Compass Associates
Operations Director | Elderly Nursing, Residential and Dementia Provide
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Operations Director | Elderly Nursing, Residential and Dementia Provider
Herefordshire & Worcestershire
Salary
From £75,000 plus discretionary bonus and mileage
Are you an experienced senior operator who is passionate about delivering exceptional care? Would you welcome greater autonomy, direct access to the Managing Director, and the opportunity to influence the future direction of an established care provider? Are you looking to move away from a heavily bureaucratic environment and into a role where your ideas, leadership, and experience can make a visible difference?
Then this could be the role for you.
We are partnering with an established and values-led elderly care provider to appoint an experienced Operations Director across a portfolio of seven care homes situated predominantly throughout Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
This confidential senior leadership appointment has arisen following the planned retirement of a long-standing operational leader. Reporting directly to the Managing Director, the successful candidate will become the organisation’s most senior operational leader and assume responsibility for care quality, clinical governance, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement across the group.
The provider has developed an excellent reputation for delivering compassionate, person-centred care across residential, dementia, and nursing services. The portfolio benefits from stable Registered Managers, strong employee retention, and consistently positive regulatory outcomes, with almost every service currently rated Good by CQC.
With two proposed new care homes forming part of its future growth strategy, this is an exciting opportunity to influence the continued development of an established organisation while supporting the commissioning and mobilisation of new services.
The Position
As Operations Director, you will act as the principal operational contact for Registered Managers across the portfolio, providing visible leadership, constructive challenge, and practical support.
Rather than being a heavily reactive or turnaround-focused appointment, this position offers the opportunity to work proactively, identifying new ways to enhance care delivery, strengthen governance, and introduce innovation across an already stable portfolio.
Key responsibilities will include:
- Providing senior operational leadership across seven elderly care services.
- Maintaining and improving standards of care, governance, and regulatory compliance.
- Supporting Registered Managers with safeguarding, complex care matters, challenging behaviours, and operational decision-making.
- Working closely with the Compliance Manager, who will report directly to the Operations Director.
- Reviewing performance through established quality dashboards, internal audits, and governance processes.
- Ensuring regular quality and compliance visits are completed across every service.
- Identifying emerging risks and implementing appropriate improvement plans.
- Introducing new ideas, initiatives, and sector best practice.
- Continuing the organisation’s investment in digital care systems and technology-enabled care.
- Supporting the Managing Director by assuming greater responsibility for day-to-day operational matters.
- Supporting the commissioning and mobilisation of two proposed new care homes.
- Potentially assuming Nominated Individual responsibilities in the future.
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The position is principally focused on care quality and operational excellence. Although commercial awareness will be important, the Managing Director will retain overall responsibility for the organisation’s financial performance.
The Candidate
The successful candidate will be an experienced and credible elderly care operator with a genuine passion for delivering exceptional care.
Applications are welcomed from individuals currently working as an Operations Director, Operations Manager, Regional Director, Regional Manager, or in a comparable multi-site leadership position.
This opportunity may particularly appeal to someone working within a larger care provider who is seeking greater autonomy, closer access to senior decision-makers, and the freedom to implement meaningful change within a less bureaucratic environment.
Candidates will ideally demonstrate:
- Previous multi-site operational leadership experience within elderly care.
- A strong understanding of CQC regulations, safeguarding, governance, and quality assurance.
- Experience supporting Registered Managers and developing high-performing leadership teams.
- The ability to identify areas for improvement within stable, well-performing services.
- A proactive and self-starting approach, with the confidence to operate autonomously.
- Strong emotional intelligence, self-awareness, and communication skills.
- The credibility to constructively challenge established practices.
- A clear understanding of what exceptional care and an outstanding care home should look like.
- An innovative and technology-focused approach to care delivery.
- Experience working with digital care-planning systems, with knowledge of PCS particularly advantageous.
- Warmth, compassion, and a leadership style aligned with a genuinely person-centred culture.
- Experience overseeing nursing services would be beneficial; however, active NMC registration is not essential.
Exceptional Registered Managers seeking their first multi-site appointment may also be considered, provided they can clearly demonstrate advanced leadership capability, emotional intelligence, and readiness to operate at a senior organisational level.
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The Organisation
The organisation operates seven residential, dementia, and nursing care homes across the West Midlands, supporting a predominantly privately funded resident base.
The provider benefits from:
- A stable and experienced management structure.
- Strong retention across its Registered Manager population.
- Consistently positive regulatory outcomes.
- Excellent online recommendation scores, with some services achieving 10/10 ratings.
- External recognition for the quality of its end-of-life care.
- Significant investment in digital care planning, acoustic monitoring, and motion-sensor technology.
- A warm, friendly, and compassionate culture centred around the delivery of exceptional care.
- Ambitious plans to develop two additional purpose-built care homes.
The successful candidate will join an organisation where they can have a visible influence, work closely with the Managing Director, and play an important role in shaping the next stage of the group’s development.
Package
- Basic salary from £75,000, dependent on experience.
- Discretionary annual bonus, historically worth approximately £5,000 - £10,000 and linked partly to quality performance.
- Business mileage paid at 45p per mile, with the potential introduction of a car allowance under consideration.
- 20 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays.
- Access to an additional employee holiday benefit, subject to attendance, conduct, and training compliance.
- Genuine longer-term progression opportunities as the organisation continues to grow.
Location
The organisation’s seven care homes are located predominantly across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, with the Operations Director expected to maintain a regular and visible presence throughout the portfolio.
The position will involve frequent travel between services, alongside time working directly with the Managing Director and senior leadership team. Applicants should therefore be based within a reasonable commuting distance of the portfolio.
Suitable locations may include:
- Hereford
- Worcester
- Malvern
- Ledbury
- Ross-on-Wye
- Leominster
- Kidderminster
- Bromsgrove
- Gloucester
- Cheltenham
- The wider Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and West Midlands regions
Business mileage is currently reimbursed at 45p per mile.
Recommendations
Compass Associates Ltd is acting as a recruitment partner for this permanent vacancy. We offer £500 in vouchers or a charity donation of your choice for each successful referral.
Contact Details
If you would like to be considered for this exciting opportunity, please contact Jon Mondey directly on 02393 874322 or 07784481714. Alternatively, email an updated CV to jmondey@compassltd.co.uk.
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