Assistant Service Manager, Colorectal

Ashford & St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Chertsey; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in the UK is seeking an Assistant Service Manager for its Colorectal service. This role involves operational management and leadership across the service portfolio, with responsibilities such as managing daily operations and supporting KPIs. The ideal candidate should demonstrate leadership, have a degree level education, and possess relevant healthcare experience. Opportunities for professional development are strong within this NHS Trust. Deadline to apply is December 22, 2025.

Benefits

Continuous professional development

Commitment to staff health and wellbeing

Qualifications

• Must have a degree level education or relevant NHS experience.
• Experience managing staff and working in multidisciplinary teams.
• Knowledge of NHS policy and key performance targets.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day operations of the Colorectal Service.
• Deputize for the Service Manager as needed.
• Support performance against local and national KPIs.
• Ensure effective resource use for clinics and theatre lists.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Analytical skills

Leadership

Negotiation

Education

Degree or equivalent NHS experience

Postgraduate qualification in healthcare management

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Cerner

Job description

Assistant Service Manager, Colorectal

The closing date is 22 December 2025

An exciting opportunity for an Assistant Service Manager for Colorectal service has arisen within the General Surgical Division at Ashford and St Peter's NHS Foundation Trust.

The start date for this position will be 1st March 2026.

The role will be working alongside the Service Manager for Colorectal providing operational management and leadership across the service portfolio. The role is varied, challenging and with great opportunities to develop new skills, experience and knowledge. This includes leading on several important service developments to help improve the efficiency and quality of the healthcare services we provide, including the recent implementation of robotic surgery.

This opportunity also provides excellent development for someone wishing to progress within an operational management career. The ideal candidate must be proactive, work autonomously, yet work well within a large team environment. You must be able to problem solve and build strong working relationships with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, always maintaining a "patients first" approach. A 'can-do' attitude and "thinking outside of the box" is a must. The ideal candidate must be willing to push themselves and take on new challenges. As this is a fast based role, the ability to adapt and be flexible is essential.

Main duties of the job

• Day to day operational management of the Colorectal Service
• Deputising on behalf of the Service Manager of the above service
• Support the delivery of strong performance against local and national KPI
• Line Management of Clinical Office Team Leader and other admin staff
• Ensure efficient use of resources - clinics, theatre lists and clinician's time
• Support the Divisional Chief Nurse in ensuring quality metrics are in line - mandatory training, appraisals, complaints and PALS
• Manage and support 18 week and cancer performance
• Supporting and keeping a large team well being a priority

About us

Ashford and St. Peters Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust serves a population of more than 410,000 people living in North-West Surrey, parts of Hounslow and beyond.

Over 3,700 highly trained doctors, nurses, midwives, therapists, healthcare scientists and other support staff make up our workforce, providing a wide range of services across our two hospital sites, Ashford, Ashford, Surrey and St Peter's, Chertsey, Surrey.

We also run many specialist clinics in the community and local community hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

Our vision is to be one of the best healthcare Trusts in the country. There has never been a better time to join us in the NHS at Ashford & St Peters Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with our strong commitment to staff health and wellbeing. We are committed to providing continuous professional development, staff benefits and flexibility to shape our workforce around our patient care.

Job responsibilities

Please carefully read the Job Description and Person Specification for detailed information about the role. This includes key areas of responsibility and required levels of experience, qualification and skills.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or evidence of equivalent level of ability/NHS experience or Post-Graduate Diploma in Management
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• A postgraduate qualification in healthcare management (or actively studying for) is desirable

Experience

• Understanding and experience of NHS waiting lists
• Awareness of demand and capacity modelling
• Previous experience of staff management and leading a team
• Experience of working in NHS or public sector
• Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams
• Experience of contributing to Standard Operating Procedures
• Experience of managing a project
• Working with an NHS service which has 'admitted' and 'non-admitted' pathways is desirable

Knowledge

• NHS Constitution
• Trust vision, values, strategic objectives and key work programmes
• Knowledge and understanding of the key aspects of current NHS Policy including Agenda for Change and key performance targets
• Understanding of the key issues in relation to the European Working Time Directive
• Knowledge of Cerner, other hospital IT systems
• Proficient knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel

Skills

• Good interpersonal, oral and written skills including chairing team meetings and writing reports
• Ability to demonstrate leadership and motivate staff members in a team
• Numerate, with excellent analytical skills and ability to understand and produce statistical information to use in problem solving
• Pays careful attention to detail
• Ability to negotiate with and influence staff at all levels
• Ability to manage time and priorities, dealing with frequent interruptions
• Ability to deal with confidential and stressful situations sensitively
• Ability to diplomatically handle confidential and stressful situations and sometimes difficult individuals
• Ability to work on own in pursuit of team objectives
• Positive and motivated
• Stakeholder engagement and negotiation

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

Ashford & St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust