HUC (formerly Herts Urgent Care) is a clinically led, values driven social enterprise delivering a wide range of integrated urgent and primary care services. Since our beginnings in 2007 as a GP-led out-of-hours provider, we've grown significantly to provide NHS 111, out-of-hours GP care, urgent treatment centres, dentistry, and clinical assessment services across both the East and South West of England.
We now support over 4.5 million patients annually through a committed team of around 1,400 employees and 370 GPs and clinical professionals. Our culture is defined by our values, caring, dynamic, innovative, and respectful, and by a shared commitment to putting patients at the heart of everything we do.
HUC is a clinically led, not-for-profit social enterprise delivering integrated urgent and primary care services to more than 4.5 million people across the East and South West of England. Since our origins as a GP-led out-of-hours provider in Hertfordshire in 2007, we've grown into a regionally diverse organisation delivering services such as NHS 111, urgent treatment centres, community hubs, intervention vehicles, dental urgent care, out-of-hours GP care and clinical assessment.
Our growth has been shaped by the needs of the communities and systems we serve. Over the past year, we've deepened our role in Somerset and Cornwall, expanded infrastructure with a new contact centre in Bedford, and strengthened our clinical governance with the introduction of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework. We were proud to receive a 'Good' rating from the CQC for our Integrated Urgent Care services in the East, recognising the quality, professionalism and compassion our teams bring every day.
The Operations Assurance Director (OAD) is a new senior appointment at a pivotal moment in HUC's development. It replaces the former Chief Operating Officer post and reflects a conscious decision to reframe the senior operational leadership model, placing emphasis on assurance, performance and consistency.
The OAD will report to the Chief Commercial and Delivery Officer and act as the most senior operational lead in the organisation. The creation of this role follows a period during which HUC's operations have been overseen by members of the executive team, without a single post holder accountable for the totality of service delivery. This appointment therefore represents both a structural and cultural shift: from reactive, sometimes ad hoc operations to a more integrated, performance focused and data led model.
Key Responsibilities:
* Lead operational performance across all services, ensuring contractual compliance and operational excellence.
* Embed real time performance monitoring, operational dashboards and evidence-based management.
* Instil a consistent culture of performance and accountability across regions and services.
* Develop operational leaders through coaching, support and role modelling.
* Collaborate closely with finance, clinical and governance leads to align operational delivery with wider strategic goals.
* Lead transformation work to modernise systems, eliminate duplication, and drive sustainable service improvement.
We are looking for someone who:
* Has senior operational leadership experience in a complex, regulated environment.
* Brings a track record of improving service delivery and building performance systems.
* Is financially astute, able to manage within budgets and link cost to activity and outcomes.
* Can lead through influence, with emotional intelligence and a team-based mindset.
* Is hands on, visible, and confident engaging with frontline staff.
This role could suit an experienced Operations Director or Deputy COO seeking a broader remit, or a senior general manager with proven capability ready to step up. While healthcare experience could be helpful (particularly NHS 111, urgent care, or ambulance services), we are open to candidates from outside the sector, including logistics, defence, customer services or other regulated, time critical service environments.
The successful candidate will need to bring structure and systems, but also empathy and engagement. HUC's culture remains informal and human, what works is leadership that is accessible, grounded and driven by purpose. This is a high impact role, with significant responsibility and real opportunity to shape how care is delivered across multiple regions. It is ideally suited to someone who sees growth and challenge as exciting, and who has the vision and determination to help HUC succeed in its next chapter.