CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER
CANDIDATE INFORMATION PACK
CAIRNS AND HINTERLAND HOSPITAL AND HEALTH SERVICE
We respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and commit to building a brighter future together.
Executive Summary
- Live and work in one of the most popular locations in the world
- Provide strategic and innovative Finance leadership in an empowered, fast paced, complex organisation
- Be a part of a committed executive team serving the health needs of an ever expanding and diversifying community
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) is seeking an experienced Chief Finance Officer to be part of their executive leadership team.
The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) has the responsibility of providing public hospital and health services to a population of approximately 261,000 people. The outer western region of the service encompasses extremely remote communities and it is estimated that 12% of the population are Indigenous Australian. The CHHHS is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all people in Far North Queensland across 141,000km2 and employs approximately 6,300 + staff making it the largest employer in the region.
Cairns is a welcoming and multicultural city and a fantastic place to live with world class cafés, bars and restaurants thriving community markets. It is close to plenty of picturesque beaches often with resort style living options. Cairns is the international gateway to The Great Barrier Reef and The Wet Tropics rainforest. There is easy access to and from Cairns and most capital cities in Australia through the Cairns International Airport which is only 7km from the CBD. Compared with most Australian cities the cost of housing is much more affordable in Cairns along with affordable childcare, and a great choice of primary schools and secondary schools.
THE ROLE
The Chief Finance Officer (CFO) provides high level strategic leadership and direction in relation to the Financial Management, Accounting and Performance Reporting Services for the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) in alignment with Hospital and Health Service goals, Queensland Health strategic directions and other national, state and local policies and professional standards. The CFO is responsible for overseeing activity based funding, financial and performance reporting and treasury management. The role has operational responsibility for multiple teams including Finance; Case Mix, Costing and Clinical Coding; Centralised Contracts Unit; Business Support Unit including Billings, Debt Management, Travel Hub and Fleet Service; Bookings Systems Integration and Reporting Team; Corporate ICT; IeMR – Digital Hospital; Medical Records and Health Information Services; and Revenue Services.
The successful candidate will need to demonstrate their capabilities aligned with the selection criteria in the role description within the context of the role as described with a focus on:
- The ability to work collaboratively with the executive team and clinical leaders whilst also producing valued results at a fast pace
- The skills to lead a team that are a present, resilient and accountable, partnering with the organization to ensure the best possible, cost effective services are provided to our consumers
- A successful track record within a large, complex service organisation
- The ability to strategise and utilise vision to drive financial decisions
- The capacity to proactively identify and develop complex organisational responses to leverage new opportunities and innovations
- An executive level ability to problem solve and deal effectively with ambiguity
- Political savviness and managerial courage
For a confidential discussion, please get in touch with:
Janine Hammat, HardyGroup Principal Search Consultant
M. +61 488 555 858
CAIRNS AND HINTERLAND HOSPITAL AND HEALTH SERVICE
“Excellent and sustainable healthcare for all in Far North Queensland”
The Cairns and Hinterland HHS (CHHHS) is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all people in Far North Queensland by providing high quality acute healthcare services. The staff are a part of the community we serve, and the HHS strongly believes that health outcomes are enhanced by involving the community in the planning and evaluation of local health services.
CHHHS is the primary provider of health services to residents of the Cairns and Hinterland region and specialist services to the Torres and Cape, and serves a population of approx. 261,500 people which is forecast to increase to over 306,600 by 2031. Services are provided over a large geographical area and a range of facilities, from a large tertiary hospital in Cairns to facilities in rural and remote areas.
Cairns Hospital is the primary provider of specialised and referral services for the region, with broader general surgical, medical and primary care services provided at other facilities across the Tablelands, Innisfail and Mossman/Port Douglas areas. CHHHS also provides an extensive range of health services in more than 30 regional, rural and remote facilities across a geographical area of 141,000 square kilometres. The Health Service is 95 percent self-sufficient with only a small number of high-level acute services being provided in Townsville and Brisbane.The Local Government Areas within the Service area are Cairns Regional Council, Croydon Shire Council, Etheridge Shire Council, Mareeba Shire Council, Tablelands Regional Council, Yarrabah Shire Council and Cassowary Coast Regional Council (except the community of Cardwell which is serviced from the Townsville HHS).
Our Values
The staff and patients at Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service have helped develop a set of shared values that guide our behaviours and decision making in our workplaces. These underpin our daily work, the strategies of our Health Service and help deliver Queensland Health’s vision.
