Chief Finance and Strategy Officer, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Chief Finance and Strategy Officer,
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
United Kingdom
Our philosophy is that time matters
We will remove or improve the things we do that cause unnecessary stress or frustration for our patients, their families and carers and our staff.
We are a major integrated acute and community provider and one of the largest employers in East Anglia. Our almost 13,000 staff are responsible for delivering services to a population of approximately a million people living locally.
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Dear Candidate
Thank you for your interest in the role of Chief Finance and Strategy Officer at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT).
This is an exciting time to join our Trust as we begin a new chapter. With a new Chair and Chief Executive, we have an opportunity to build on everything that is strong about ESNEFT while being ambitious about the organisation we want to become and the contribution we can make to the future of healthcare across Suffolk and Essex.
ESNEFT is a large and complex organisation, with 13,000 colleagues providing acute and community healthcare to almost one million people. We have significant strengths: highly committed people, major clinical services, the opportunities created by our Epic electronic patient record, a strong platform for innovation and an important position within our wider health and care system.
We also have challenges that we need to address. In particular, we need to establish a sustainable financial position while continuing to improve performance, develop our clinical services and deliver better outcomes and experiences for our patients. I do not believe those ambitions can, or should, be considered separately. Long term financial sustainability will come from making good strategic choices, transforming the way we deliver care, improving productivity and value, and working differently with our partners. It is within this context that we have chosen to create the role of Chief Finance and Strategy Officer.
You will, of course, be our senior finance leader and ensure that ESNEFT maintains the highest standards of financial management, control, governance and stewardship, but the opportunity is broader than that. I want our Chief Finance and Strategy Officer to help us connect our clinical ambitions, organisational strategy and financial plans; to bring rigour and insight to the choices we make; and to ensure that our ambitions translate into clear, affordable and deliverable plans.
You will work closely with me, the Board and Executive colleagues, and particularly with our clinical and operational leaders. You to help create an environment in which finance is seen as an essential part of a wider conversation about outcomes, value, prioritisation and sustainable improvement. At the same time, you will bring constructive challenge, clarity and discipline when difficult choices need to be made.
There is also a significant opportunity beyond the boundaries of ESNEFT. Our future will increasingly depend on the strength of our relationships with other NHS organisations, primary care, local government, universities, community organisations and other partners. You will help us identify and develop those opportunities, strengthen our contribution to the wider system and ensure that partnership working translates into meaningful benefits for the populations we serve.
As a Board, we are looking for an outstanding finance leader who now wants to make a broader organisational contribution: someone with the credibility and technical expertise of an accomplished CFO, but also the curiosity, strategic judgement and collaborative leadership needed to move us to the next stage of our development. This is a role for someone who is comfortable with complexity, who can bring people together around difficult choices and who wants to make a lasting difference.
We have a great deal to do, but also a great deal on which to build. I believe this is a particularly exciting moment to join ESNEFT and to help create the next generation of healthcare for the communities we serve.
I hope you will consider joining us, and I look forward to meeting you during the process.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Scott
Chief Executive
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
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At ESNEFT we provide hospital and community health care services for Colchester, Ipswich and local areas. Formed on 1 July 2018, ESNEFT is the largest NHS organisation in East Anglia.
We provide services from Colchester and Ipswich hospitals, Aldeburgh, Clacton, Halstead, Harwich and Felixstowe community hospitals and Bluebird Lodge near Ipswich. We also provide community services in Suffolk and north Essex. Colchester and Ipswich hospitals have major Emergency Departments (A&E). Other services are listed in our A-Z services.
Our mission
To continue to meet the principles of the NHS identified in 1948, that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of ability to pay.
Our vision
Our vision is to provide the communities we serve with excellent healthcare and build a better future for east Suffolk and north Essex.
Our aims
Our aims are to see patients at the right time, attract and retain the best staff, and provide the latest services locally.
Our ambition
Our ambition is to provide the best care and experience, and to increase equality in health outcomes.
Our objectives
Our objectives remain to:
Keep people in control of their health
Lead the integration of care
Develop our centres of excellence
Support and develop our staff
Drive technology enabled care
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East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) is a leading healthcare provider in East Anglia, providing acute and community services to approximately one million people across Ipswich, east Suffolk and north Essex. With almost 13,000 colleagues and a significant role within the wider health and care system, following the retirement of a longstanding incumbent, we are now seeking an exceptional Chief Finance and Strategy Officer to join our Board and Executive team.
