Head of finance
Senior finance leaders are accountable for the organisation's financial health, financial control, and use of public money. They lead financial strategy and planning, advise the board on affordability and value for money, and lead the finance, payroll, and often procurement functions. In a digital health care organisation they shape how investment in technology and data is funded, approved, and shown to deliver benefits for patients and the health and care system.
- Family
- Finance
- UK GDaD PCF role
- None: this reference defines the role
- ESCO occupations
- financial controller (ISCO-08 2411); financial manager (ISCO-08 1211)
- On GitHub
- Role document · Role data
Levels
| Band | Role level | UK GDaD PCF level | Civil Service grades | Job evaluation points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8c | Financial controller | — | — | 653 |
| 8d | Deputy director of finance | — | — | 710 |
| 9 | Director of finance | — | — | 761 |
In a digital health care organisation
- The organisation is funded with public money, so finance leaders are accountable to funders and oversight bodies for regularity, propriety, and value for money.
- Technology investment is a large share of spending, and the balance between capital, revenue, and cloud subscription costs shapes what the organisation can afford.
- Finance leaders must balance financial targets with patient safety and the quality of services that clinicians and care staff rely on.
- Large technology and data contracts carry long-term commitments and supplier risks that the board must understand.
- The organisation may work in partnerships across health and care, with pooled budgets, shared services, or hosted programmes.
ESCO occupations and skills
ESCO lists the skills and knowledge that employers usually need (essential) or may need (optional) for each occupation. Use them as a checklist for development conversations.
financial controller
Financial controllers handle all tasks related to the budgeting and accounting aspects of a company or organisation. They implement and ensure compliance with internal financial and accounting procedures, and prepare documentation for external audits. They collect information related to financial statements such as assets, liabilities, equity, and cash flow in order to assess the company's financial position to prepare annual budgets and forecasts.
Essential skills and knowledge (17)
Skills and competences
- analyse financial performance of a company
- create a financial plan
- develop financial statistics reports
- enforce financial policies
- ensure compliance with accounting conventions
- evaluate budgets
- exert expenditure control
- explain accounting records
- follow the statutory obligations
- interpret financial statements
- prepare financial statements
- synthesise financial information
- track key performance indicators
Knowledge
Optional skills and knowledge (20)
Skills and competences
- advise on financial matters
- advise on tax planning
- analyse financial risk
- check accounting records
- disseminate information on tax legislation
- draft accounting procedures
- inspect government expenditures
- liaise with auditors
- liaise with financiers
- liaise with shareholders
- manage budgets
- manage profitability
- manage the general ledger
- prepare financial auditing reports
- prepare tax returns forms
- supervise accounting operations
- support development of annual budget
Knowledge
financial manager
Financial managers handle all the matters in reference to the finance and investments of a company. They manage financial operations of companies such as the assets, liabilities, equity and cash flow aiming to maintain the financial health of the company and operative viability. Financial managers evaluate the strategic plans of the company in financial terms, maintain transparent financial operations for taxation and auditing bodies, and create the financial statements of the company at the end of the fiscal year.
Essential skills and knowledge (38)
Skills and competences
- advise on financial matters
- analyse business plans
- analyse financial performance of a company
- analyse market financial trends
- control financial resources
- create a financial plan
- create a financial report
- enforce financial policies
- evaluate budgets
- follow company standards
- liaise with auditors
- liaise with managers
- manage accounts
- manage budgets
- monitor charity's budget
- monitor financial accounts
- prepare financial statements
- prepare tax returns forms
- report on overall management of a business
- strive for company growth
- supervise accounting operations
- support development of annual budget
Knowledge
Optional skills and knowledge (68)
Skills and competences
- advise on investment
- advise on public finance
- advise on risk management
- advise on tax planning
- align efforts towards business development
- analyse financial risk
- analyse insurance risk
- assess financial viability
- budget for financial needs
- check accounting records
- collect financial data
- communicate with banking professionals
- conduct financial audits
- develop company strategies
- develop financial products
- draft accounting procedures
- ensure compliance with accounting conventions
- ensure compliance with company regulations
- ensure cross-department cooperation
- ensure information transparency
- estimate profitability
- execute feasibility study
- handle financial transactions
- implement strategic planning
- interpret financial statements
- liaise with board members
- liaise with financiers
- liaise with shareholders
- maintain records of financial transactions
- make investment decisions
- make strategic business decisions
- manage corporate bank accounts
- manage financial risk
- manage profitability
- manage securities
- manage staff
- manage the general ledger
- offer financial services
- operate financial instruments
- perform cost accounting activities
- perform project management
- perform risk analysis
- perform stock valuation
- prepare financial auditing reports
- present reports
- promote financial products
- provide financial product information
- synthesise financial information
- trace financial transactions
Knowledge
- bookkeeping regulations
- budgetary principles
- business loans
- corporate law
- debt collection techniques
- debt systems
- ethics
- financial jurisdiction
- financial markets
- financial products
- fraud detection
- international financial reporting standards
- international trade
- investment analysis
- national generally accepted accounting principles
- public finance
- real estate market
- statistics
- stock market
Contains ESCO v1.2.1 data (https://esco.ec.europa.eu/). © European Union. Reuse authorised under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.