Job summary
- Main area
- Financial Services
- Grade
- Band 8d
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (from start date)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 290-CR-2083
- Employer
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- St Mary's Hospital
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £103,102 - £117,560 pa inclusive
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 19/10/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Financial Controller
Band 8d
Fulfil your potential in hospitals that make history:
Charing Cross, Hammersmith, St Mary’s, Queen Charlotte’s & Chelsea and Western Eye.
With five world-renowned hospitals, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is full of opportunity if you are looking to develop your healthcare career.
We are an NHS Trust of approximately 16,000 people, providing care for over a million and a half patients from north west London and beyond every year.
We have a rich heritage and an ambitious vision for the future of our patients and local communities.
With our partners, Imperial College London, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, we form Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre, one of 6 academic health science centres in the UK, working to ensure the rapid translation of research for better patient care and excellence in education.
We are proud of our heritage in innovation and we are early adopters of new insights in technologies, techniques and treatments for improving health.
Job overview
The Financial Services team at Imperial are a major component of the overall Finance function. We cover financial and capital accounting, financial governance, transactional services, finance systems and payroll. We also play important roles in the relationships with key outsourced functions including internal audit, counter fraud and procurement. As such, our role impacts almost everyone in the Trust – everyone from board committees and exec leaders to budget managers, pharmacists and stock controllers rely on our services in some way, and of course through the Payroll team we support almost every employee in the Trust. We also run some patient-facing services too.
We act as business partners for the Trust’s capital programme and work across the Finance team to make sure that the balance sheet and cash are at the heart of the financial planning process.
We are presently working in partnership with the six other North West London trusts on the implementation of a new ERP system and Finance Shared Service Centre, going live across 2027. This will represent a step change in the way we work, and the service we are able to provide to the Trust.
The exact divisions of responsibilities will be managed once people are in post, but you can expect excellent visibility and involvement over the whole range of the team’s responsibilities.
Main duties of the job
- The Financial Controller is a key leadership role in the Finance Directorate, part of the Finance Senior Leadership Team and a professional expert on finance, with responsibility for overseeing and managing the financial transactions, services and core finance systems for the Trust.
- The Financial Controller provides highly complex, sensitive and contentious financial information to staff at all levels from financial and non-financial backgrounds, and provide expertise in complex technical areas including cash-flow forecasting, capital accounting, VAT, and the application of financial reporting standards.
- The Financial Controller responsibilities are distributed across the two posts as outlined below. However, each postholder is expected to perform all functions within the JD. Both postholders will work collaboratively to share knowledge, maintain mutual accountability, model effective teamwork, and provide support to the Director of Financial Services and other senior finance colleagues as required.
- They also line manage the Financial Services team and oversee delivery of the team’s responsibilities and projects.
Working for our organisation
At Imperial College Healthcare you can achieve extraordinary things with extraordinary people, working with leading clinicians pushing boundaries in patient care.
Become part of a vibrant team living our values - expert, kind, collaborative and aspirational. You’ll get an experience like no other and will fast forward your career. Benefits include career development, flexible working and wellbeing, staff recognition scheme. Make use of optional benefits including Cycle to Work, car lease schemes, season ticket loan or membership options for onsite leisure facilities.
We are committed to equal opportunities and improving the working lives of our staff and will consider applications to work flexibly, part time or job share. Please talk to us at interview.
Environmental sustainability
Climate change and poor air quality is a health emergency that harms people’s health and wellbeing and widens health inequalities. The Trust is also committed to reducing its impact on the environment by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2045. All our employees have a role to play, and we have an active green network that supports staff to act in ways that ensures that our services are efficient, sustainable and reduce our impact on the environment www.imperial.nhs.uk/about-us/our-strategy/green-plan.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required.
For both overviews please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.
Person specification
Education/ Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Expert knowledge of financial and accounting procedures, financial reporting standards, and financial & other aspects of relevant legislation, gained through full membership of Professional Accountancy Qualifications (CCAB) or equivalent
- Further relevant specialist CPD in technical skills and NHS financial management (including the NHS financial regime)
Desirable criteria
- Further training in formal project management approaches
- Further training in management and leadership
- Further training in IT systems, data or reporting
Experience
Essential criteria
- Providing high quality accounting services and expert financial advice and support to senior financial staff
- Experience of leading and managing the annual external audit cycle
- Working effectively and efficiently at senior level in a fast-changing and complex environment
- Leading and managing high performing teams, and developing staff competences and behaviours, including managing difficult conversations
- Experience of developing policies and practices to guide financial management, and of delivering training to service users
- Experience of developing policies and practices to guide financial management, and of delivering training to service users
Desirable criteria
- Significant experience of working within NHS finance
- Experience of managing outsourced financial services
- Experience of providing financial support to business cases and capital projects
- Significant experience of managing complex technical accounting queries, including complex audit queries
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Alistair Cullen
- Job title
- Director of Financial Services
- Email address
- [email protected]
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