Employer: 279 University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: Royal Sussex County Hospital
Town: Brighton
Salary: £53,755 - £60,504 per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 09/03/2025 23:59
Operational Manager General Surgery
Band 8a
About our Trust
At UHSussex we’re proud to be at the heart of the NHS. As one of the UK’s largest acute Trusts, we’re a leading example of the excellence, ambition, and values that have embodied the NHS for over 70 years.
Our hard-working, talented and dedicated people work together towards a common goal – to always put our Patient First. In fact, our mission is summed up by our ‘where better never stops’ motto and you will play a part in driving us forwards and improving the lives of patients across Sussex.
At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of Staff Networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) and a Veteran Aware Trust.
We treat our patients and staff with the same compassion and empathy we expect for ourselves. We’re here for them when they need us, and we go above and beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in our Wellbeing Programme for staff which is extensive and designed to support you when you need it, including where possible, flexible working to support work-life balance - because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves.
As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching, and training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us and throughout your career, we will help you to grow and develop. We hope that in choosing UHSussex you are choosing a long and happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make and feel valued for all that you do.
We look forward to receiving your application and the start of your journey with UHSussex.
Job overview
You will be a credible and visible leader and an experienced manager who will be able to demonstrate effective people leadership skills together with a track record of operational management, budgetary management, and implementing service improvements.
As Operational Manager, you will be responsible for the professional leadership and day-to-day operational management to support the senior management team and lead on the achievement of agreed activity volumes, performance, and access targets to deliver these within available resources. The role offers the opportunity to actively participate in strategic service planning and implementation of developments and manage change.
Your role will help drive transformation as well as value for money in planning, commissioning, and services. You will contribute to the development and implementation of the Division and Trust service strategy, in particular focusing on delivering targets and service improvements that will enhance patient care, improve the patient pathway, enhance the quality of service delivery, and deliver performance targets whilst identifying potential efficiencies.
Main duties of the job
1. Use leadership and influencing skills to enthuse, engage and maintain effective two-way channels of communication within the service area and to involve individuals and teams within service areas of responsibility to ensure delivery of relevant targets.
2. Establish lines of communication with other colleagues in the Trust and wider healthcare community, to ensure that services are integrated and opportunities for improvements are maximised.
3. Ensure that good practice is identified and shared within the Division and wider organisation where appropriate.
4. Using the highest degree of motivational and negotiating skills, ensure an atmosphere of collaboration across the service area to deliver a programme of continuous improvement in a challenging and demanding environment.
Working for our organisation
At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First, as shown in our Outstanding for Caring CQC rating. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of Staff Networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) and a Veteran Aware Trust.
We treat our patients and staff with the same compassion and empathy we expect for ourselves. We’re here for them when they need us, and we go above and beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in our Wellbeing Programme for staff which is extensive and designed to support you when you need it - because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves.
As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching, and training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us and throughout your career, we will help you to grow and develop. We hope that in choosing UHSussex you are choosing a long and happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make and feel valued for all that you do.
We look forward to receiving your application and the start of your journey with UHSussex.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1. Use leadership and influencing skills to enthuse, engage and maintain effective two-way channels of communication within the service area and to involve individuals and teams within service areas of responsibility to ensure delivery of relevant targets.
2. Establish lines of communication with other colleagues in the Trust and wider healthcare community, to ensure that services are integrated and opportunities for improvements are maximised.
3. Ensure that good practice is identified and shared within the Division and wider organisation where appropriate.
4. Using the highest degree of motivational and negotiating skills, ensure an atmosphere of collaboration across the service area to deliver a programme of continuous improvement in a challenging and demanding environment.
5. Develop political judgment and astuteness in understanding and working with policy and diverse interest groups, and judgement in knowing when to escalate upwards, interpreting and implementing changes to respond to policy developments.
6. Analyse and communicate highly complex verbal and written data to relevant stakeholders (internal and external), ensuring all information concerning performance in all areas is communicated and understood and managed confidentially where appropriate.
7. Negotiate with others to reach a decision/conclusion to complex problems and to use appropriate influencing skills with supporting departments to ensure the needs of the service are met.
8. Challenge internal and external parties where necessary to overcome barriers to change and understanding and to ensure that learning is shared and that risks are mitigated and reduced.
9. Demonstrate effective stakeholder management across different departments at all levels. Respond to and resolve conflict between different stakeholders when this arises through facilitation or other appropriate mechanisms.
10. Attend, lead and participate in departmental meetings.
11. Demonstrate empathy, compassion and diplomacy to communicate effectively with patients and relatives to resolve issues that may arise.
12. Lead the development and application of systems, control processes and risk management arrangements that ensure compliance with internal and external governance and best practice requirements.
13. Lead the development, implementation and monitoring of mitigating actions to reduce risks identified.
14. Manage the capital and revenue budgets for the Directorate as may be delegated to ensure that expenditure and income is within financial plans and budget and to ensure compliance with Standing Financial Instructions. The post holder will also lead on budget setting, cost improvement plans and contract submissions for the service area.
15. Responsible for interpreting, proposing and drafting changes to policies, guidelines and service level agreements (SLA’s) which impact the service, while contributing to strategic and contingency planning for the service, which may have an impact on other areas.
16. Work with relevant stakeholders to establish a culture of continuous improvement within the service area(s) and ensure that best practice in the delivery of high quality, modern, patient centred care is delivered, developed and maintained.
17. Develop and implement effective reporting arrangements within the service area to accurately record and monitor performance against local and national targets and to pro-actively develop solutions to manage any variances.
18. Support the implementation of change and improvement programmes across the Trust.
19. Maintain a good knowledge of emerging policies from government departments and external bodies which may impact the service.
20. Contribute to the development and review of the service and business strategy in collaboration with other Divisional leaders to ensure the anticipation of future needs, ensuring that progressive solutions, which take into account models of best practice, are incorporated into service plans.
21. Identify and create new business opportunities within and outside the organisation, and to suggest service improvements that will enhance patient care.
22. Lead on the production of business cases, considering a range of options using analytical and interpretation skills, to achieve the required business objectives.
23. Lead and coordinate the production and update of an asset register for the relevant services as and when required.
24. Be an authorised signatory for procurement of equipment and supplies and be involved in procurement of capital equipment, deciding in collaboration with staff appropriate purchases from a range of options.
25. Identify service redesign options and service improvement plans within the service area that will lead to the delivery of improved clinical outcomes for patients and the more efficient use of resources within the service area.
26. Responsible for leading, developing and improving the overall management of administrative services for the Division.
27. Provide clear, visible, responsive and professional leadership to all staff within area of responsibility that maximises their effort and potential.
28. Monitor workforce performance metrics for area(s) of responsibility and ensure appropriate plans are in place where improvement is required.
29. Day-to-day line management of staff.
30. Provide leadership and support to all delegated budget holders within the service, while also holding them to account for delivery of a balanced budget and cost improvement plans.
31. Support the management of workforce issues through the application of people policies and procedures as required within the Directorate and wider Trust (including, but not limited to, conduct and capability concerns, grievances, attendance management and appeal processes).
Person specification
* Educated to masters level or equivalent level of knowledge and experience.
* Experience of continued learning and professional development to postgraduate diploma or equivalent level.
* Demonstrable previous success in leading and delivering service change and performance initiatives.
* Proven evidence of managing a significant size team.
* Evidence of managing operational arrangements to a high degree of accuracy, timeliness and effectiveness.
* Experience of effectively managing a budget.
* Computer literate in Word, Database, Presentation, Spreadsheet and file management to a high level.
EDI
* Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues.
* Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles (as appropriate to role).
Important information for applicants:
Closing Adverts Early: In the event of exceptional interest, we may close adverts earlier than specified.
Some of our adverts are capped for a limited number of applications; therefore, the advert will close once the cap has been reached. We therefore encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible if you are interested in the position to prevent you from missing out on applying for the opportunity.
Flexible Working: If you would like to explore potential options regarding flexible working please speak with the appropriate recruiting/line manager.
DBS Checks: As part of our commitment to a safe working environment, we undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service check on all new employees where the role is eligible for a criminal record check. We make offers in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1975.
Skilled Worker Visa: Applications for Skilled Worker sponsorship are welcome for the roles that meet the Visa and Immigrations eligibility criteria. For further information please visit the gov.uk website searching for Skilled Worker. It is your responsibility as the applicant to ensure that you meet this criteria.
UHSussex reserves the right to close the role early if we receive a high volume of applications.
Further Information
For help with the application process for Nursing vacancies, please email uhsussex.nursingteam@nhs.net.
For help with the application process for Non-Nursing vacancies, please email uhsussex.nonnursingteam@nhs.net.
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