Assistant Director, Portering

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Essentia, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, seeks an exceptional Assistant Director, Portering to set strategic direction and lead the operational delivery of portering 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 strategy into safe, compliant and patient focused services.

Job description

Essentia, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, is seeking an exceptional Assistant Director, Portering to set the strategic direction and lead the operational delivery of portering 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 strategy into safe, compliant and patient focused operational 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 and operationally critical estate where safety, resilience, service quality and the patient experience are paramount.

Essentia is the Trust’s operational and infrastructure delivery group, comprising more than 2,500 colleagues working across hospital, community and partner sites. It brings together engineering, estates, capital development, facilities management, workplace and hospitality services, logistics, transport, security, decontamination, sustainability and other essential services to maintain safe, resilient and high‑performing healthcare environments.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a proven track record of leading large‑scale portering services within a complex, multi‑site healthcare or similarly regulated environment. This is an opportunity to shape the future of a critical frontline service that supports patient flow, clinical activity and the safe, reliable operation of the Trust hospitals and wider estate. They will set a clear long‑term strategy for portering, translate it into consistent operational standards and ensure that services remain responsive, resilient and focused on the needs of patients, clinical teams and service users.

A central priority will be to lead innovation and accelerate the adoption of new technologies across portering. The appointed individual will critically review existing systems, processes and service models, identify opportunities for digital and technology‑enabled improvement, and use data and performance insight to improve deployment, responsiveness, productivity and service quality.

The role also 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 successful candidate will provide strategic leadership to a management team overseeing nearly 180 portering colleagues, establishing clear standards, operating procedures and performance expectations across the Trust.

The appointed individual will be an engaging, inclusive and visible leader with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, able to build influential relationships with clinical groups, senior leaders, external partners and suppliers. They will model compassionate and accountable leadership, with proven experience and building high‑performing teams founded on inclusion, ambition and putting patients first.

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

Formal interviews will be held on Friday 20th November 2026.