Overview
London Central West Unscheduled Care Collaborative (LCW UCC) is seeking an experienced Director of Operations to provide strategic and operational leadership across LCW urgent and primary care services. As a Board-level role and member of the Executive Team, the postholder will ensure delivery of safe, high-quality Out of Hours, Urgent Care, and GP services, and will deputise for the CEO when required. This role offers the opportunity to play a key role in leading the delivery of urgent and primary care in the context of an expanding range of services.
Key Responsibilities
* Provide strategic and operational leadership across all LCW services, ensuring safe, high-quality, and high-performing patient care in line with NHS and CQC requirements.
* Act as a visible and accountable senior leader, deputising for the CEO when required, and serving as Nominated Individual for CQC, Deputy Accountable Emergency Officer, and Health & Safety Lead.
* Lead service innovation, redesign, and integration, ensuring services meet contractual, financial, and performance targets while driving improvements in patient outcomes and operational effectiveness.
* Build and maintain strong relationships with commissioners, system partners, and primary care providers, leading contractual negotiations, business development, and high-quality tender responses.
* Provide clear leadership to senior managers, ensuring effective workforce planning, supervision, and development, while fostering an inclusive and supportive organisational culture.
* Support delivery of robust clinical governance, risk management, and quality assurance in partnership with the Medical Director and clinical leadership team.
* Ensure effective financial management of LCW services, including oversight of budgets, business plans, and resource allocation.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential: Degree or equivalent knowledge and skills; Healthcare environment experience; Experience of working with/in primary care.
Desirable: Urgent care experience at a senior level; Postgraduate qualification in a health-related field or management.
Knowledge and skills
* Strong negotiation, influencing, and problem-solving skills with the ability to challenge constructively and make sound decisions under pressure.
* Proven ability to provide strategic direction, lead business development, and deliver change within complex healthcare settings.
* Excellent analytical skills with the ability to interpret and present complex information clearly to diverse audiences.
* Highly developed collaborative skills, working effectively with clinical leaders, multi-professional teams, and external stakeholders.
* Skilled in planning and prioritising across short, medium, and long-term horizons, with the ability to delegate and manage competing demands.
* Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, able to build consensus and tailor messaging for different audiences.
* IT literacy, with proficiency in Microsoft Office (including Excel and PowerPoint).
Values and Other Attributes
* Flexible, adaptable, and resilient with a calm and rational approach in challenging situations.
* Visible, compassionate, and inclusive leadership style with commitment to equality, diversity, and community-focused care.
* High integrity and accountability, credible when working with clinicians and senior leaders.
* Ability to recognise and escalate risks, simplify complexity, and enable effective action across teams.
* Commitment to LCW core values: Patient First, Drive Change, Together, Belonging, and Community Focused.
Experience
* Senior-level experience within the healthcare sector with a track record of operational and strategic leadership.
* Experience leading teams, managing performance, and handling HR processes including recruitment, grievance, conduct, and performance management.
* Experience managing budgets, resources, and services to deliver high-quality outcomes.
* Experience of service improvement, change management, and leading projects to develop or enhance healthcare provision.
* Skilled in developing, presenting, and implementing business cases, as well as mobilising new services.
Disclosure
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such a submission for Disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service will be required.
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