This is a pivotal appointment at an important time for ESNEFT. Like many NHS organisations, we face a significant financial challenge alongside the need to improve performance, transform services and respond to the ambitions of the 10Year Plan. Achieving long term sustainability will require clear strategic choices, clinically led transformation, disciplined planning and effective collaboration across organisational boundaries. Against this backdrop, we have created this new, expanded executive portfolio.
Reporting to our new Chief Executive, Paul Scott, you will provide outstanding leadership of the Trust’s finance function, with full executive accountability for financial strategy, management, control and reporting; financial governance and stewardship; capital and investment; productivity, value and long term financial sustainability. Alongside this, you will lead the development and coordination of our organisational strategy, strategic planning and development, ensuring a strong connection between our clinical ambitions, the resources available to us and the plans through which we deliver them.
Given the breadth of the role, this represents an outstanding opportunity for an established Chief Finance Officer seeking an increased scope. Working closely with clinical and operational colleagues, you will help translate clinical strategies into affordable, prioritised and deliverable plans and bring analytical rigour and clarity to the choices we make. You will lead our annual and medium term planning framework, strategic analysis and investment prioritisation, and play an important role in identifying and developing major strategic opportunities for ESNEFT. You will also lead the development of key strategic partnerships with NHS organisations, local government, academic, commercial and community partners, ensuring that ESNEFT plays a purposeful role within the wider system. For outstanding candidates, for instance those on a CEO trajectory, we will also be open to designation as Deputy Chief Executive.
We are seeking an established and highly credible finance leader with an outstanding record of achievement in a large and complex NHS organisation. You will bring strong technical and professional expertise alongside the strategic breadth to operate as an influential corporate leader. You will have demonstrated your ability to develop organisational strategy, lead transformation in a financially constrained environment and work effectively with clinical and operational leaders. You will be able to build trusted relationships while providing constructive challenge and maintaining the highest standards of financial control, governance and stewardship.
Crucially, you will see finance as an enabler of better decisions and sustainable improvement. You will be able to move the conversation beyond financial constraint, helping colleagues consider outcomes, value, prioritisation and affordability together. Collaborative, inclusive and values led, you will be comfortable operating across organisational and system boundaries and will share our ambition for ESNEFT and the communities we serve.
This is a significant and influential Board role and an opportunity to help be part of the next chapter for one of the region’s largest healthcare organisations. You will join a new Chief Executive and Chair, an ambitious Board and Executive team, and an organisation with significant strengths and opportunities on which to build.
We are committed to increasing the diversity of our Board to reflect the communities we serve. We therefore particularly welcome applications from groups currently underrepresented at Board level.
If you are interested in this appointment and would like a confidential discussion, please contact the colleagues at Alumni Global whose details can be found at the bottom of this page.
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All applications must include:
• A full curriculum vitae/resume
• Quoting the relevant role reference number: A042320
• A covering letter highlighting the aspects of the job description and ESNEFT that particularly attract you to the post (Microsoft Word document)
• Contact details for three referees, these will not be contacted without your permission. (References should validate a minimum period of six years employment)
• A completed Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form (which you will be redirected to once you have submitted your application) *
Right to work checks
If you are successfully shortlisted, our partner, Yoti, will contact you to complete an online right to work check. This is a quick and secure process, ensuring that all necessary legal requirements are met before proceeding further in the recruitment process.
*Monitoring
One of Alumni Global’s and ESNEFT’s objectives is to ensure that its workforce is reflective of the local community and therefore we actively encourage applications from under-represented groups. So that we can successfully achieve these aims, while it is not mandatory we would encourage every applicant to complete the “Equal Opportunities Monitoring form” so that we can measure the effectiveness of our efforts. The Recruiting Manager does not have access to the Monitoring Information Sections of the application form at any stage of the process and the information provided will be kept entirely confidential.
For a confidential discussion on this role please contact:
Thomas Patterson, Managing Director whose details are at the bottom of this page.
Candidate adjustment
If you require any reasonable adjustments to be made as part of the recruitment process please can you advise us so that we can ensure this is accommodated.
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Closing date: Friday, 9 October 2026
Stakeholder session: TBC
Final Interviews: Monday, 26 October 2026
Please ensure you have made a note of the final interview date(s). We recommend that you bookmark this microsite, as any potential updates regarding the role will be posted online.
Please take note of the reference number found under section “How to apply”. This is needed for us to process any application.
