Job summary
- Main area
- Finance, Costing
- Grade
- Band 5
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 350-TWS8368358
- 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
- 01/11/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 18/11/2026
Employer heading
Assistant Cost Accountant
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
AI can be a useful tool to support the preparation of your application. However, all information submitted must be accurate, truthful and reflect your own skills, experience and achievements. Applications should include personal examples demonstrating how you meet the person specification. Applications that appear mostly or fully generated by AI, without clear personal examples linked to the person specification, may be rejected. For tips and guidance, please refer to our applicant guidance.
Identity verification
Candidates attending interview will be required to provide original photographic identification where available. Where suitable photographic identification is not available, a photograph will be taken at interview for identity verification purposes. Successful candidates will also be required to complete digital identity and right to work checks via TrustID, including facial recognition and image matching technology, to verify their identity throughout the recruitment and onboarding process. Identity verification will also be undertaken on the first day of employment in line with NHS employment check requirements.
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Job overview
To support the delivery of a high-quality costing service, recognising the increasing strategic importance of accurate patient-level costing data in delivering the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, productivity and efficiency improvements, and the move towards more activity and outcome-focused funding arrangements.
The post holder will support the maintenance and development of PLICS, ensuring costing data is robust, accurate and capable of supporting Deconstructing the Block, productivity and efficiency analysis, benchmarking, service redesign, financial modelling and decision-making. The role will help clinical divisions and corporate directorates understand the relationship between activity, resource utilisation and cost, enabling the identification of unwarranted variation and opportunities to improve value.
The post holder will also provide timely advice on costing methodology, support improvements in costing and activity data quality, liaise with system suppliers and peer NHS trusts, and assist the Cost and SLR Accountant in developing meaningful costing intelligence for operational and strategic decision-making.
All interviews will be held face to face (we are unable to accommodate virtual interviews)
A short excel assessment will take place prior to the interview. Assessment details - excel test on patient level activity and costs
Main duties of the job
The post holder will support the effective collection, processing, validation and maintenance of costing data, including PLICS, 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 appropriate costing and apportionment methodologies, and respond to costing queries from clinical divisions and corporate departments. Recognising the increasing importance of robust costing and activity data in supporting Deconstructing the Block, productivity and efficiency, the post holder will provide meaningful costing insight, including unit costs, cost drivers and analysis of variation, to help services understand resource utilisation, identify opportunities for improvement and support evidence-based decision-making across the Trust.
Working for our organisation
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
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, including English & Maths
- Relevant academic background: CCAB or CIMA part-qualified at certificate level, or AAT qualified.
Desirable criteria
- Degree or postgraduate level management qualification.
- Progression towards or willingness to study CCAB or CIMA qualification.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Previous experience in a financial management or costing role.
- Able to perform complex numerical data and producing accurate, meaningful analysis.
- Ability to communicate financial or costing information to divisional teams and managers from a non-finance background
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in an NHS Finance department.
- Previous experience of using an activity-based costing system.
- Experience of staff management
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of the NHS finance regime particularly those relevant to financial management and costing.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of the Costmaster costing system
- Knowledge of NHS Costing procedures
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 in an effective manner.
- Must be able to work as part of a team
- Demonstrates continuous self and professional development
- Excellent attention to detail and ability to identify anomalies in data.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
- Must be able to work without direct supervision
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge and use of Microsoft Power BI
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Mark Cleary
- Job title
- Costing & SLR Accountant
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
Contact by email preferable.
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