Job Description
A rare COO opportunity in one of the UK's most forward-thinking primary care organisations.
Willows Health is appointing its next Chief Operating Officer. We're 12 GP practices, 75,000+ patients, and one of the largest providers of NHS primary care in the East Midlands - with a digital-first patient access model, AI-enabled triage through SystmConnect, a growing Urgent Care Service, and our own training academy.
This isn't a caretaker role. It's a builder's role.
Why this role is unusual:
- A 12-month handover with our outgoing COO before they retire - a genuine induction, not a sink-or-swim
- Direct seat on the Executive Board, reporting to the Chair
- Full operational accountability across all 12 sites
- A digitally fluent executive team that thinks in dashboards, AI tools, and operating models
- "Good" CQC rating, growing organisation, strong board support
What you'll own:
- End-to-end operational leadership across 12 practice sites
- CQC compliance and integrated operational governance
- Senior management and site leadership team development
- Digital transformation programmes - telephony, patient access, AI-enabled triage (SystmConnect), patient communication
- Workforce planning, including ARRS and multi-disciplinary teams
- Board-level reporting, risk management, and operational assurance
- Stakeholder relationships with the ICB, PCNs, NHSE, and CQC
What we're looking for:
You'll bring substantial senior operational leadership experience from a complex, regulated, multi-site environment. Primary care experience is welcome but not essential - we're equally interested in exceptional operators from NHS provider settings, regulated public services, or comparably complex service organisations who can bring fresh thinking.
You'll be:
- Digitally fluent and confident across modern primary care platforms, BI dashboards, and AI-supported productivity tools
- Forward-thinking and energised by transformation, not just maintenance
- Decisive and accountable, able to operate with high autonomy
- Collaborative and enabling - leading through others, not around them
- Genuinely values-aligned - patient-first, evidence-led, kind, and people-centred
The package:
- Very competitive executive salary, dependent on experience
- Full-time, permanent
- Multi-site Leicestershire base (regular travel between sites)
- EAP, Pension
Closing date: 31st May 2026