Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.
Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.
We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.
To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone.
Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.
Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.
LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King’s College London’s GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.
We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.
Are you a visionary imaging leader ready to drive innovation, elevate patient care, and shape the future of diagnostic services across a major NHS Trust? This is your opportunity to step into a high‑impact role at the heart of a dynamic, ambitious organisation.
We are seeking an experienced and credible senior leader to provide operational, strategic and financial leadership within the complex Imaging environment. The post holder will be responsible for delivering high‑quality, safe and effective services, ensuring performance against agreed objectives, and supporting the Trust’s wider strategic priorities.
This role requires a professional who can work collaboratively with clinical and managerial colleagues, demonstrate strong governance and financial control, and lead service improvement in line with organisational values. The successful candidate will bring sound judgement, resilience, and the ability to operate effectively at senior level within a changing healthcare system.
Imaging is central to modern healthcare — and you’ll be at the forefront of ensuring our services are safe, efficient, compassionate and future‑focused. You’ll influence Trust‑wide strategy, drive service transformation, and champion excellence across a diverse, talented workforce.
This is your chance to make a measurable difference to patient experience, clinical quality, and the development of imaging services across the organisation
PLEASE NOTE: Interview date 24th February 2026
Main duties of the job
1. Holding overall accountability for the operational performance of Imaging services, including quality, safety, access standards, clinical governance and patient experience.
2. Leading performance management arrangements to ensure delivery against agreed activity, access, quality and financial targets, taking corrective action where required.
3. Leading the development of business cases, service plans and performance reports, providing assurance to Divisional and Executive leadership.
4. Managing and developing senior clinical and managerial leaders, ensuring effective workforce planning, performance appraisal, and compliance with Trust workforce policies.
5. Maintaining robust financial control
6. Ensuring effective risk management, clinical governance and business continuity arrangements across the service, including the investigation and management of serious incidents and complaints.
7. Contributing to divisional and Trust‑wide strategic initiatives, supporting service redesign, innovation and system‑wide collaboration.
8. Acting as a senior Trust representative with internal and external stakeholders, including commissioners, partner organisations and regulatory bodies.
9. Deputising for the Divisional Director of Operations as required and participating in the senior manager on‑call rota.
Working for our organisation
Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:
10. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
11. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
12. Improving the experience of staff with disability
13. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
14. Making equalities mainstream
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
1.PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
·Ensure the delivery of agreed performance indicators for the Directorate in relation to clinical outcomes, clinical efficiency and service line reporting.
·Ensure the Directorate has clearly defined performance objectives supported by a management regime to deliver continuous improvement.
·Develop and implement effective reporting arrangements to accurately record and monitor performance against targets and to pro-actively manage any variances.
·Provide regular reports of performance trends and service specific analysis to the Chief Operating Officer and other Executive Directors with assurance that appropriate follow up actions will be completed.
·Lead on and oversee drafting and presentation of high-quality business cases, position papers and service plans for the Directorate.
·Lead the development of the annual Service Business Plan in conjunction with the Divisional Director of Operations, Service Leads and divisional managerial staff. Lead on specific elements of the divisional plan as defined by the Divisional Director of Operations.
·Hold Lead Clinicians, Lead Nurses and Service Managers to account for delivery of their objectives through regular performance and service review meetings.
·Deal directly with key external stakeholders including local ICB’s and Place teams, other external agencies and contractors as required.
·Participate in the Trust Manager on-call rota.
2.PEOPLE MANAGEMENT
·Monitor compliance within the directorate with Trust-wide staff management policies and procedures and take remedial action with accountable managers where shortfalls occur.
·Line manage, coach and develop Lead Clinicians, Lead Nurses and Service Managers and conduct their annual performance appraisal in conjunction with, respectively, the lead clinician and lead nurse.
·Ensure that managers have been trained in core workforce policies and are competent to deal with first line workforce issues.
·Ensure that all staff have annual appraisals and Personal Development Plans that support the Trust’s excellence agenda.
·Ensure that staff are deployed cost-effectively and controls are in place to meet key workforce performance indicators on bank and agency, sickness absence reduction, turnover, etc.
·Take a proactive approach towards tackling HR issues including recruitment and retention, labour utilisation and skill mix.
·Ensure that appropriate action is taken to deal with issues of staff discipline, grievance, poor performance and sickness, up to and including dismissal.
·Manage and lead in a way that ensures respect and inclusion of all groups of staff, patients and carers.
3.FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
·Act as an authorising signatory for capital and revenue budgets within agreed limits.
·Ensure compliance with financial procedures and the Trust’s Standing Financial Instructions.
