Job overview
This is a genuinely exciting opportunity for an internal candidate to lead a hugely significant engagement and design programme across the Trust.
Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer, the Programme Director will lead the design and deployment of a structured, Trust-wide programme to develop the Target Operating Model (TOM) for our new hospitals. The role has responsibility across all services, bringing together clinical, operational, digital, estates and corporate perspectives to translate strategic ambition into practical, deliverable and sustainable ways of working.
You will provide clear leadership and direction for a complex programme of work, establishing strong governance, clear workstreams and milestones, and ensuring coherence and consistency across services while recognising specialty-specific needs. Working closely with clinical and operational leaders, you will ensure future operating models are clinically led, safe, operationally robust and fit for the future.
This role is open to internal candidates with the credibility, confidence and capability to lead change at scale. You will bring strong experience of delivering complex programmes or service transformation, a deep understanding of how the Trust operates, and the ability to balance strategic thinking with operational realism. You will be collaborative in style, comfortable working with senior clinicians and executives, and able to maintain momentum in a complex and evolving environment.
This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the heart of the organisation, shape how services will operate in new hospital environments for years to come and develop your leadership capability further through a highly visible and impactful programme.
Interested candidates are strongly encouraged to contact Ian Bateman for an informal conversation prior to application.
Main duties of the job
The Programme Director will be responsible for delivery of the new hospital target operating model.
The Programme Director will:
• Have authority and responsibility for all aspects of the programme, including policy formation and application.
• Lead on the formulation and application of programme strategy and develop long-term strategic relationships with partner organisations and industry leaders.
• Make decisions critical to programme success.
• Be fully accountable for actions taken and decisions made, both by self and subordinates.
• Take the initiative to keep both own and subordinates’ skills up to date and to maintain an awareness of developments in related areas of expertise.
• Represent the programme within the Trust and externally at the highest levels.
• Advance the knowledge and/or exploitation of programme capabilities across organisations and work with other organisations to learn how they have developed their new hospital target operating model.
• Understand, explain, and present complex technical ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences at all levels up to the highest in a persuasive and convincing manner.
• Have a deep understanding of the health industry, health policy and the implications of emerging policy both within this programme and the wider healthcare environment.
• Assess the impact of legislation and relevant national regulatory standards for health services, and actively promote compliance through the development of the operating model
• Drive forward the programme to deliver the target operating model by 2027 to support the submission of the new hospital business case to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Working for our organisation
At Imperial College Healthcare you can achieve extraordinary things with extraordinary people, working with leading clinicians pushing boundaries in patient care.
Become part of a vibrant team living our values - expert, kind, collaborative and aspirational. You’ll get an experience like no other and will fast forward your career.
Benefits include career development, flexible working and wellbeing, staff recognition scheme. Make use of optional benefits including Cycle to Work, car lease schemes, season ticket loan or membership options for onsite leisure facilities.
We are committed to equal opportunities and improving the working lives of our staff and will consider applications to work flexibly, part time or job share. Please talk to us at interview.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required.
For both overviews please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.
Person specification
Education/ qualifications
Essential criteria
1. Educated to Masters level or equivalent advanced experience in the delivery of healthcare
Desirable criteria
2. Prince 2 Practitioner
3. Managing Successful Programmes - Practitioner
Experience
Essential criteria
4. Experience of delivering multiple interdependent projects to time and budget, including accurate forecasting, regular monitoring and mitigating against overspend.
5. Experience of delivering large-scale mapping and design across multiple organisations and settings of care.
6. Experience of delivering large scale complex programme across multiple organisations and settings of care.
7. Experience of delivering clinician facing design workshops and programmes across multiple organisations and settings of care.
8. Experience writing business cases and gaining approval for investment in large scale transformation programmes with £multi-million budgets.
9. Experience formulating organisational and sector-wide strategy and defining constituent programme and projects required to deliver strategic objectives.
10. Strong track record with evidence of using technology in innovative ways to enhance business and service performance.
11. Experience managing 3rd party suppliers in a complex multi-supplier and multi-organisation stakeholder environment
12. Evidence of working with senior clinicians and senior management to specify and deliver programmes of work and solutions to support care delivery.
13. Experience working with lay partner groups and communicating highly complex technical concepts in a way which can be easily understood and be responsive and understanding to privacy and confidentiality concerns of lay partners and the public.
14. Experience co-ordinating the work of a programme team, deploying staff efficiently and influencing others outside the immediate programme team.
Skills/knowledge/ abilities
Essential criteria
15. Knowledge of the relevant standards, stages, and assurance gateways relevant to the deployment of large-scale programmes within the NHS Text
16. Ability to prioritise programme team resources and system suppliers within a highly complex multi-stakeholder environment and to make this transparent to the ultimate satisfaction of all stakeholders.
17. Active and extensive problem solving and analytical skills.
18. Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively at all levels, particularly in explaining complex technical issues to non-technical people
19. Expert in facilitating organisational change – ability to create and implement operational policies to enable new patient pathways.
20. Advanced Microsoft Office skills
Desirable criteria
21. Knowledge of the national new hospital programme and its objectives.
22. Knowledge of the Trust redevelopment programme and its objectives.
Values and behaviours
Essential criteria
23. A credible opinion former with strong influencing skill; able to negotiate deliverables and timelines at all levels of the organisation
24. A leader by example with a strong sense of quality and quality.
Right to work
If you need sponsorship to work in the UK, please visit the Home Office website for information on sponsorship and visa status before you fill in your application form. Due to recent changes in the UK immigration rules which affect Skilled Worker Visas, Global Business Mobility, Higher Skill Level and Increased Salary Thresholds, please ensure that you are able to meet the requirements to live and work in the UK before applying. Further information about eligibility is available on
Please ensure you check your emails regularly as this is how we will communicate with you throughout the recruitment process. If you are shortlisted you will be contacted by email and text message (if you provide a mobile contact number).
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