Head of Operations - Community Services

• Work closely with Workforce and clinical teams to ensure capacity is aligned with patient demand.
• Support effective planning of clinical and administrative resources.
• Monitor utilisation, productivity and service capacity.
• Identify resource gaps and work with relevant teams to develop appropriate solutions.
• Support workforce planning for existing and new services.
• Ensure staffing arrangements support safe and sustainable service delivery.

Financial & Resource Management

• Manage operational resources effectively within agreed budgets.
• Monitor staffing costs, agency usage and other operational expenditure.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and deliver cost savings without compromising patient care.
• Provide operational insight to support financial and business planning.
• Ensure resources are used effectively across the allocated services.

Governance, Quality & Compliance

• Maintain strong operational governance across all allocated services.
• Ensure services operate in line with relevant regulatory, contractual and organisational requirements.
• Work closely with clinical and governance teams to support safe service delivery.
• Ensure appropriate processes are in place for managing incidents, complaints, risks and operational issues.
• Support internal and external audits where required.
• Ensure patient information and operational data is accurate and handled in accordance with GDPR and information governance requirements.

Patient Experience

• Champion a patient centred approach across all services.
• Ensure patients receive a high quality experience throughout their care journey.
• Monitor patient feedback, complaints and other indicators of patient experience.
• Identify opportunities to improve the patient journey and overall service experience.
• Ensure issues affecting patient experience are identified and addressed promptly.

Service Improvement & Transformation

• Lead and support continuous improvement initiatives across Community Services.
• Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, patient flow and service quality.
• Work with Transformation and Digital teams to improve systems and processes.
• Support the implementation of new technologies, processes and service models.
• Drive standardisation and best practice across services where appropriate.
• Support the organisation's continued growth and development of Community Services.

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Provide visible and effective leadership across the allocated service portfolio.
• Build strong relationships with clinical leads, operational managers and support functions.
• Work collaboratively with Workforce, Finance, HR, Digital, Transformation and Governance teams.
• Communicate operational performance, risks and opportunities clearly to senior leadership.
• Develop a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Support and develop operational teams through effective leadership, coaching and performance management.

Person Specification

Essential

• Significant senior operational leadership experience within healthcare or a complex service environment.
• Proven experience managing healthcare operations, patient pathways or service delivery.
• Experience Leading Multidisciplinary Teams And Working Across Multiple Functions.
• Strong understanding of patient access, capacity management and operational performance.
• Experience managing performance against KPIs, contractual requirements or service standards.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret operational and performance data.
• Experience delivering service improvement and operational change.
• Excellent leadership, coaching and people management skills.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Excellent organisational and communication skills.
• Ability to work strategically while maintaining strong operational oversight.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and respond effectively to operational challenges.

Desirable

• Experience within community healthcare, diagnostics, elective care or private healthcare.
• Experience Working With NHS Contracts And Healthcare Performance Requirements.
• Knowledge of NHS referral and patient access principles.
• Experience managing services across multiple clinical specialties.
• Experience supporting the mobilisation of new healthcare services.
• Experience within a rapidly growing healthcare organisation.
• Qualification in healthcare management, operational leadership or project management.

Personal Attributes

• Strong and collaborative operational leader.
• Patient focused with a commitment to delivering high quality services.
• Strategic thinker with strong operational capability.
• Calm under pressure and able to manage competing priorities.
• Highly organised and solutions focused.
• Commercially aware with a continuous improvement mindset.
• Confident communicator who can influence at all levels.
• Comfortable working in a fast paced and changing environment.
• Accountable and proactive approach to service delivery.
• Driven to deliver measurable improvements in operational performance and patient experience.

Equality and Diversity

All staff members have a responsibility to treat all colleagues and clients with respect and to ensure that the work environment is secure, mutually supportive and free from harassment and discrimination on any grounds, notably around age, disability, gender, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief and sexual orientation.

All staff members have a duty to report any incident which contravenes this to their line manager or the appropriate member of the organisation.

Safeguarding is fundamental to the success in all that we do. The organisation follows a Safer Recruitment process for all roles. Successful candidates will be subject to proportionate background, DBS, and reference checks as required.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all service users in line with statutory guidance, including the Mental Capacity Act 2005, ensuring that individuals are supported to make their own decisions wherever possible and that appropriate best interest decisions are made when required.

We welcome applications from anyone regardless of age, disability, gender, race, or ethnic and national origins, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.