Associate Director of Contracts & Income

Act as deputy to the DPPC, providing senior leadership support and representation at Executive and Board level. Operate as a visible member of the Trusts senior leadership team, building strong internal and external relationships to deliver corporate strategy. Lead the negotiation, management and performance of the Trusts healthcare contracts, overseeing complex, time critical negotiations to manage financial risk and support delivery of the Trusts financial and strategic objectives. Provide effective operational leadership of the Contracts & Income Department, aligning resources to priorities and ensuring delivery of ICS and Trust annual contracts, plans, forecasts and statutory returns. Maintain robust activity and income forecasting, converting complex multi source data into actionable insight for senior leaders and system partners. Support achievement of all contract activity and income targets, provide expert advice on income transactions and commissioned budgets, and lead responses to policy and contractual changes. Contribute to the development and delivery of the Trusts forward financial and service strategy, providing high quality financial advice and information to the Director of Finance, Executive Team and Trust BoardContracting Lead negotiation, codification and ongoing management of key healthcare contracts, managing complex multi partner relationships in line with DPPC criteria and Trust objectives. Ensure the Trust maximises all income opportunities, with robust systems in place to recover income due and investigate variances against planned activity, including caps and thresholds. Ensure commissioning by ICB and NHSE supports the Trusts strategic priorities and service developments. Oversee production of contract monitoring reports for commissioners and senior finance leadership, and provide expert advice on the financial impact of contractual performance. Ensure effective understanding and application of NHS financial and Standard Contract rules, briefing senior clinical and executive leaders as required, and keeping the DPPC informed of regulatory changes and implications. Work with the Medical Directors team to monitor and deliver contractual quality KPIs across ICB and NHSE commissioned services. Financial ManagementProvide expert financial input on income and contracts across the Trusts annual financial cycle, including budget setting, forward financial planning and submission of Annual Financial Plans and NHSE returns. Ensure robust financial planning processes and models are in place to assess the impact of service performance, activity changes and reconfiguration proposals, challenging assumptions to support value for money decisions and major business cases. Promote a strong culture of financial performance management, providing high quality income and costing intelligence for monthly reporting to the Director of Finance, Executive Team and Trust Board. Maintain and update year end and forward projections, ensuring consistency between income, activity and I&E forecasts, and advise senior leaders on variances against plan, including the impact of contractual caps and thresholds.Staff Management and Development Lead and coordinate the activities of the Contracts & Income Department to deliver agreed work plans, deadlines and service standards. Regularly review and improve the Finance Departments services to ensure they meet Trust priorities, drive efficiency, and maximise focus on value adding activities.