Associate Partner, Health Systems: Financial Improvement and Performance

The push to meet finance and performance targets has put financial recovery and productivity at the top of the agenda for NHS boards. We are looking for an Associate Partner to further expand our financial and performance improvement work, partnering with the executive teams of NHS trusts and integrated care boards as they take on that challenge.

The role

As a member of CF’s senior leadership team, you will drive the growth of our Financial and Performance Improvement business within our Health Systems practice. You will build a portfolio of client work, with targets agreed through our business planning cycle, and support the wider Partner team on new work and bids. You will build trusted relationships with health system leaders, providers and commissioners, understand the pressures they face, shape CF’s offer and strategy in this area, and contribute to the debate on NHS finances through CF’s published work.

Associate Partners are closely involved in client delivery. You will act as Delivery Partner on several engagements at once, lead complex, multi-workstream projects and develop the teams around you, including acting as a development sponsor and mentoring bid teams. There is a clear, structured route to Partner. From the outset you will have a dedicated Partner sponsor and support from senior leadership to build the commercial leadership, client impact and contribution to the firm needed to make that step.

Our work comes from relationships and insight. You will do well here if you enjoy meeting senior leaders, getting to the heart of the problems they face and shaping how CF can help.

What you will bring

• A record of building consulting or advisory relationships with senior NHS leaders, with evidence of work won and clients who came back for more.

• A well-established network in the NHS and wider health sector built on trusted relationships.

• Entrepreneurial drive and resilience: you create opportunities, are comfortable approaching senior people you have not met, and keep going after a loss.

• Well-formed views on NHS financial recovery, productivity and performance, and how national policy and regulation shape them.

• At least 10 years’ experience in management consulting, or a combination of consulting and senior healthcare leadership, with a strong focus on financial and operational improvement and performance.

• Extensive experience leading complex, high-impact NHS projects and multidisciplinary teams.

• Strong people leadership and communication skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.

Our work

Our Financial and Performance Improvement work covers provider financial recovery, cost improvement, productivity and system financial planning. We bring our data, digital and AI capabilities to help clients improve performance, efficiency and outcomes for patients. We have worked with over 70% of integrated care systems and half of NHS trusts, including nationally with NHS England’s Provider Improvement Programme and Intensive Recovery Programme.

About CF

CF is a specialist health consultancy with offices in London, Dublin and Riyadh, rated gold for Healthcare and Life Sciences by the Financial Times. Our mission is to make lasting improvements in health and healthcare, and to develop leaders in health. We work across the whole health sector, from the NHS and government to life sciences companies and health investors, and our consulting is known for its use of data.

Working at CF

We are opening an office in the North, so for the right candidate we can be flexible on where you are based, as long as you can travel to London regularly. We value being connected to clients and colleagues, so we work four days out of five in person, with clients on site or at our offices. On top of this, everyone has up to 44 extra remote working days a year, which works out at around three days a week in person. Holiday is 30 days, rising by one day for each year of service to 35. Our values are Be Connected, Uphold Standards, Inspire Change and Create the Future. We recruit, promote and reward on skills and contribution alone.

• We offer a competitive and flexible reward package designed to support you at work and beyond it. You will benefit from a generous holiday allowance that grows with your career (minimum of 25 days), a strong employer pension contribution, and the freedom to tailor benefits to suit your lifestyle, from wellbeing and fitness to financial protection.
• We are committed to supporting life’s important moments, with enhanced family leave, income and life protection, and access to practical benefits that make everyday life easier, such as interest-free loans and travel support.
• Your wellbeing matters to us. You will have access to a comprehensive wellbeing and employee assistance programme, preventative health benefits, and initiatives that support an active, balanced way of working.
• Above all, we invest in our people; offering flexibility, security, and benefits that grow with you, so you can do your best work while building a sustainable and rewarding career.