JOB SUMMARY

The post holder will assist the Senior/Head Accountant in providing a key contribution to the efficient delivery of the full range of financial functions within the Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG). This will include provision of specialist financial advice to Directors, Programme of Care Leads and other Senior Managers within the Strategic Planning and Performance Group/Public Health Agency (SPPG/PHA), its Commissioning Groups and other external stakeholders. This will require contributing to the strategic and operational management of the financial resources of the SPPG/PHA.

This will include:

• Assisting in providing a key contribution to the efficient, effective and economic use of the financial allocations for commissioning of health and social care to ensure the best possible use of the budget allocated for health and social care;
• Assisting in providing a key contribution to the development of local policy for the SPPG financial strategy and financial planning in the short, medium and long term.
• Assisting in providing a key contribution to the significant aspects of the development of local approaches to changing Local/National Policy as it relates to financial issues. This will include working with Department of Health (DoH) colleagues and also across Health and Social Care (HSC).
• Assisting in the provision of the financial systems to facilitate efficient and effective financial management of the SPPG’s resources.

KEY DUTIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

Setting Direction – Financial Performance Management

• Assisting in providing key contribution to the delivery of the financial performance management functions of the SPPG.
• Providing information to assist in the management of the performance of organisations within the HSC, in respect of strategic programmes and to develop appropriate benchmarks to enhance performance standards across Health and Social Care environment.
• Ensuring effective delivery of projects to agreed timescales, quality standards and service benefits realisation.
• Contribution to financial performance discussions, providing challenges to ensure that actions are being taken to deliver the planned financial position.

Service Delivery – Financial Support to Commissioning

• Assisting in providing a key contribution to the production of a financial planning framework for Strategic Planning and Performance Group/Local Commissioning Group (SPPG/LCG) /Programme of Care Groups for each planning cycle.
• Maintaining a comprehensive overview of the progress of financial commissioning plans, ensuring linkages are made between finance and other key policy areas, such as capacity and workforce plans.
• Offering challenges as to how commissioning plans and business cases could be improved and where their benchmarked positions are out of line with expectations and providing briefings including options to be pursued to improve the planned position to senior staff.
• Assisting in providing specialist financial advice in respect of business cases developed by and submitted to the SPPG/PHA.
• Briefing the senior finance staff on the key financial assumptions and risks in significant business cases.
• Taking account of conflicting demands and complex facts, to analyse, interpret and evaluate a range of options for developing service.

Development and Innovation

• Playing a key role in the development of a financial risk assessment mechanism across the SPPG to ensure that a comprehensive assessment of risk is available and organisations can focus efforts on managing those areas that represent the greatest risk.
• Assimilating and managing sensitive and complex information relating to the developmental and confidential stages of strategic programme inception.
• Assist in designing, introducing, managing and operating complex information systems, generating data and creating daily reports to inform effective practice.

Collaborative Working/Key Working relationships

• Building and maintaining relationships with a wide and diverse range of staff and stakeholders.
• Deputising for the Senior/Head Accountant in representing the SPPG area on Northern Ireland (NI) I wide financial working groups.
• Developing relationships and understanding of key financial issues across the SPPG with external and internal auditors.