and development
* 27 days annual leave, plus bank holidays, rising to 33 days with continuous service
* NHS Discount across a wide range of shops, restaurants and retailers
* Competitive pension scheme
* Lease car scheme
* Cycle to work scheme
* Employee Assistance Programme
* Mental Health First Aiders
* Staff accommodation (please note waiting lists apply)
* Staff networking and support groups hosted by our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion team
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
We hope that the advert has given you a clear understanding of the skills we are seeking and the opportunity at hand. You will need to use the “supporting statement” element of your application form to demonstrate your suitability for this role and you should refer to the job description, person specification and the guidance notes attached to this role to help you tailor your application.
The essential and desirable criteria will be used to shortlist for interview and you should ensure that you refer to these within your application to increase your chances of being selected for interview.
We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their application. We kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of their experience and must take care to ensure the use of AI tools does not generate an application that does not accurately reflect their knowledge, skills and values.
Person specification
Experience relevant to role
* Experience in a senior finance role
* Experience and responsibility of managing, supervising and developing technical staff
* Evidence related to more technical work, e.g. PFI
Leadership & Management
* Experience leading teams and managing staff
* NHS relevant and experience with a diverse workforce
* All new starters have a thorough induction process, both local and Trust‑wide, which aims to create a positive supportive working environment allowing new employees to learn key elements of their role over a reasonable timescale.
* Appointment to this post is subject to the trust receiving satisfactory references covering 3 years of employment or study. Please ask your referees to respond promptly to reference requests.
* We’re advocates of flexible working and many of our roles offer a range of employment options to help you balance your work and personal life.
* Employees are expected to undertake mandatory and statutory training related to their role.
* We are ambitious in our pursuit of excellence, driven by the belief that a fair, just and fully inclusive organisational culture enables our teams to deliver the best quality of care and services possible and we work hard to ensure that our diverse workforce reflects the communities that we serve.
* We welcome applications from all sections of the community, are an Equal Opportunities employer with a number of internal networking groups to support our employees and where possible will always look to make reasonable adjustments in order that you can fulfil the role to recognise your full potential. All our employees are committed to demonstrating through their behaviour our core values – safe, caring and excellent.
* We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, we expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
* Oxford is a world‑renowned centre of excellence for research. Oxford Health works closely with the University of Oxford department of Psychiatry and the Department of Primary care, has a Biomedical Research Centre dedicated to improving mental health and the NIHR Clinical Research Facility at the Warneford site. The Trust also hosts the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) which carries out applied research that directly impacts patient health and wellbeing
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Name Peter Milliken
Job title Director of Finance
Email address peter.milliken@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
Telephone number 07736501265
Additional information
At Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust we want to employ people not just with experience, but with the aptitude and motivation to succeed and whose values resonate with our own.
Therefore, if you don’t meet all the requirements of the role and are unsure about applying but are excited about the opportunity, please do get in touch. We will be happy to discuss the requirements in more detail ahead of making a written application.
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