·Ensure the achievement of key deadlines for financial reporting and planning.
·Work with the Finance Business Partner in developing and engaging clinicians and managers in a collaborative approach to financial management.
·Ensure thatthe Directorate is achieving its agreed activity and access targets.
·Work with key stakeholders and partners to maximise the cost improvement programme agenda and meet levels of saving commitment allocated to the service.
·Monitor activity and income against plan, reporting regularly to the Divisional Director of Operations and enacting remedies where performance deviates from the plan.
4.RISK & CLINICAL GOVERNANCE
·Manage the implementation of systems, control processes and risk management arrangements to support monitoring of compliance with clinical governance standards, other Trust-wide policies and processes and best practice requirements.
·Respond to urgent or serious patient complaints ensuring immediate risk management, and where possible defusing complaints by satisfying the complainant with the actions taken.
·As a Trust Senior Manager carry out management investigations into clinical incidents and staff management issues as requested, and to act as presenting manager or chair meetings held under the Trust workforce policies.
·Support, alongside the Lead Nurse and other clinical staff, root cause analyses and trend analyses of all complaints and adverse incidents.
·Take responsibility for business continuity of the services within the Directorate.
·Ensure the Division provides high quality pathways and services and is responsive to the needs of patients, carers, service users and General Practitioners.
·Put the interest of patients / service users at the heart of all managerial decisions.
5.STRATEGY AND SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
·Support the Divisional Director of Operations in identifying both new opportunities for the individual services within the Directorate, arising from changes in the external environment or internal innovation, and potential threats and ways to respond to them.
·Challenge existing practices, ensuring that progressive solutions, which take into account models of best practice, are incorporated into service plans.
·Support clinicians to re-design services to deliver improved clinical outcomes for patients, reduce waiting times and use resources more efficiently.
·Manage service improvement projects within the Directorate and contribute to Trust-wide and Divisional service improvement projects within agreed timeframes and financial targets.
Person specification
Essential criteria
15. First degree or equivalent
16. Evidence of other specialist knowledge at higher degree or master’s level
17. Extensive knowledge of the NHS in the acute sector with up-to-date knowledge of patient services
18. Evidence of CPD
Experience
Essential criteria
19. Significant experience in clinical service management at a senior level in a large, complex acute hospital or community service environment
20. Demonstrable success in delivering large scale change projects/programs with and through management and clinical teams
21. Track record of financial delivery
22. A good understanding of the changing NHS environment
23. Track record in writing complex cases and policies
24. Experience of managing and deciding on complex employment issues
Working with Others
Essential criteria
25. Highly developed leadership and influencing skills with the ability to enthuse, motivate and involve individuals and teams, and have them understand the Trust’s and your performance expectations
26. Able to network and collaborate constructively with internal and external partners to deliver and improve services
27. Able to lead a team, and to adopt a team approach to deliver and improve services
28. Excellent inter-personal and communications skills and the ability to direct when required
29. Engages effectively across boundaries, while operating in partnership with stakeholders towards a shared vision
30. Able to act with integrity, and to value respect and promote equality and diversity
Managing Services
Essential criteria
31. Able to think and plan strategically, tactically and creatively, and to prioritise work programs in the face of competing demands
32. Able to manage and deliver services within resources
33. Able to critically analyse and interpret complex financial and clinical data sets
34. Able to effectively manage performance by holding themselves and others to account for service outcomes
35. Able to actively contribute to plans to achieve service goals
36. Manage people, by providing direction, reviewing performance, and motivating others
37. Able to ensure patient safety by assessing and managing risk associated with service developments
38. Able to facilitate transformation and change to improve services
Skills
Essential criteria
39. Able to demonstrate sound political judgement and astuteness in understanding the contexts for change
40. Ability to analyse highly complex problems and to develop practical and workable solutions using knowledge and evidence
41. Able to make sound decisions using all available evidence, and evaluate their impact
42. Excellent IT skills, including the ability to create and handle large documents using Word processing skills, producing spread sheets and analysis for presentation at meetings and Board level events
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
43. Demonstrate insight into own limitations and abilities and actively seek support and advice when required
44. Able to manage themselves by organising and managing themselves while taking into account the needs and priorities of others
45. High level of work organisation, self-motivation, drive for performance and improvement, and flexibility in approach and attitude
46. Has the drive and energy to make things happen – frequently goes "above and beyond" the call of duty
47. Thinks and solves problems creatively
48. High level of attention to detail
We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.
As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women’s staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.
Please note that sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route is subject to Trust allocation and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approval.
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.