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Job summary

Main area
Operational Management
Grade
Band 8a
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
150-KB1607-CC
Employer
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Midhurst Community Hospital
Town
Midhurst
Salary
£53,755 - £60,504 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
06/04/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust logo

Macmillan Deputy Head of Service

Band 8a

Job overview

Are you an experienced and compassionate healthcare leader looking for an opportunity to make a real impact? The Midhurst Macmillan Service is seeking a Deputy Head of Service to support the delivery of high-quality, specialist palliative care to patients and families facing complex, life-limiting illnesses in the community.

This role is vital in ensuring the smooth operational management of our services, working closely with the Head of Service to maintain and enhance patient safety, quality of care, and service effectiveness. You will be a visible and accessible leader, providing strong professional and clinical leadership across the team. Your expertise will support service development, ensuring our care remains patient-centred, responsive, and aligned with national and Trust initiatives.

If you are passionate about specialist palliative care and have the leadership skills to drive service improvement, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

As a Deputy Operational Head of Service, you will provide:

  • Operational Leadership: Support the Head of Service in managing daily operations, ensuring services remain high quality, patient-focused, and financially sustainable.
  • Service Improvement: Monitor and analyse performance data, identify areas for improvement, and implement action plans to enhance service delivery.
  • Clinical Operational Leadership: Provide specialist advice and guidance to the team, ensuring safe, effective, and evidence-based care for patients and families.
  • Workforce Support: Offer compassionate and facilitative leadership, fostering a supportive and collaborative working environment.
  • Strategic Development: Assist in planning for future service needs, ensuring the Midhurst Macmillan Service continues to evolve and meet the needs of our community.

This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a dedicated team providing exceptional care in the heart of the community. If you are ready to take the next step in your leadership journey, apply today!

If you would like any further information please contact Joanna Stuttaford (Macmillan Head of Service) by calling 01730 811 121 or emailing [email protected].

Working for our organisation

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays. Our Trust’s vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community.

Why work for us?

·       Positive 2023 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeing

·       Varied environments: community hospitals, patients’ homes, and bases across Sussex

·       Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retirement

·       Excellent training, development, and research opportunities

·       Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brighton

·       Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networks

·       Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust

·       Beautiful Sussex location near the South Downs and coast

Our values - Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence - guide everything we do.

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This role is ideal for a compassionate and strategic leader with a strong background in healthcare management, operational performance, and workforce development. You will bring extensive experience in service delivery, budget management, clinical governance, and multi-agency collaboration, ensuring the highest standards of patient care and safety.

As a natural problem-solver and critical thinker, you will confidently assess and manage clinical risks, streamline processes, and influence change. Your ability to engage stakeholders, communicate complex information effectively, and develop high-performing teams will be key to success.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Bachelor’s degree in a health, social care or related area of study or relevant experience
  • Postgraduate qualification in management or equivalent level of knowledge acquired through experience
  • Evidence of continuous professional/leadership/management development

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Experience in a leadership role including contributing to operational management of services
  • Experience in management of health services
  • Experience of monitoring, analysing and assessing clinical operational performance
  • Experience of managing budgets
  • Experience in drafting service level business plans, local standard operating procedures and policies
  • Experience of staff management, including recruitment and retention of staff, performance management, and managing sickness absence, and misconduct
  • Experience of managing staff including appraisal and personal development planning
  • Experience of partnership working with a wide range of statutory and non-statutory service providers
  • Experience of assessing risks within a clinical service and developing risk management plans

Skills and Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Knowledge of NHS Human Resource Policies and Procedures
  • Knowledge of clinical and operational governance and its application to services
  • Knowledge of multidisciplinary team working and an understanding of differing professional roles boundaries
  • Knowledge of budget management, target setting, and action planning and performance management

Other Requirements

Essential criteria
  • Ability to travel to meet the requirements of the job

Skills and Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Ability to monitor and maintain standards of care within clinical services
  • Ability to identify, assess and manage clinical and operational risks
  • Able to translate complex information make it meaningful to staff at all levels and across all professions both verbally and in writing
  • Ability to occasionally manage distressing and emotional circumstances with staff, patients and their carers
  • Ability to deal with competing demands, priorities and deadlines whilst managing operational imperatives and frequent interruptions
  • Ability to engage stakeholders through discussion, presentation and direct liaison
  • Well-developed presentation skills
  • Word-processing and keyboard skills and ability to use Microsoft Office packages including Word, PowerPoint and Excel
  • A natural curiosity backed by excellent critical analytical skills
  • Able to effectively challenge poor conduct and behaviours
  • Strong patient focus
  • Excellent time management, prioritisation and organisational skills and ability to manage and deliver to agreed deadlines
  • Skilled in writing clear and coherent operational business cases, reports, and service plans
  • Demonstrate understanding of the unique qualities and needs of a team and ability to provide a caring, safe environment to enable everyone to do their jobs effectively
  • Use and interpret varied information to generate new ideas and make effective plans for improvement or change
  • Demonstrate understanding of how health and social care services fit together and how different people, teams or organisations interconnect and interact
  • Able to communicate a compelling and credible vision of the future in a way that makes it feel achievable and exciting
  • Ability to involve individuals and demonstrate that their contributions and ideas are valued and important for delivering outcomes and improvements
  • Able to agree clear performance goals and quality indicators for services, supporting individuals and teams to take responsibility for results and providing balanced feedback
  • Able to build capability within the workforce to enable people to meet future challenges. Using a range of experiences as a vehicle for individual and organisational learning
  • Able to use interpersonal and organisational understanding to persuade and build collaboration
  • Able to work as part of a team, using own and others skills and adopting a coaching style to drive individual and organisational performance

Employer certification / accreditation badges

We are a Living Wage EmployerCommitted to being an Inclusive EmployerVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyDisability confident leaderMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Armed Forces Covenant Bronze Award

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Application numbers

This post may close earlier than the published closing date if sufficient applications are received.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Joanna Stuttaford
Job title
Macmillan Head of Service
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01730 811 121
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