Overview
The opportunity to drive benefit realisation across the organisation and to drive cross-portfolio collaboration.
About Our Client
The Welsh Ambulance Service is supported by more than 4,500 staff and volunteers, and everyone has a role to play in providing a service to patients. Our services include:
* Emergency Medical Service (EMS) - Responding to urgent and emergency calls and providing pre-hospital care.
* Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service - Transporting people to and from routine outpatient appointments.
* EMS Coordination Centres - Receiving emergency and urgent calls and dispatching ambulance crews.
* NHS 111 Wales - Providing health advice remotely via telephone, video and the website.
* Support Service Departments - Managing finances, IT, recruitment, and staff communications.
We receive more than 500,000 emergency calls and one million 111 calls a year, and transport more than 1.3 million non-emergency patients to over 200 treatment centres in Wales and England. We respond 24/7, 365 days a year.
The Role
The Deputy Director of Operations provides highly visible, senior leadership for the day-to-day delivery of operational, workforce, planning, quality, and financial performance across the Operations Directorate.
The postholder will:
* Act as immediate deputy to the Executive Director of Operations, enabling increased strategic and external engagement.
* Hold directorate accountability for professional standards, culture and safeguarding, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and high-quality, patient-focused services.
* Lead the directorate's financial sustainability, owning budgets, delivering cost improvement plans, and ensuring robust financial stewardship, including budgeting for major activity and accountability for service portfolios.
* Drive cross-portfolio/departmental/directorate integration, system and pathway flow, and continuous improvement, supporting the Trust's strategic objectives.
* Lead major service transformation, improvement programmes, and strategic projects; include organisation-wide policy development and service redesign.
* Represent the Trust in internal and external forums, fostering system partnership and stakeholder engagement.
* Lead directorate planning to support strategy and the Integrated Medium-Term Plan, translating strategy into measurable outcomes.
* Play a key role in delivering change and transformation, particularly whole-directorate change.
* Work with media outlets to promote the Trust's profile and communicate key messages; handle highly complex, sensitive, and contentious information as required.
* Develop and sustain effective trade union partnerships.
Job Description
Responsibilities
Professional Standards, Culture & Safeguarding
* Set and uphold clinical, operational/performance, financial, and behavioural standards across Operations, including clinical service delivery standards.
* Champion a positive, inclusive culture, embed Trust behaviours/values, and promote psychological safety.
* Ensure robust safeguarding policies and practices, compliance with Duty of Quality, Duty of Candour, Civil Contingencies Act and regulatory requirements.
* Lead on culture change programmes and organisational development initiatives.
* Responsible for leading directorate-wide cultural transformation programmes.
Financial Sustainability
* Own Operations Directorate budgets, lead cost improvement and efficiency plans, and ensure financial governance.
* Deliver financial recovery plans, monitor expenditure, and report on financial performance, risks, and opportunities.
* Ensure value for money and compliance with Trust and NHS Wales financial frameworks.
* Frequent access to Oracle systems to support operational and strategic functions when acting in a deputy capacity for the Executive Director of Operations.
Strategic Leadership & Transformation
* Lead and integrate the work of all Assistant Directors, aligning portfolios to strategic objectives and operational effectiveness.
* Lead initiatives to enhance system and pathway flow and performance, fostering external partnerships to influence broader system outcomes.
* Lead major service transformation, improvement programmes, and strategic projects as delegated; develop service/business development plans, business cases, and innovation initiatives.
* Use analytical tools (e.g., Excel, Power BI) daily to manage data and support data-driven decision-making.
Operational Oversight & Performance Management
* Ensure effective management of all operational delivery areas.
* Oversee business management, risk, and audit functions; ensure governance standards are met.
* Responsible for directorate-level policy implementation and development.
* Drive achievement of KPIs, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement.
* Lead on EPRR, major incident response, and business continuity; participate in Gold/Strategic on-call rota.
* Accountable to the Executive Director of Operations for delivery of technical and operational services within the portfolio.
People Leadership
* Line manage Assistant Directors via ESR, manage leave and sickness, support development and PADR compliance.
* Foster professionalism, inclusion, and continuous improvement.
* Lead directorate workforce planning, talent development, and staff engagement.
