Job overview
** THIS POSITION IS ONLY OPEN TO CURRENT UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST EMPLOYEES **
We have an extremely exciting opportunity for you to join our team as Deputy Divisional Director of Operations for our Medicine Division. Reporting to the Divisional Director of Operations, this role forms a key part of our Divisional Management team and works closely with clinical, operational and corporate colleagues across the Trust and beyond. As Deputy Director of Operations, you will lead on all aspects of performance management and service delivery within the Division. You will work together with our colleagues to ensure that quality, performance, constitutional standards, CIP and budgetary targets are monitored and delivered.
Main duties of the job
This role provides an excellent opportunity to develop and progress your career into a Director of Operations, with support from the current Divisional Director to achieve this progression. We are seeking a motivated and influential leader who is partnership led and who has significant operational management experience within the NHS. This is a tough but rewarding role and the successful post holder will need to have strong personal resilience to deal with the day-to-day pressures of leading large and complex services through the busiest time the NHS has ever seen.
Your duties will be completed with passion whilst leading and motivating from the front, promoting the trusts value of compassion, communication, teamwork, respect, professionalism and inclusion; allowing your staff to thrive and deliver outstanding patient care.
Working for our organisation
At UHSussex (UHSx), diversity is our strength, & we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First. Your uniqueness & 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, & can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) & a Veteran Aware Trust.
We treat our patients & staff with the same compassion & empathy we expect for ourselves. We’re here for them when they need us, and we go above & beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in our candidate information pack & wellbeing programme, for staff which is extensive & 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 & training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us & throughout your career we will help you to grow & develop. We hope that in choosing UHSx you are choosing a long & happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make & feel valued for all that you do.
We look forward to receiving your application & the start of your journey with UHSx.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
As Deputy and in the absence of the Divisional Director of Operations (DDO):
1. Lead on all aspects of performance management and service delivery within the Division.
2. Take operational decisions including budget spend for any urgent short-term operational issues. Support the Hospital-wide operational functions providing leadership and decision making as required including escalation/liaison to external agencies where appropriate.
3. Represent the Division and Trust at meetings as required for example: Divisional Strategic Deployment Review (SDR) meetings, Executive level committees and sub-committees, efficiency meetings, workforce transformation meetings
4. Chair meetings in place of the DDO where appropriate
5. Lead the strategic development of designated services, in partnership with the DDO and Chief of Service.
6. In the absence of the DDO, have delegated responsibility for budgets across the division.
7. Provide specialist knowledge of a range of services, policies and practices.
Work in conjunction with the Divisional Director of Operations (DDO):
8. Ensure alignment of the Trust’s strategic direction and resulting activities of the Division.
9. Translate service strategy into robust management, financial and business planning activities across the Division, with the support and advice of other managers and clinicians.
10. Ensure that the Division works actively and collaboratively with colleagues in the local ICS.
11. Ensure service policy developments are in line with national directives and local frameworks.
12. Direct management responsibility for specified Directorate(s) within the division, to be agreed in conjunction with the Divisional Director of Operations (DDO).
13. Communicate clear and positive messages to staff, the Divisional Board, other parts of the Trust and key stakeholders. Translate highly complex information into easy to disseminate communications.
14. In partnership with the Divisional Management Team contribute to the strategic development of the Divisional services through local innovation and service improvements.
15. Lead improvement projects for designated objectives; from identifying and defining the problem through the identification of top contributors, engagement with others, development and implementation of mitigating actions to monitoring performance and improvement.
16. Contribute to the development of guidelines ensuring policies and procedures are up to date, available, developed within the Trust format and that they take account of any NHS or legislative changes
-- Please see Job Description & Person Specs for full details --
Person specification
Experience
Essential criteria
17. Significant experience at senior operational management role
18. •Analytical and problem-solving skills in dealing with complex information and data.
19. •Ability to collaborate effectively and maintain successful partnerships
20. •Experienced manager on the on-call rota
Desirable criteria
21. Proven experience of planning and organising at a strategic level with highly complex and conflicting priorities
22. •Proven track record as a leader and professional role model. •
EDI
Essential criteria
23. Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles (as appropriate to role).
24. Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues
Important information for applicants:
A Note on AI Use in Applications
We value the individuality and authenticity that each candidate brings to the application process. While AI tools are increasingly accessible, we strongly discourage their use in completing your application. Your responses should reflect your own voice, experiences, and motivations—elements that are essential to a fair and accurate evaluation.
Applications that rely heavily on AI-generated content may misrepresent your abilities and could result in your application being rejected. We encourage you to take the time to present your genuine self, as this helps us better understand your potential and ensures a transparent selection process.
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