Assistant Director, Housekeeping

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an exceptional Assistant Director, Housekeeping to set the strategic direction and lead the operational delivery of housekeeping and rapid response services across the Trust’s estate.

Reporting to the Executive Director, Workplace Services, this is a highly autonomous leadership role translating national policy into safe, compliant and effective services, with a strong emphasis on patient experience and value for money.

Qualifications

• Proven track record delivering housekeeping/soft facilities in large organisations.
• Experience translating policy into practical, compliant service delivery.
• Strong leadership skills with ability to develop diverse teams and drive culture.

Responsibilities

• Set strategic direction for housekeeping and rapid response across the Trust’s estate.
• Lead operational delivery and ensure safety, quality and patient experience objectives are met.
• Manage budgets, resources and contracts to deliver value for money and efficiencies.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Budget management

Stakeholder management

People leadership

Education

MBA or equivalent

Job description

Essentia, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, is seeking an exceptional Assistant Director, Housekeeping to set the strategic direction and lead the operational delivery of housekeeping and rapid response services across the Trust’s estate. Reporting to the Executive Director, Workplace Services, this is a highly autonomous leadership role with responsibility for translating national policy and regulatory requirements into safe, compliant and effective services.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust is one of the country’s largest and busiest NHS trusts, comprising Guy’s, St Thomas’, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield, alongside community services in Lambeth and Southwark. Its services are supported by a complex, operationally critical estate where safety, cleanliness, resilience and the patient experience are paramount.

Essentia is the Trust’s operational and infrastructure delivery group. Working across hospital, community and partner sites, it brings together housekeeping, engineering, estates, capital development, facilities management, logistics, transport, security and other essential services to maintain safe, resilient and high-performing healthcare environments.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a proven track record of developing and delivering organisation-wide housekeeping, cleaning or soft facilities management strategies within large, complex environments, together with evidence of innovation in service delivery. They will have led high-performing operational facilities services within large-scale clinical settings and delivered sustained improvements in quality, compliance, productivity and the patient experience.

The role requires significant experience of managing large operational budgets, workforce resources and service contracts, with clear evidence of delivering value for money, savings and efficiencies. The appointed individual will be an engaging, inclusive and visible leader with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. They will bring proven experience of leading large workforces, developing teams and creating positive workplace cultures founded on inclusion, ambition and putting patients first.

To learn more about the role, view the Candidate Brochure at: Essentia - Assistant Director, Housekeeping

The closing date for applications is Sunday 25th October 2026.

Formal interviews will be held on Thursday 12th November 2026.