Chief Finance and Commercial Officer

Job summary

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the UK’s sovereign regulator for medicines, biological medicines, medical devices and blood products. As an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care, it plays a vital role in protecting and improving public health, ensuring that healthcare products meet the highest standards of safety, quality and effectiveness. Operating at the heart of the UK’s health and life sciences ecosystem, the Agency supports innovation, enables access to safe and effective products, and works extensively with partners across the UK and internationally. Funded primarily through fee-generating activities, products and services, MHRA combines scientific excellence, regulatory expertise and public accountability in pursuit of its mission to keep patients and the public safe.

MHRA is now seeking an outstanding Chief Finance and Commercial Officer to join its Executive Committee and Unitary Board. Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, this highly influential role will provide strategic leadership across commercial, finance, estates and infrastructure. The postholder will act as a trusted adviser on financial stewardship, commercial strategy and organisational sustainability, ensuring that the Agency’s business model supports the delivery of its regulatory responsibilities while enabling long-term growth and investment. Leading a directorate of approximately 80 colleagues, the Chief Finance and Commercial Officer will oversee ambitious commercial and fee reform programmes, shape revenue generation and procurement strategies, provide assurance on financial performance and risk, and guide the future development of key laboratory and estate infrastructure, including nationally significant facilities.

Job description

The successful candidate will be a qualified accountant with substantial senior leadership experience gained in a complex, highly regulated environment, ideally within central government or a similarly demanding setting. They will bring a strong track record in strategic financial management, commercial leadership and organisational transformation, alongside experience of managing diverse funding streams, income generation and major procurement activity. Equally important will be the ability to influence at Board and Executive level, build trusted relationships across government and industry, and communicate complex financial issues with clarity and insight. A collaborative and credible leader, they will share MHRA’s commitment to public service, innovation and organisational excellence.

Commercial:
- Responsible for leading and delivering the Agency’s commercial strategy and revenue growth in collaboration with Executive Committee members
- Trusted senior commercial advisor to colleagues at the early stages of policy exploration to test commercial opportunities and arrangements.
- Play a key leadership and change management role in developing a strong commercial function for the Agency and across government

Financial:
- Serve as a strategic finance partner to the Chief Executive Officer/Accounting Officer
- Responsible for managing the Agency’s financial strategic aims, operations and risk. Including the Agency’s medium- and long-term commercial and financial plans and forecasts.

Estate leadership of Infrastructure and Laboratory services:
- Accountable for the strategic management, maintenance and development of the Agency’s estates and facilities, ensuring compliance, efficiency and value, including the provision of on site security.
- Lead on the development of our Future Laboratory requirements, including the investment and location options
- Work across government to ensure the Laboratory Services site, which is a strategic National Infrastructure location, has the right cross government profile that protects the services it delivers

Leadership and Stakeholder Management:
- Lead, grow and develop a team of high performing professionals who are true partners to the business.
- As a key member of the Agency’s senior leadership team, you will play an active role in supporting the leadership and management of the directorate, shaping its development, driving growth and embedding its vision and values to create a supportive working environment for all.
- Ensure a team development plan is in place that creates a high performing, business focused team, committed to supporting MHRA and its leaders in delivering the business objectives.

For full details about the role please read the Candidate Pack available via the link provided. Saxton Bampfylde Ltd is acting as an employment agency advisor to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on this appointment.

Person specification

It is essential that the CV and personal statement provide evidence and examples of your experience in each of the essential criteria listed below and the main duties of the role listed in the previous section:
• A qualified accountant with a substantial track record of success as a senior finance leader in a fast-moving, highly complex central government or similarly regulated operating environment with a range of funding streams including income generation.
• A strategic commercial leader with experience of driving innovation and delivering overall best value for money, by leading teams in a regulated end-to-end commercial and procurement environment, utilising Public or Utilities Contract Regulations.
• Experience of influencing decisions at senior levels, building effective relationships with key stakeholders and suppliers within a highly complex, fast moving, commercial and financial focused environment.
• Experience of navigating and influencing confidently and challenging effectively at executive and board level, and throughout the organisation; uses strong analytical skills and the ability to add insight to communicate complex financial positions clearly and compellingly to senior internal and external stakeholders and the wider organisation.
• Experience in the development of commercial strategies for high value/risk, critical/complex procurements and playing a leading role in the negotiation, implementation and end to end delivery of these.

Qualifications
Candidates must hold at least one of the following accounting qualifications with significant post qualification experience:
• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
• Consultancy Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB)
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
• Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)
• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £100,000, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency contributes £28,970 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthfu