Job summary An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Associate Chief Operating Officer. As a Trust, we are committed to delivering outstanding care to our patients and public. To achieve this, we need our leaders to inspire, to motivate and to work collaboratively with colleagues, partner organisations and our public to ensure we are trusted to deliver safe, effective, compassionate care always. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this full time, permanent post is available on our Senior Manager trust Terms & Conditions. This is a wide-ranging role, spanning across the Trust, covering clinical diagnostics, the Central England Rehabilitation Unit (including Acquired Brain injury, Neuro rehabilitation and Stroke Rehabilitation), contract management and non-clinical support functions. There is a strong emphasis on our transformation programme, focused on getting the right care to patients, at the right time, in the right place, with a mandate to only provide care in the acute setting that cannot be delivered elsewhere. Your strategic planning skills are crucial as you will lead on the development of the Division's strategy. You will have demonstrable ability to execute a high level of financial control and be able to prove how your people management skills ensure your teams deliver excellent work. You will report back to the Executive Directors on performance, ensuring robust plans are in place to deliver good performance against agreed targets. Main duties of the job The post holder will be accountable to the Chief Operating Officer for the effective strategic and operational management of the Support Services Division, ensuring delivery of high-quality patient care services within the resources available. This will be achieved through the development, performance management and support of all clinical and non-clinical based services within the Division. The role also has a responsibility to lead and co-ordinate the improvement of all care and support pathways within the Division across the organisation in liaison with other divisional teams. Key responsibilities include the operational and strategic leadership of the Division, encompassing the management of all resources and the achievement of agreed performance objectives within the context of National and Trust frameworks. The Associate Director will manage the members of the Divisional Management Team and member of the Trust Management Board and will also act deputise for the Chief Operating Officer, as required. About us Come and join a Trust rated Outstanding by the CQC. South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust have been rated as outstanding following our latest inspection by the CQC and we are recruiting new staff to come and help us improve even further. In addition our staff survey results have placed us 4th in the country for recommended place to work. We provide services across Warwickshire and beyond ranging from Hospitals in Warwick, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Royal Leamington Spa and Shipston-on Stour to Community Services across the county. We are a progressive, expanding organisation with great ambition around improving quality, integrating pathways and delivering high levels of productivity.Our values can be summed up in one sentence. We are 'Trusted to provide safe, inclusive, effective and compassionate care'. Throughout the recruitment process you will be asked to think about how you demonstrate these values and how they impact on your work. It doesn't matter what role you do, whether it is patient facing or not, we are all working in the same way with our values at the core. Date posted 12 March 2025 Pay scheme Agenda for change Band Band 8c Salary £74,290 to £101,677 a year pa Contract Permanent Working pattern Full-time Reference number 203-C494 Job locations Operational Services C26015 Warwick CV34 5BW Job description Job responsibilities Business and Strategic Planning and Management Lead the development and regular review of the Divisions short, medium, and long-term plans, ensuring this is fully informed and influenced by both national and local policy and imperatives. Ensure that strategic plans are fully developed and tested, e.g., long term workforce planning, and that movement towards the strategic plans is built into annual delivery plans and individual objective setting. Develop an active awareness of the future national and local agendas, identifying those items that will have a significant impact on the division/organisation and ensure that the divisional teams have plans in place to meet requirements. Lead the business planning process within the Division ensuring that activity modelling informs the development of any bids or proposals and that these are rigorously tested and shared with stakeholders. Responsible for enabling change through the acquisition of resources via internal or external business cases when redesign is exhausted as a source of funds or cannot adequately support progress. Lead or be involved in Trust wide projects or groups, both to influence the organisational agenda/strategy and to deliver organisational wide objectives or approaches to particular issues. Operational and Performance Management To develop annually, in conjunction with the Associate Medical Directors and Divisions Management Team, the delivery plan and specific objectives of the Division in the context of the organisational strategy and annual objectives. Develop and implement robust and proactive systems to ensure the delivery of performance against plan for Division objectives, national/local targets, activity levels and finance. Lead the development, monitoring, measurement and reporting of key organisational performance indicators. To provide appropriate, accurate and timely information as assurance to the Executive Finance & Performance Committee. Ensure that the Division operates within budget constraints and delivers against challenging annual cost improvement targets and income plans. Contribute to the development of service line management within the Division to facilitate decisions regarding the maximisation of quality and resource management. Ensure the services provided by the Division are clinically and cost effectively patient-centred, through redesign, service improvement initiatives and projects, learning from national or local best practices etc and that this approach is embedded in the Division as a way of working. Manage large-scale projects from creation of business cases through to delivery of schemes as required involving all necessary stakeholders. Responsible for assuring robust systems and standards of corporate governance are achieved within the Division, including health and safety, Care Quality Commission assurance processes and relevant elements of Board Assurance Framework. Human Resources Management and Leadership Demonstrate the principles of the Trusts Leadership Charter and ensure that these principles are embedded within the Division. Ensure that an appropriate management structure is in place within which clear accountability and responsibilities are defined. Create a culture of responsibility and accountability throughout the Division in which staff feel empowered, valued, respected, and provided with appropriate opportunities for their development. Ensure that managers and staff at all levels have a clear understanding of their specific objectives and of the standards expected of them. Lead and motivate all staff within the Division, ensuring that staff in leadership roles have the level of skill and leadership capability necessary to continue to develop a service improvement and innovation culture. Ensure both a communication strategy and effective systems of communication are in place within the Division and that there are good communication links between the Division and other areas of the Trust, as well as with external bodies with whom the Division works. Ensure the Division actively works with other services and organisations, both within the Trust and with external local health communities and nationally, to promote service improvement and strategy development. Deputise for the Chief Operating Officer as required. Patient and Client Care Responsible for the Clinical Governance of the Support Services Division in partnership with the Clinical Governance Team and the Corporate Nursing Team, ensuring high quality patient care that can be supported with evidence. Attend the Divisional Audit and Governance Group as a member. Responsible for the implementation of the Trusts health and safety and risk management policies within the Division. Ensure that within the Division there is a culture of learning and continual improvement in the quality of patient care. Ensure that a culture of patient involvement develops within the Division and that this input actively informs the development of services and patient information. Promote cross division and cross organisational working at management level and amongst the wider divisional team, to ensure that these boundaries are not an impediment to the development of patient centred care. Job description Job responsibilities Business and Strategic Planning and Management Lead the development and regular review of the Divisions short, medium, and long-term plans, ensuring this is fully informed and influenced by both national and local policy and imperatives. Ensure that strategic plans are fully developed and tested, e.g., long term workforce planning, and that movement towards the strategic plans is built into annual delivery plans and individual objective setting. Develop an active awareness of the future national and local agendas, identifying those items that will have a significant impact on the division/organisation and ensure that the divisional teams have plans in place to meet requirements. Lead the business planning process within the Division ensuring that activity modelling informs the development of any bids or proposals and that these are rigorously tested and shared with stakeholders. Responsible for enabling change through the acquisition of resources via internal or external business cases when redesign is exhausted as a source of funds or cannot adequately support progress. Lead or be involved in Trust wide projects or groups, both to influence the organisational agenda/strategy and to deliver organisational wide objectives or approaches to particular issues. Operational and Performance Management To develop annually, in conjunction with the Associate Medical Directors and Divisions Management Team, the delivery plan and specific objectives of the Division in the context of the organisational strategy and annual objectives. Develop and implement robust and proactive systems to ensure the delivery of performance against plan for Division objectives, national/local targets, activity levels and finance. Lead the development, monitoring, measurement and reporting of key organisational performance indicators. To provide appropriate, accurate and timely information as assurance to the Executive Finance & Performance Committee. Ensure that the Division operates within budget constraints and delivers against challenging annual cost improvement targets and income plans. Contribute to the development of service line management within the Division to facilitate decisions regarding the maximisation of quality and resource management. Ensure the services provided by the Division are clinically and cost effectively patient-centred, through redesign, service improvement initiatives and projects, learning from national or local best practices etc and that this approach is embedded in the Division as a way of working. Manage large-scale projects from creation of business cases through to delivery of schemes as required involving all necessary stakeholders. Responsible for assuring robust systems and standards of corporate governance are achieved within the Division, including health and safety, Care Quality Commission assurance processes and relevant elements of Board Assurance Framework. Human Resources Management and Leadership Demonstrate the principles of the Trusts Leadership Charter and ensure that these principles are embedded within the Division. Ensure that an appropriate management structure is in place within which clear accountability and responsibilities are defined. Create a culture of responsibility and accountability throughout the Division in which staff feel empowered, valued, respected, and provided with appropriate opportunities for their development. Ensure that managers and staff at all levels have a clear understanding of their specific objectives and of the standards expected of them. Lead and motivate all staff within the Division, ensuring that staff in leadership roles have the level of skill and leadership capability necessary to continue to develop a service improvement and innovation culture. Ensure both a communication strategy and effective systems of communication are in place within the Division and that there are good communication links between the Division and other areas of the Trust, as well as with external bodies with whom the Division works. Ensure the Division actively works with other services and organisations, both within the Trust and with external local health communities and nationally, to promote service improvement and strategy development. Deputise for the Chief Operating Officer as required. Patient and Client Care Responsible for the Clinical Governance of the Support Services Division in partnership with the Clinical Governance Team and the Corporate Nursing Team, ensuring high quality patient care that can be supported with evidence. Attend the Divisional Audit and Governance Group as a member. Responsible for the implementation of the Trusts health and safety and risk management policies within the Division. Ensure that within the Division there is a culture of learning and continual improvement in the quality of patient care. Ensure that a culture of patient involvement develops within the Division and that this input actively informs the development of services and patient information. Promote cross division and cross organisational working at management level and amongst the wider divisional team, to ensure that these boundaries are not an impediment to the development of patient centred care. Person Specification Qualifications Essential Master' Degree or alternative postgraduate qualification Desirable Postgraduate management qualification Experience Essential At least 5 years in a significant operational and strategic management post within health or social care. Able to demonstrate experience of consistent achievement in operational and strategic management (service; financial and human resources; performance management targets in a changing, challenging, political environment). Experience of successfully and simultaneously implementing strategic change, performance improvement and significant cost reduction. Desirable Achieved within an acute hospital setting or social care setting Experience in risk management Skills Essential Demonstrates an understanding of responsibilities relating to financial management and accountability. Able to source, analyse and manipulate complex data and information to inform and influence decision making and manage performance. Demonstrable awareness of understanding of national policy issues within the NHS. Values driven and committed to the highest standards of probity and governance. Demonstrates ability to present a well reasoned argument, based on an appropriate degree of research and drawing logical conclusions. Demonstrates ability to produce complex documents to deadlines, which meet the corporate governance requirements. Evidence of excellence and innovation in management practice. Demonstrable ability to translate national policy, plan targets and vision into effective strategic and operational plans that meet national targets. Demonstrates ability to devise and implement strategy for a (partly) autonomous business unit, including workforce planning, activity projections, etc. Demonstrates ability to make operational decisions that are consistent with the strategy and use one to inform the other Personal Qualities Essential Exceptional communicator; inspires others; infectious enthusiasm; able to communicate the vision of the organisation. Approachable and not status conscious. Demonstrates genuine attentiveness to others. Able to negotiate a successful outcome. Encourages strategic thinking and questioning/new approaches and solutions to problems. Consults and involves others in decision making, open to criticism and disagreement Enables others to take decisions Honest and consistent in behaviour. Encourages critical feedback of him/herself Able to create and maintain teams of people who can trust each other and to be critical without fear and in the knowledge that lessons can be learnt and applied Other Essential Be a part of the Executive On Call Rota for both week days and weekends Person Specification Qualifications Essential Master' Degree or alternative postgraduate qualification Desirable Postgraduate management qualification Experience Essential At least 5 years in a significant operational and strategic management post within health or social care. Able to demonstrate experience of consistent achievement in operational and strategic management (service; financial and human resources; performance management targets in a changing, challenging, political environment). Experience of successfully and simultaneously implementing strategic change, performance improvement and significant cost reduction. Desirable Achieved within an acute hospital setting or social care setting Experience in risk management Skills Essential Demonstrates an understanding of responsibilities relating to financial management and accountability. Able to source, analyse and manipulate complex data and information to inform and influence decision making and manage performance. Demonstrable awareness of understanding of national policy issues within the NHS. Values driven and committed to the highest standards of probity and governance. Demonstrates ability to present a well reasoned argument, based on an appropriate degree of research and drawing logical conclusions. Demonstrates ability to produce complex documents to deadlines, which meet the corporate governance requirements. Evidence of excellence and innovation in management practice. Demonstrable ability to translate national policy, plan targets and vision into effective strategic and operational plans that meet national targets. Demonstrates ability to devise and implement strategy for a (partly) autonomous business unit, including workforce planning, activity projections, etc. Demonstrates ability to make operational decisions that are consistent with the strategy and use one to inform the other Personal Qualities Essential Exceptional communicator; inspires others; infectious enthusiasm; able to communicate the vision of the organisation. Approachable and not status conscious. Demonstrates genuine attentiveness to others. Able to negotiate a successful outcome. Encourages strategic thinking and questioning/new approaches and solutions to problems. Consults and involves others in decision making, open to criticism and disagreement Enables others to take decisions Honest and consistent in behaviour. Encourages critical feedback of him/herself Able to create and maintain teams of people who can trust each other and to be critical without fear and in the knowledge that lessons can be learnt and applied Other Essential Be a part of the Executive On Call Rota for both week days and weekends Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab). Additional information Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab). From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab). Employer details Employer name South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust Address Operational Services C26015 Warwick CV34 5BW Employer's website https://www.swft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)