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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Scope of job/key elements:

• Communication and the establishment of personal credibility at Board level with the clients are central to the job. This is built upon the provision and receipt of highly complex, highly contentious and highly sensitive information of a confidential nature. This will require developed negotiation, tact and persuasion skills as well as a deep appreciation and understanding of complex client risks, NHS systems and existing guidance. Discussions with senior and non-finance staff forms a substantial element of the job often concerning contentious and complicated financial, control and governance issues at a corporate level. Communication will involve negotiating with external agencies. The job involves significant involvement in persuading and negotiating the reasoning behind recommendations with senior staff, up to and including Board level, across a range of disciplines in order to arrive at an agreed position. Communication of audit findings and advice will be personally and principally delivered through attendance at Audit Committee and other high level presentations, often to large groups of staff.
• Work is managed rather than supervised, with the jobholder working within set procedures and broad guidelines as defined by the Quality System and corporate policies but having substantial freedom to act with autonomy and to interpret policies, standards and legislation.
• The nature of the work necessitates a thorough and concentrated focus on processes to deliver consistent and robust opinions whilst balancing competing priorities. The work pattern is often unpredictable but there is routinely a need to actively participate and lead Board level discussions and workshops requiring high levels of sustained concentration. Meeting competing deadlines is a routine element of the job.
• There is significant representation across a range of NHS and other bodies on standing senior committees and working parties. Personally responsible for initiating, developing and implementing policy changes and service developments e.g. risk management, clinical governance, and integrated governance.
• There is very extensive scope for decision making in respect of planning and organizing the personal and team work schedule, managing priorities, forming judgments on the adequacy and effectiveness of systems, and producing recommendations to deliver improvements. These decisions will be based upon detailed analysis and evaluation of complex systems issues and options across a range of systems conducted by the postholder and members of the team. Such analysis will incorporate an assessment of potentially conflicting and multi-layered information e.g. option appraisals, serious disciplinary cases.
• There will be routine management of staff in the team encompassing work scheduling, coaching, individual and team training, and assignment review. This will include coordination of resources across competing priorities in order to achieve agreed objectives. The management role will also incorporate responsibility for initial stages of disciplinary and grievance; conduct of appraisals and objective setting for allocated staff; conducting recruitment; reviewing work performance and progress; tackling poor performance; and determining work priorities.
• The Agency operates in a unique competitive trading environment requiring a professional customer-focus at all times and a range of commercial skills of the postholder. This trading environment creates a business model that requires income to be secured in open competition against multinational consulting and accountancy firms. Income needs to be secured on a regional and national basis to maintain operational and strategic viability.
• There is the requirement to have responsibility across the function for aspects of the design and adaptation of information systems to deliver the performance and financial targets of the Agency. Also, this responsibility extends to other NHS bodies through audit related consultancy and opinions.
• A substantial element of the job involves utilizing a number of office based and client computer systems to evaluate systems and produce the audit outputs. Those outputs, usually reports, are generated from input and manipulation of financial and other data in word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and database applications.

For further information please read the JD/PS in detail