Overview
Health & Care Jersey is seeking an experienced senior operational leader to ensure the delivery of improvements across Acute Care services. Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, the Deputy Chief Operating Officer will lead key operational areas that underpin both daily service delivery and long-term performance improvement. The post holder will bring strong technical expertise, professional credibility, and leadership skills to influence multi-professional teams and nurture a positive culture that directly enhances patient care. The Deputy COO will provide strategic and operational support across the COO’s full portfolio and will deputise where required. Applicants must demonstrate a proven track record of effective stakeholder management across and within organisational boundaries. Acute Services is HCJ’s largest operational sector, delivering emergency and planned care across Medical, Surgical, and Women’s and Children’s specialties. This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to leadership across system-wide health care services and to help shape the future of acute care for Islanders, including a new acute hospital build and significant investment in service design and development.
Main duties of the job
The Deputy Chief Operating Officer Acute Services will have overall operational responsibility for the General Manager for Operational Resilience and the General Manager for Patient Access/Cancer, and will contribute to the delivery of core performance and quality standards related to Emergency Department, cancer, diagnostics and elective care. The post holder will lead senior colleagues who are accountable for the safe and effective delivery of elective inpatient and outpatient acute services and clinical administrative teams, ensuring high quality outcomes for patients through consistent pathway management processes and systems. The post holder will contribute to the delivery of HCJ’s strategic plan and will lead key strategic change by working in partnership with Care Group Teams and external bodies to deliver sustainable, high-quality patient care that achieves HCJ Advisory Board objectives across the local health economy. The post holder will play a key leadership role within the organisation and proactively lead and provide solutions to resolve complex operational issues in accordance with board objectives, quality and other statutory standards and resource constraints.
About us
At Health and Care Jersey, we’re not just delivering healthcare — we’re shaping the future of health and wellbeing for over 100,000 Islanders and visitors. Our dedicated team of over 2,000 professionals provides essential care across 30+ diverse departments, offering a wide range of specialist services from acute and emergency care to community and preventive health initiatives. With state-of-the-art facilities like the Enid Quenault Health and Wellbeing Centre and plans to modernise our healthcare infrastructure, this is a great time to join us. Your work will make a meaningful impact on people’s lives every day.
Join us and be part of something extraordinary.
Details
Date posted: 13 March 2026
Pay scheme: Other
Salary: £112,690.56 to £124,480.88 a year
Contract: Permanent
Working pattern: Full-time
Reference number: K0011-26-3790
Job locations: Government Of Jersey; Union Street; St. Helier; Jersey; JE2 3DN
Job responsibilities
Provide advice to the Chief Officer, Chief Operations Officer (COO) and respective Minister(s) or senior civil servants through briefing or reports as required.
Act independently, taking timely and significant decisions to ensure the operational delivery of the departments they are responsible for.
Provide dynamic, innovative leadership using a positive, strong influencing style to ensure services are run effectively and to budget, ensuring they work in a positive and collaborative manner. Support the Executive team, Non-Executive Directors and wider system leadership to achieve strategy, vision and objectives through the development of operational strategies and plans.
Review organisational performance alongside the COO and other relevant Directors to provide effective and robust recovery or improvement.
Ensure consistently high-quality care through the development of a culture of effective teamwork and patient focus, and through the empowerment of Care Group clinical leaders and contribute to attainment of good outcomes against regulatory and statutory assessment processes by leading specific areas of the single assessment framework. Embed a culture and performance management system which ensures that all staff understand and comply with HCJ policies and procedures, and encourages continuous improvement.
The post holder will be required to deputise with full designate responsibility for the COO Acute services and may be required to attend HCJ Advisory Board, in public, to update on associated programmes of work.
Person Specification
Experience
Essential
* Management and leadership experience at a senior level in healthcare delivery
* Experience of working at a senior/sub-board management level within a healthcare provider
* Experience of capacity planning and translating organisation strategy and vision into operational objectives
* Evidence of successfully leading significant organisational change in developing new models of healthcare delivery
* Demonstrate experience of building, maintaining and utilising successful relationships with all staff, especially clinicians, within complex organisations
* Experience of the regulation of health and social care services (e.g. CQC), including audit and reporting against standards
* Demonstrate strong and credible leadership in pulling people together across systems and motivating them to deliver common aims and targets
* Demonstrate considerable experience of situational leadership, human resource management and people development
Desirable
* Varied leadership experience within acute healthcare delivery
Qualifications
Essential
* Educated to degree level/equivalent professional qualification or relevant equivalent professional experience
* Postgraduate level management qualification or relevant equivalent professional experience
* Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable
* Project management qualifications
* Healthcare leadership course
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check — This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and a disclosure check will be required.
Certificate of Sponsorship — Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled Worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information, see the UK Visas and Immigration website. Guidance on overseas criminal records checks is provided in official guidance.
UK Registration — Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information see the NHS Careers website.
Employer details
Health and Community Services
Government Of Jersey
Union Street
St. Helier
Jersey
JE2 3DN
Employer's website: https://www.gov.je
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