Deputy Director of Finance & Accounting

Great leadership opportunity to join our NHS SBS team.

The Deputy Director of Finance & Accounting (F&A) supports the strategic and operational leadership of the F&A service line within NHS Shared Business Services. This role ensures high‑quality service delivery across all finance towers, drives continuous improvement and automation initiatives, maintains strong client relationships, and contributes to financial performance, governance, and capability development across the function.

The role acts as the second‑in‑command to the Director of F&A and will assume leadership responsibility in their absence.

This is a hybrid role requiring 2-3 days per week onsite at our Leeds office.

• Oversee delivery of end‑to‑end F&A processes across multiple clients, including P2P (Procure‑to‑Pay), O2C (Order‑to‑Cash), A2R (Accounting‑to‑Report), FP&A (Financial Planning & Analysis) and Master Data Management.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives using best practice methodologies, automation, workflow tools, and analytics.
• Serve as a senior point of contact for client leadership teams.
• Support budgeting, forecasting, and cost management across the F&A delivery organisation.
• Monitor revenue, margin performance, and operational cost drivers.
• Maintain strong compliance with internal risk frameworks, SOPd, ISAE
  3404 requirements and audit standards.
• Lead and mentor managers, team leads, and operational teams across multiple delivery locations.
• Act as a strategic advisor to the Director of F&A.

• Professional certifications: ACCA, CPA, CIMA, ACA, or equivalent is essential.
• Extensive experience of progressive experience in Finance & Accounting operations.
• Proven leadership experience managing large teams across multiple F&A towers.
• Strong understanding of financial controls, compliance frameworks, and process governance.
• Experience managing client relationships at a senior level.

• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt certification.
• Experience in digital transformation: RPA, AI/ML use cases, workflow automation, analytics platforms.
• Prior involvement in transitions/migrations and large‑scale process transformation.

If you are interested in this role but not sure if your skills and experience are exactly what we’re looking for, please do apply, we’d love to hear from you!

Employment Type: Full‑time, Permanent

Location: Leeds

Security Clearance Level: DBS

Internal Recruiter: Adrian

Salary: Up to £100k depending on experience

Benefits: Bonus, £6,600 car allowance, 25 days annual leave with the option to buy additional days, private medical, life assurance, pension, and generous flexible benefits fund

Although this role is advertised as full‑time, we believe that flexibility at work can promote work/life balance, increase your motivation, reduce stress and improve performance and productivity. We support different ways of working and can offer a range of flexible working arrangements. So, if you’re interested and need to work flexibly, we encourage you to apply and talk to us about what might be possible.

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) was created by the Department of Health and Social Care to deliver corporate services to the NHS. A unique joint venture with Sopra Steria, a European leader in digital services and software development, we make life easier for NHS employees, patients, and suppliers, and deliver value for money to the taxpayer. Proud members of the NHS family, we provide finance & accounting, digital, procurement and workforce services to more than half the NHS in England, and our solutions are underpinned by cutting‑edge technologies and our teams’ expertise, in‑depth understanding of the NHS, and commitment to service excellence.

We share common values and unity of purpose with the rest of the NHS family, are committed to being a force for good, and are dedicated and empowered to act responsibly and sustainably at organisational, team and individual level.