At CHHHS we:
- demonstrate that we care about the challenges facing our patients and colleagues by taking time to walk in their shoes. Compassion is delivered with a warm hello, a smile, by genuinely listening and following through on concerns;
- value accountability at all levels as it builds trust in our organisation, our people and our services. When we live up to our responsibilities, we earn respect from the people and communities we have made a commitment to;
- we value a respectful approach to our work and care as it builds strong relationships and trust. We encourage you to treat others as you’d like to be treated; and
- rely on our integrity to guide us when the choice isn’t an easy one to make. It ensures we are making decisions that are transparent, truthful and for the greater good of our patients, colleagues and communities.
The big picture for our future
See the CHHHS Strategic Plan HERE.
Our purpose
Working together for best-practice care that improves health outcomes and equity for our communities.
Strategic Plan
Our strategic plan sets our vision and priorities to ensure our health service continues to grow and meet the changing health needs of our communities.
The strategic plan was developed with the input from our staff, partners and community. It outlines our vision: 'Excellent and sustainable healthcare for all in Far North Queensland.'
We'll focus on the following priorities and key objectives to achieve our vision.
- Our care
- We work to enable safe and equitable healthcare delivered closer to home through our partnerships and together with our community.
- Our people
- We nurture positive workplaces where our people feel safe, empowered and supported to collaborate in delivering excellence in healthcare.
- First Peoples health
- We recognize the valuable cultural knowledge of our First Peoples and through our partnerships, we will strive to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for First Peoples communities.
- Our sustainability
- With or people, our places nd our technology, we will deliver efficient and sustainable healthcare and services.
The plan describes our objectives, strategies and key performance indicators. It helps patients and carers, staff, our community, partners and all other stakeholders understand our future direction.
Role Specification
Provide high level strategic leadership and direction in relation to the Financial Management, Accounting and Performance Reporting Services teams of the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) in alignment with Hospital and Health Service goals, Queensland Health strategic directions and other national, state and local policies and professional standards.
The Chief Finance Officer is responsible for overseeing activity based funding, financial and performance reporting and treasury management, to ensure that the Health Service meets its statutory reporting requirements, complies fully with the Financial Accountability Act 2009, the Hospital and Health Board Act 2011 and other relevant legislation.
Operational responsibility for annual operating budget within the following teams:
- Finance
- Case Mix, Costing and clinical coding
- Centralised Contracts Unit
- Business Support Unit including Billings, Debt Management, Travel Hub and Fleet Service and
- Bookings Systems Integration and Reporting Team.
- Corporate ICT
- IeMR – Digital Hospital
- Medical Records and Health Information Services
- Revenue Services
Strategy and Operational Planning
- This role has strategic and operational management of the areas of finance, revenue and coding, Fleet, Travel and Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).
- Financial resource management including the establishment, maintenance and review of financial internal controls.
- Give financial advice on the delivery of the Strategic Plan, Clinical Services Plan and Service Level agreement.
- Provision of strategic ICT, Health Service Performance and Procurement information and advice at Board and Executive level to enable the achievement of strategic and business objectives (including compliance with statutory obligations and standards).
- Establish performance measurement frameworks and processes to monitor CHHHS performance against agreed key performance indicators and specific funded projects.
- As a member of the EMT contribute to the delivery of the CHHHS strategic plan, operational plans and performance management, specifically in the area of finance, revenue and coding, Fleet, Travel and ICT.
- Develop a CHHHS ICT Strategic Plan to support the CHHHS Strategy.
- Provide strategic advice to the Chief Executive relating to financial, service agreements, procurement and performance related matters and other issues as allocated.
Safety and Quality
- Ensure the portfolio achieves the highest level of quality of services.
- Ensure the portfolio and the CHHHS achieves accreditation requirements including ACHS.
- Ensure all significant risks in the portfolio are identified, mitigated and assigned as appropriate.
- Implement all recommendations to improve quality from reviews within the agreed timeframes.
- Ensure appropriate policies, training and development, performance measures and risk management processes are in place to deliver excellence in service delivery.
- Complete internal customer feedback processes for all departments in the portfolio to develop plans for improvement.
Financial Sustainability
- Develop annual operating budgets including MOHRI targets for each department/service and HHS.
- Ensure this portfolio meets the agreed financial targets.
- Develop robust business cases for new or expanded services.
- Oversee and participate in the development of annual minor capital plan.
- Ensure the portfolio actively delivers on revenue and targets are met.
