Job overview
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE WILL ONLY ACCEPT APPLICATIONS FROM STAFF CURRENTLY EMPLOYED BY WELSH AMBULANCE SERVICE NHS TRUST
Operations Manager - Incident Response Desk
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and motivated Operations Manager to join the Incident Response Desk (IRD) within Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust (WAST).
This national Band 7 role provides operational leadership for the IRD, supporting the safe, effective, and resilient delivery of ambulance services across Wales. The postholder will operate as an operational commander during planned and unplanned incidents, ensuring compliance with Trust policies, the Civil Contingencies Act, and national emergency preparedness requirements.
The role is based at Vantage Point House, Cwmbran and is predominantly Monday to Friday, however flexibility is essential to meet the demands of incident response, escalation, and system pressures.
The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.
Main duties of the job
Main Duties and Responsibilities
The postholder will:
* Provide visible operational leadership and oversight of the Incident Response Desk, ensuring high standards of performance and professionalism.
* Act as an operational commander during serious, significant, and major incidents, contributing to coordinated multi‑agency responses.
* Lead, manage, and support IRD staff, fostering a culture of engagement, wellbeing, learning, and high performance.
* Monitor performance, capacity, and key performance indicators, taking proactive action to manage risk, escalation, and service pressures.
* Ensure the effective deployment of resources across all Health Board areas to maintain patient safety and system resilience.
* Manage complaints, incidents, investigations, and staff performance in line with Trust policies and employment frameworks.
* Work collaboratively with internal teams and a wide range of external partners, including other emergency services, Health Boards, and NHS organisations.
* Maintain operational readiness, including business continuity arrangements, site security, and statutory reporting requirements.
Working for our organisation
#RemarkablePeople
Our workforce is made up of over 4,000 remarkable people who contribute to the delivery of world-class patient care across Wales, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Whether you work in a patient-facing role or within our range of support services, the work that you do enables us to provide high quality care, wherever and whenever we’re needed.
The Trust recognises the need for its workforce to represent the diversity of the population it serves across the whole of Wales and seeks to create an environment where diversity is celebrated and inclusivity matters. We are also keen to break down any barriers into the Trust, and would encourage applications from under-represented groups, including those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, LGBTQ+ communities and disability groups.
Careers within the Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust are diverse and varied, with opportunities arising right across the service. Whatever your skills and background, you’re sure to find a career with us which is fulfilling, challenging, and rewarding.
In line with the Trust’s Starting Salary Procedure, all applicants will start at the bottom of the band for the position applied for, but can apply for a higher salary if they have previous experience relevant to the position.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Person Specification (Summary)
Essential Criteria
* Degree‑level education or equivalent relevant experience.
* Significant operational leadership experience in a demanding, high‑pressure environment.
* Proven experience of managing, leading, and influencing staff and stakeholders.
* Strong decision‑making, communication, and incident management skills.
* ILM Level 4 qualification (or willingness to work towards Level 5).
* JESIP trained, or willingness to undertake training.
Desirable Criteria
* Experience of working in a command role within an emergency or operational setting.
* Welsh language skills (Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome).
Person specification
Qualifications and Knowledge
Essential criteria
* A degree level of education, or equivalent demonstrable experience
* Highly specialist knowledge of managing a contact centre
* ILM Level 4 in Leadership and Management and willingness to undertake ILM 5 within an agreed timeframe.
* Prioritising conflicting demands and often unpredictable work patterns
* Ability to demonstrate visible leadership in challenging and stressful situations.
* Investigation and report writing skills.
* Demonstrating continuous personal development including leadership and change management.
* Effective and sensitive communications skills
* Ability to adapt tactical actions into operational delivery.
* Organisational Operational Commander course acquired and updated within 3 years.
* Detailed knowledge and experience of managing capacity, demand and activity
* Experience of budget management.
Desirable criteria
* Presenting complex, sensitive, or contentious information to internal and external groups.
Experience
Essential criteria
* Relationship management with key stakeholders in Integrated Care and operational setting to support corporate aims and objectives.
* Experience of managing and influencing people
* Experience of working with a diverse range of stakeholders
* Experience of leadership of high performing teams.
* Experience in undertaking investigations.
* Experience of working in a demanding and fast-moving environments
* Experience of developing tactical working plan to meet strategic objectives.
Desirable criteria
* Persuading, influencing, and negotiating with staff in time critical circumstances.
Skills and Attributes
Essential criteria
* Demonstrating role model leadership behaviours and adapting styles to match situations and audiences.
* Ability to consider, decipher and interpret multiple sources of information in real time to make informed judgements and decisions without reference to others.
* Ability to assertively communicate, state and maintain an organisational position to ensure organisational needs are achieved.
* Ability to demonstrate mental agility and decisiveness in rapidly changing environments.
* Being accountable for results and actions and in turn, holding others to account.
* Leading, inspiring, motivating, developing, and managing staff during: a) Intense operational pressure, b) Critical operational incidents; and c) Distressing emotional circumstances.
* Communicating (orally and in writing), adapting the styles and messages to match the situations and audiences including delivering difficult information and at times, in distressing or emotional situations.
* Initiating, building, and maintaining relationships with internal and external key stakeholders; developing partnerships and cooperative working.
* A drive to achieve and lead a team to be successful and engaged.
* Diplomatic, confidential, and assertive.
* Willingness to take personal responsibility for the success of the role.
* Ability to recognise and support staff suffering from emotional trauma, whilst recognising own limits and when to ask for help.
* Ability to persuade and influence.
Desirable criteria
* Welsh Language Skills are desirable levels 1 to 5 in understanding, speaking, reading, and writing in Welsh
* Trust Behaviours and Values.