Job vacancy: Cost Analyst, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Warrington

Job summary

Main area: Finance, Costing
Grade: Band 5
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 350-TWS8195336

Employer: Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Hollins Park
Town: Warrington
Salary: £32,073 - £39,043 per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 13/08/2026 23:59
Interview date: 21/08/2026

Cost Analyst

Band 5

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Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust celebrates diversity and promotes equal opportunities; we are committed to challenging and eliminating racism and other forms of discrimination and advancing and promoting equality of opportunity in the provision of services and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We believe that everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

We take positive action to support disadvantaged groups and also particularly encourage applications from ethnically diverse, disabled and LGBTQIA+ people that are under-represented in our workforce. Furthermore we welcome applications from reservists and ex-armed forces personnel as we recognise the benefits of the values, skills, training and experience that they bring to their work with us. We encourage all applicants to share their equality information with us.

Using AI to support your application

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a helpful tool when preparing your application, supporting you to organise and structure your application and present your experiences clearly. However, we want to hear about your experiences and achievements. Please ensure everything you submit is truthful, accurate, and reflects your own work and experience. Your authentic story is the best way to help us understand who you are and what you can bring to the role. If content appears to be copied or misrepresented, it may impact the outcome of your application. We encourage you to use AI responsibly as a support tool, not a substitute for your own voice.

For tips and guidance, please refer to our applicant guidance.

Your experiences matter, let them shine.

Applications that appear mostly or fully generated by AI, without clear personal examples linked to the person specification, may be rejected.

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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The post holder will support the effective collection, processing and maintenance of costing data, including the PLICS system, national costing submissions, Service Line Reporting and the Trust costing manual. They will help ensure compliance with national costing guidance, support benchmarking and service reviews, develop costing and apportionment approaches, respond to queries from divisions and corporate departments, and provide costing insight, including unit costs and cost driver analysis, to support decision-making across the Trust.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

5 GCSEs or equivalent.
Relevant academic background: CCAB or CIMA part-qualified at certificate level, or AAT qualified.
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills
Previous experience of working at degree or equivalent level within a financial research, planning or costing environment.

Desirable criteria

Degree or postgraduate level management qualification.
Experience of working in a Mental Health Trust.
Experience of preparing and presenting reports to non-finance staff

Experience

Essential criteria

Experience of working within a financial research, planning or costing environment
Experience of working with complex numerical data and producing accurate, meaningful analysis
Experience of communicating financial or costing information to divisional teams and managers from a non-finance background

Desirable criteria

Previous experience of working in a Mental Health Trust.
Exposure to Mental Health Payment or Payment by Results.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Knowledge of the NHS finance regime.
Ability to perform complex numerical calculations and evidence good analytical skills.
Understanding of approved national costing guidance and its application within the NHS

Desirable criteria

Knowledge of the Costmaster costing system
•Understanding of activity-based costing systems

Skills

Essential criteria

Able to work with data and produce figures in a clear, accurate and meaningful manner
Able to concentrate over long periods while dealing effectively with interruptions
Able to analyse data and trends to draw conclusions and support decision making
Ability to manage own time and administration effectively
Able to work as part of a team and without direct supervision
Demonstrates continuous self and professional development
Excellent attention to detail and ability to identify anomalies in data.
Ability to carry out research and be proactive.

Desirable criteria

Previous experience of using an activity-based costing system

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Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply for all correspondence. All information regarding your application will come from apps.trac.jobs not NHS Jobs.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we offer a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants who consider themselves to be disabled who meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the role in the person specification. If you would like your application to be considered under the Trust’s guaranteed interview scheme you can indicate this in the personal information section of your online application form.

Should you require a reasonable adjustment to our recruitment process please email [email protected] to ensure that measures can be put in place to support you.

We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.

The Trust expects all post holders who require an enhanced DBS for their role and work in Children’s & Young People services to subscribe to the DBS Update Service. You will be required to enrol for this service for a fee of £16 per year and maintain registration. Trans applicants who require a DBS check and do not want to reveal details of their previous identity can contact the DBS Sensitive Applications Team (01516761452 or email [email protected]) with their application number once they have completed their DBS application form. The team can prevent any previous identity showing on the DBS Certificate, unless the applicant has a conviction under their previous details in which case this will need to be disclosed.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Please be advised that the use of Artificial Intelligence on applications is monitored and if you choose to use this, you must declare this on your application form.

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