- Oversee organisational sustainability programmes designed to ensure continuing efficiencies and cash savings benefits are achieved across the HHS.
- Preparation of financial information including Annual Financial Statements to facilitate the discharge of the CHHHS’s statutory reporting obligations.
- Provision of advice on the effectiveness of accounting and financial management information systems and financial controls in meeting the CHHHS’s requirements.
- Provision of advice concerning the financial implications of, and financial risks to, the CHHHS’s current and projected services.
- Provision of timely and high quality strategic financial analysis, advice and reports to the Board, relevant Board Committees, Executive Management Team (EMT), and Senior Management Team to enable the achievement of strategic and business objectives.
- Effective management of day to day cash flow and capacity.
- Ensure the CHHHS capital assets are recorded accurately in the asset register and on the CHHHS balance sheet.
- Provision of leadership in the preparedness and implementation of system enhancements that supports and facilitates effective performance monitoring and management of the Health Service within an activity based funding environment.
Leadership and Management
- Positively contribute as an Executive member to delivery on the strategic and operational requirements of the HHS.
- Provide high level advice to the Executive and Board on key issues impacting on the delivery of KPI’s.
- Lead and manage day to day activities within the portfolio in accordance with the Values of CHHHS.
- Work collaboratively with the HSCE, the Executive team and senior leaders to lead, manage and coordinate all commissioning, planning and positioning of services such that optimal levels of health service delivery and patient safety are achieved.
- Strategically lead an effective and cohesive senior management team that provide the leadership and management required to effectively manage the day to day operations within a framework of quality and safety.
- Develop a positive culture within the portfolio which encourages and recognises high performance, builds leadership capabilities and supports staff to maximise their health and wellbeing.
- Be a strong, visible leader, driving performance improvements, governance, policy and culture change, operating ethically, with integrity and within legislative requirements.
- Oversee ICT Projects to ensure delivery on time and within budget.
Relationships and Engagement
- Ensure effective working relationships across the HHS’s and support other portfolios in the delivery of the HHS strategy.
- Support clinician engagement strategies to improve consultation and collaboration.
- Support engagement with the community and external health providers.
- Actively contribute in high level forums (internal and external) to influence policy and strategic direction.
- Developing and maintaining strong relationships with relevant key stakeholders.
- Support the Health Service’s effective engagement with the community, external stakeholders, and other Hospital and Health Services to ensure the needs and expectations are appropriately managed and articulated.
View the Performance Measures in the Role Description here
You will be assessed on your ability to demonstrate the following key capabilities, knowledge, and experience. Within the context of the responsibilities described above under ‘Key Responsibilities’ above or ‘Your role’ in the role description, the ideal applicant will be someone who can demonstrate the following:
- A successful track record within a large, complex service organisation in providing leadership and management in financial systems, procedures and controls, that operates efficiently and to the highest professional standards.
- Demonstrated high level ability to manage and project cash flows relating to income, expenditure and capital.
- Demonstrated knowledge in the areas of finance, revenue and coding, Fleet, Travel and ICT
- Demonstrated ability to provide expert financial strategic advice together with the ability to deliver accurate, timely and relevant financial information.
- Demonstrated ability to strategise and utilise vision to drive financial decisions, prioritising effectively and understanding the impacts of decisions and managing risks appropriately.
- Demonstrated executive leadership in formulating the annual operating plan and financial sustainability plan.
- Demonstrated strategic and operational understanding of health purchasing and funding arrangements.
- Demonstrated advanced consulting, communication and interpersonal skills which are conducive to the establishment of business partnerships and positively influencing others in a significant environment of performance accountability, continuous change and organisational transformation.
- Demonstrated executive thinking ability, including the capacity to proactively identify and develop complex organisational responses to leverage new opportunities and innovations, including negotiations with key stakeholders. Partnering and team work skills are also essential as the position will operate within a team environment in which Finance and IT infrastructure services support is integral to successful broader service delivery requirements.
Targeted assessment of core behavioural competencies:
- Problem Solving
- Political Savvy
- Dealing with Ambiguity
- Managerial Courage
This role reports operationally to the Chief Executive Officer.
- Balancing the need to address immediate operational issues and the need to plan strategically, with regard to longer term financial implications and objectives
- The ongoing and increasing sustainability challenge associated with growing demand and the challenges on health resources, particularly across a rural and regional health service
- Collaborating with clinical and corporate leaders to identify, lead and support innovative strategies which will enable the delivery of high quality patient care.
- Leading the division to influence productivity, efficiency and performance across the organization.