* Provide leadership to the Volunteer Service.
* Oversee formal HR processes, including dismissals, restructures, and complex casework.
System Partnership & Stakeholder Engagement
* Build and maintain relationships with internal and external partners, commissioners, regulators, and multi-agency stakeholders.
* Represent the Trust at regional and national forums; promote integrated care and system working.
* Develop and sustain trade union partnerships as part of stakeholder engagement.
* Collaborate with Communications to manage communications and reputation; act as Trust spokesperson.
* Ensure programme and project management best practices are embedded across directorate initiatives.
Governance, Risk and Assurance
* Ensure robust governance, risk management, and assurance frameworks.
* Maintain risk registers, audit compliance, and statutory reporting.
* Lead on clinical governance, patient safety, and quality improvement.
* Lead on information governance, including Freedom of Information for the directorate.
* Policy development for the directorate and contribute to organisation-wide policy development.
Freedom to Act
* Exercise autonomy and independent decision-making; interpret and implement policy.
* Set goals and standards for others and interpret national policy.
* Act as a role model for behaviours, inclusion, and wellbeing.
* Manage daily use of systems and MS Teams channels to collaborate within confidential groups.
The Successful Applicant
Experience
Essential
* Significant senior leadership experience in a large, complex NHS or emergency services organisation.
* Proven track record of improving professional standards, safeguarding compliance, and organisational development.
* Experience in financial stewardship of large budgets and delivering efficiency/value programmes and financial recovery.
* Strategic portfolio management, operational delivery, and service transformation experience.
* Experience in major incidents, resilience and business continuity planning, and EPRR.
* Experience working with media (print, radio, TV).
* Delivery of balanced financial position and efficiency plans.
* Improved operational performance to achieve outcomes and system flow.
* Successful change management with positive staff feedback.
* Experience in external engagement, partnerships, and stakeholder management.
* Contributing to national/regional policy development or strategic forums.
* Shaping medium- to long-term planning in a devolved/complex health system.
Desirable
* Experience leading system-level programmes across agencies.
* Delivering large digital/data/technology-enabled improvement programmes.
* Leading workforce redesign or modernisation initiatives.
* Delivering major business cases or capital/service reconfiguration programmes.
* Improving integrated care pathways across organisational boundaries.
Skills and Attributes
Essential
* Openness, inclusion, and compassionate leadership.
* Commitment to organisational values and continuous improvement.
* Ability to inspire confidence at Executive/Board level and with clinicians.
* Resilience, emotional intelligence, and calm under pressure.
* Strong people management and leadership skills.
* Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement.
* Ability to handle highly complex information and present to large groups.
* Plan and organise complex activities; adapt plans to achieve strategy.
* Flexibility to adapt duties as required.
* Compliance with Trust policies on equality, diversity, inclusion, H&S, information governance, and infection control.
* Experience working with trade unions on complex matters.
* Standard keyboard skills.
Desirable
* National professional body recognition.
Other
Essential
* Satisfactory Enhanced DBS clearance, including Adults and Children Barred List checks.
* Ability to gain and maintain UK Security Clearance.
Qualification and Knowledge
Essential
* Master's level qualification or equivalent at senior management level (Assistant Director/NHS Band 8d+).
* Continued professional development relevant to senior operational leadership.
* Current Gold/Strategic Commander qualification or extensive experience; willingness to re-qualify.
* Excellent programme and project management skills.
* Current UK Driving Licence.
Desirable
* Recognised project management qualification (PRINCE2, PMP).
* Participation in national leadership development programmes.
* Formal training in improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma).
* Welsh language skills.
* Clinically registered (e.g., Nurse or Paramedic).
What’s on Offer
At the heart of Welsh healthcare, our Trust offers a comprehensive benefits package to support wellbeing, growth, and career ambitions.
* Starting salary £110,818 rising to £127,523 with service (AfC Band 9)
* Generous annual leave: 28 days plus Bank Holidays, rising to 34 days with service.
* NHS pension scheme
* Flexible working
* Health & wellbeing support
* Salary sacrifice schemes
* Continuous professional development
* Long service recognition
* Welsh language and diversity support
* NHS discounts
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