Role Context:

The Head of Commercial Finance will report to the Director of Financial Control and will be accountable for the effective delivery of the finance strategy. This will be achieved by ensuring the team's efficient operation and working to improve its value to the business. The function will encompass responsibility and operational accountability for financial reporting, governance, planning, and analysis, achieved through driving the function forward and the effective management and development of the team, as well as working closely with internal and external stakeholders.

This is a leadership role within the wider Finance Function whose primary aim is to deliver value for money, governance and commercialise the Trust. The role plays a key role in designing and implementing working approaches and organisational culture, to deliver transformative change in commercial activity across The Trust.

Establishing strong working relationships with a range of internal senior stakeholders within NCS, the Head of Commercial Finance will lead and manage the financial forward thinking to develop sustainable commercial strategies that deliver value for money and meet the demands of an evolving operating model. The role will be responsive to customer needs, offering pragmatic solutions whilst clearly identifying and articulating risks.

Personal leadership qualities are as important as technical knowledge in this role, and the job holder will need to be politically and culturally astute with the ability to promote and influence collaboration and culture change. Leading and managing the team's activities to support the successful delivery of the NCS's evolution post-Covid, building capability, as well as recruiting new talent and ideas and embedding a matrix business partner approach.

As a key member of the Leadership Team, the Head of Commercial Finance will play a key role in designing and implementing a new structure, working approaches, and organisational culture within the Finance department.

Key

Responsibilities:

Financial Strategy -

• Implement and deliver the Company's finance strategy and support the Director of Financial Control and the Senior Leadership team in its development.

Financial Control -

• Accountable for the development, implementation, and documentation of robust and efficient processes for reporting financial performance.
• Shared responsibility with the Head of Finance for the accurate and timely capture of financial transactions and the application of Financial Reporting Standards and best practices.
• Establish flexible and robust reporting to ensure Cabinet Office spending controls are managed effectively and efficiency targets are met through cost center reporting and reviews.
• Identify, assess and mitigate organisational risk through close collaboration with business owners and insightful monthly risk reporting delivered as standard.

Financial Planning and Analysis -

• Ensure that management accounts are accurately produced and delivered to SLT and the Board according to agreed timetables, including full insight narrative to drive actions and decisions.
• Lead on the delivery of the annual budgeting and in-year forecasting processes including company consolidation and preparing presentation of data to inform senior management, cost center owners, and the Board.
• Develop a Budget Management Framework to analyse the business' performance and its delivery of a value for money service to its stakeholders.
• Lead on the development and implementation of reporting of operating metrics that drive performance and ensure all new initiatives are reviewed and assessed for agreed financial returns on investment and SMART KPIs e.g. unit cost, unfilled places, and non-government income
• Manage the review and approval of programme discount and pricing proposals to enable review of external income contribution margin in line with the agreed budget.
• Influence and build strong relationships with internal stakeholders to ensure that the business receives optimum support and views Commercial Finance as a trusted enabling function.

Finance Operations -

• Collaborate with Business Unit Leaders to support the quality assurance and management of third party contracts including analysis of returns on marketing costs.
• Support Business unit Leaders in negotiating programme/project contracts through robust financial analytics.
• Drive and sponsor innovation, automation, and digitalisation of the Commercial Finance function and the wider business to reduce cost and increase value.

Core Competencies:

• Influencing - Agrees on communication protocols, understands strategies that influence others, demonstrates a high level of emotional intelligence
• Adaptability - Leads direct reports through change and ambiguity, coaches team members, and monitors the wellbeing
• Leading Self and Others - Empowers team members, creates a high-performing team, develops others through training, and provides constructive feedback
• Solving Problems - Analyses and solves complex problems, drive implementation of new ideas, contributes to departmental strategy
• Delivering Results - Understands risks and issues that affect their team, monitors the progress of projects, sets challenging goals for self and team

Role Specific Competencies:

• Confident, with effective communication and stakeholder management skills, and an ability to influence that will be effective with a range of internal and external stakeholders, building confidence and credibility in both personal and team delivery.
• Analysis and interpretation - the ability to analyse and make judgments from complex data and contribute to workable recommendations on complex and sensitive issues.
• Organising - can marshal resources (people, funding, material, support) to get things done; can orchestrate multiple activities and relationships at once to accomplish a common goal.
• Resilient - is flexible and comfortable with complexity and ambiguity both for self and the teams they lead and influence.
• Gravitas and stature as both a leader, being credible at all levels and personably engaging across all levels of NCS.

Experience and Qualifications:

Essential

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA, or through experience) with a proven background in managing a finance function in a heavily regulated or government environment.
• Demonstrable understanding and experience of impactful business partnering and the management of risk.
• Proven administrative, leadership, and management effectiveness in the areas of strategic planning, analysis, and organisational development.
• Able to switch between big picture strategy and operational detail through innovating to create ways of overcoming problems and delivering positive outcomes and solutions which drive the business forward whilst balancing risk.
• An advanced user of Google Sheets and Excel to Apps Script and VBA standard.

Further Information

Offer type: This is a 1-year fixed-term contract.

Remuneration: Dependant on skills and experience

Location:
This role is based in our London office, W14, but we are all working remotely until further notice.

Your personal data will always be treated in confidence. NCS Trust is an equal opportunities employer, embracing diversity and inclusion. At NCS we respect and value differences in? people. All appointments are made on merit.