- Maximizing income generation opportunities.
- Leading the successful delivery of new systems and technologies aligned with Qld Health enterprise solutions and CHHHS initiated priorities.
- Ensuring the development of a robust strategic capital planning process which links to the development of a strong clinical service strategy
The Chief Finance Officer is responsible for implementing, reporting and monitoring the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service operating budget, which totals $1.4B in 2024-25 financial year and ensuring a robust and secure ICT environment that meets the needs of the HHS – maintaining the latest best practice operating environment and security.
- Annual Divisional Budget: $60.1 million
- Direct and Indirect Reports: 6 direct and 204 indirect, total 210 FTE
- Annual CHHHS operating budget $1,469.1 million or 1.469 billion
- Member of a recognised Accounting professional body.
- Minimum of ten years experience at a senior level in a similar sized organisation.
- Participate in an Executive on-call roster.
- Relevant health or management post graduate qualifications would be highly regarded.
- This position requires the incumbent to operate a Class C vehicle, and an appropriate licence endorsement to operate this type of vehicle is required. Proof of this endorsement must be provided before commencement of duty.
- It is a condition of employment for this role for the employee to be, and remain, vaccinated against COVID-19 Health Employment Directive No. 12/21 and Queensland Health Human Resources Policy B70.
- Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPD) evidence as required for your employment in accordance with legislation/government policy and Directives.
Salary: $282 185 - $292 489 per annum (Total remuneration)
The closing date for applications is Monday, 17 February 2025
The reference number to include in your application is H25_5002
Note: Please use the online HardyGroup platform to submit your application. It will not be accepted via email.
If you require assistance in submitting your application online, please get in touch with Executive Search Coordinator, Natasha Tirado: [email protected] | +61 0468 301 310
Your application must include:
1. Cover letter addressed to the Principal Consultant;
2. A written response addressing the key selection criteria and
3. An up to date copy of your Curriculum Vitae
It Is standard practice for HardyGroup to acknowledge receipt of your application no later than the next business day. We request that if you do not receive the acknowledgement, you contact the search coordinator listed above as soon as possible after the 24-hour business period and arrange to resend your application if necessary.
For a confidential discussion, please contact:
Janine Hammat, HardyGroup Principal Consultant
M. +61 488 555 858
E. [email protected]
LIVING AND WORKING IN CAIRNS
Experience The Unparalleled Natural Beauty of Cairns
Where spectacular reefs, ancient rainforests, rich culture, and an alfresco dining scene blend into one. A welcoming and multicultural city more than 20% of Cairns people were born overseas and some 72 languages are spoken. The city is a fantastic place to live with world class cafés, bars and restaurants and the city has thriving community markets. It is close to plenty of picturesque beaches often with resort style living options. The estimated resident urban population of Cairns is greater than 160,000 and the region has experienced an average annual growth rate of 1.9% over the last 10 years.
Cairns is the international gateway to The Great Barrier Reef - the world’s biggest marine park and home to more than 9000 species of coral, birds, fish and marine life and welcomes more than 2.4 million visitors each year. Whether it’s snorkelling through coral gardens, flying over the infinite blues or sailing to tropical islands, there’s an adventure reserved for everyone on the world’s largest living organism (that you can see from space). Breathe in the salt air and explore via boat, snorkel, kayak, helicopter or learn to dive on this world-famous natural wonder.
Cairns is also the gateway to The Wet Tropics rainforest is a living, breathing ark and home to many plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. A place so big in size it makes up 0.12% of Australia, it's both accessible and diverse, from the easy walk to the famous Curtain Tree Fig to the longer hike to cool off in Nandroya Falls.
There is easy access to and from Cairns and most capital cities in Australia through the Cairns International Airport which is only 7km from the CBD. Compared with most Australian cities the cost of housing is much more affordable in Cairns along with affordable childcare, 21 state primary schools, 10 state high schools and 21 private / non-government schools.
Explore more about Cairns and all it has to offer, here.
ABOUT US
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Find and Grow Great Leaders - and we have been doing exactly that for more than 30 years in public and private health, primary, community and aged care as well as the broader public service.
Our synergistic business model of Executive Search and Recruitment integrated with Executive Leadership and Learning is our unique point of difference.
It ensures our clients can count on us for the lifecycle of their organisations leadership journey and why we are regarded as the leading trans-Tasman partner agency by clients.
When engaging HG you can be confident in a deeply personalised experience and service as nothing matters more to us than relationships and results.