Chief Operating Officer

NHS Jobs; Exeter; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Funding for qualifications (care cert,

Staff discounts

NHS Pension

Cycle to work

Job summary

Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Board-level Executive Director to work with the Chief Executive and other C-suite leaders. You will shape strategy into disciplined delivery across wards, sites and systems, leading a high-demand operational portfolio with patient outcomes at the centre.

You will implement a single high-performing operating model, drive continuous improvement, support urgent care expansion, and strengthen governance and accountability while

Job description

As a Board-level Executive Director, you will work alongside our highly experienced Chief Executive, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Nursing Officer as part of the Trusts senior clinical and operational triumvirate. Your influence will reach every part of the Royal Devon: setting expectations, aligning priorities and translating strategy into disciplined delivery at ward, service, site and system level. You will lead a demanding operational portfolio with patient outcomes at its centre and delivering performance against NHS constitutional standards, regulatory requirements and local priorities. This includes improving access and flow, accelerating elective recovery, strengthening urgent and emergency care, increasing productivity and ensuring resilience through periods of pressure and escalation. Success will mean more patients receiving the right care, in the right place, at the right time and staff being better supported to deliver it. Your defining task will be to build and embed a single, high-performing operating model across the Royal Devon. In partnership with Care Group triumvirates, you will strengthen accountability, governance and execution while devolving meaningful ownership to clinical and operational leaders. You will use continuous improvement approaches, including GIRFT and our 3Rs methodology to remove unwarranted variation, redesign pathways and deliver demonstrable gains in quality, productivity and patient experience.

As the Trusts Accountable Officer for Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR), you will lead the Trusts response to major incidents and escalation, providing calm and decisive leadership in complex and high-risk environments. You will also participate fully in the Executive Director on-call rota. This role offers a rare opportunity to shape a unified operating model across a large and complex Trust, influence system-wide transformation, and lead with visibility, integrity and compassion in line with our values.

Why join the Royal Devon at a pivotal point in our journey? You will join at a point when the need and the mandate for change are clear. Major national investment gives us tangible opportunities to modernise care, expand capacity and redesign pathways, including:

• A new Surgical Hub at Heavitree, opening in early 2027
• Expansion of the Devon Nightingale Community Diagnostic Centre
• A new Community Diagnostic Centre at Bideford, opening in summer 2027
• New staff accommodation at North Devon District Hospital as part of the Future Hospital Programme, completing in autumn 2027
• An NIHR-funded Clinical Research Centre at North Devon District Hospital, opening in 2027 to expand research capacity and improve patient outcomes

We also have a track record of turning innovation into frontline change. Our digital foundations and appetite to do things differently give the next COO a powerful platform from which to transform services: The first Trust nationally to deploy Epic in the community Supporting system partners to roll out Epic, making Devon the first county in the UK to have a single shared electronic patient record Piloting Ambient Voice Technology to improve efficiency and release clinical time Leading nationally in Acute Hospital at Home, with our Virtual Wards service collecting more remote data than any other Epic-enabled hospital in Europe. We are a research-active organisation, hosting, in partnership with the University of Exeter three NIHR research centres, alongside our own commercial research centre, to improve patient outcomes at the Royal Devon, in the UK and globally.

About you To succeed in this role, you will already have experience as a substantive COO or Deputy COO from a large, multisite acute NHS trust, with experience of leading change in a turnaround or recovery context. You will be able to show that you have moved beyond plans and programmes to deliver sustained, measurable improvements in performance, productivity, quality and patient experience. You will combine strategic range with operational grip. You will be visible and decisive under pressure, curious enough to challenge convention and inclusive enough to bring people with you. You will build trust with clinicians, staff, partners and regulators; create clarity where there is complexity; and hold yourself and others to account with fairness, integrity and compassion. Build your career, and your life, in Devon

Located in the South West of England, the Royal Devon sits between the landscapes of Exmoor and Dartmoor, with some of the UK's most stunning coastlines on our doorstep. With excellent schools, low crime, vibrant communities and a Russell Group university in Exeter, Devon offers an outstanding quality of life.

Working Pattern: 37.5 hours, Monday - Friday Interview Date: Week commencing 14 December 2026 For further information please contact: Emily Simpson, Executive and Specialist Recruitment Lead on 07958931414 [e-mail]

As an inclusive employer, the Royal Devon values diversity and is committed to creating a culture of inclusivity where everyone can be themselves and reach their full potential. We believe in fostering a sense of belonging and actively encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, cultures, and abilities. We recognise the advantages of having a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve. Preference will be given to staff with Priority and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon.

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust was established in April 2022, bringing together the expertise of both the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust and Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust.

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust reserves the right to close vacancy when sufficient applications have been received.

Benefits We will work together to maintain a culture that develops and supports you and your team.

• This might include funding for a care certificate, a degree or leadership qualifications.
• Or it might include days off to study, engage in CPD or rotational placements to help you hone your skills.
• You will also have access to an extensive range of staff discounts on shopping, fitness and leisure options and you can spread the cost of technology and home appliance purchases from major retailers.
• You'll benefit from access to our own comprehensive occupational health services, including counselling, onsite wellbeing activities and groups.
• If you're starting out in the NHS, you'll start with 27 days paid annual leave (plus bank holidays), rising to 33 days plus bank holidays.

Salary is not the only financial benefit.

• National discount services such as the Blue Light Card and Health Service Discounts.
• Salary sacrifice options including our OFSTED rated outstanding nursery onsite at Exeter Car lease schemes.
• The NHS Pension scheme (one of the most generous and comprehensive in the UK).
• Cycle to work scheme.

These are just a few of the benefits available if the role is something you are interested in, we'd love to hear from you.

https://rdehospital.pagetiger.com/new-recruitment-pack-coo/October26