Clinical Service Manager

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; England; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom is seeking a Clinical Service Manager for our Unscheduled Care - Care Group on a fixed-term basis for two years. You will provide senior operational leadership across the Emergency Department, Acute Medicine, SDEC and Virtual Ward.

The role focuses on delivering safe, effective, and responsive services, driving quality, governance and performance improvements, while shaping the future of urgent and emergency care at the Trust.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or equivalent senior management experience.
• Evidence of leadership and management development.
• (Desirable) Registered professional of a clinical body/previous professional registration.

Responsibilities

• Provide visible leadership across the Emergency Department, Acute Medicine, Same Day Emergency Care and Virtual Wards, working with clinical and nursing leaders to deliver high-quality, patient-centred services and sustained operational improvement.
• Quality, Safety and Governance: ensure services are safe, effective and well-governed with assurance on quality, risk and performance.
• Transformation and Improvement: lead ambitious transformation programmes to improve patient flow, outcomes and service sustainability.
• Performance, Workforce and Resources: deliver operational, workforce and financial objectives ensuring resilience and responsiveness.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic leadership

Governance

Budget management

Education

Master's degree

Leadership development

Professional registration

Job description

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Clinical Service Manager

The closing date is 25 November 2026

We are seeking an ambitious and experienced operational leader to join our team as Clinical Service Manager for our Unscheduled Care - Care Group on afixed-term basis for two years.

This is a unique opportunity to lead some of the Trust's most high-profile and strategically important services, providing senior operational leadership across the Emergency Department, Acute Medicine, Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) and Virtual Ward.

You will play a pivotal role in ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and responsive services, leading improvements in quality, governance, operational performance and patient experience, whilst helping shape the future of urgent and emergency care.

UKVI Sponsorship: This role is eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). We welcome applications from individuals who require sponsorship to work in the UK. Sponsorship will be offered subject to meeting UKVI eligibilitycriteria.

Main duties of the job

As a key member of the Care Group leadership team, you will share responsibility for the leadership and development of operational services across the portfolio, ensuring patients receive the highest standards of care and that services are safe, sustainable and continuously improving.

This role combines operational leadership with strategic influence and offers the opportunity to lead significant service improvement, workforce and transformation programmes at a time of considerable change within the Trust and across Dorset.

About us

At DCHFT, we pride ourselves on the care we provide for our patients, and on the culture, we are creating for our staff. We work hard to create a fair, inclusive environment for our staff.

Our Mission is to provide outstanding care for people in ways which matter to them, and our vision is Dorset County Hospital, working with our health and social care partners, will be at the heart of improving the well-being of our communities.

We are a Trust that celebrates diversity, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We welcome applications from people in all under-represented groups.

We understand that AI can be a useful tool when completing your application. However, we are seeing an increasing over-reliance of AI tools, which can negatively affect your application as it reduces a candidate's individuality, and makes it difficult for us to gain a clear and authentic understanding of your experience, skills, and in turn your suitability for the role.

All submissions must be truthful and if you do use AI, it should only be used to enhance your application and not create your supporting statement in its entirety. Your supporting statement should be in your own words and must accurately reflect your personal experience and achievements. Where we have concerns that AI has been used to generate content that misrepresents your experience and suitability for the role, we may withdraw your application.

Job responsibilities

Key areas of responsibility:

Leadership

Job description

Job responsibilities

Key areas of responsibility:

Leadership

Provide visible leadership across the Emergency Department, Acute Medicine, Same Day Emergency Care and Virtual Wards, working in partnership with clinical and nursing leaders to deliver high-quality, patient-centred services and achieve sustained operational improvement.

Quality, Safety and Governance

Ensure our services are safe, effective and well-governed. Provide assurance on quality, risk and performance, embedding a culture of continuous improvement, learning and accountability.

Transformation and Improvement

Lead ambitious transformation programmes that improve patient flow, clinical outcomes and service sustainability. Drive innovation, pathway redesign and the development of modern models of care.

Performance, Workforce and Resources

Deliver agreed operational, workforce and financial objectives, ensuring services are resilient, productive and responsive to patient demand while making the best possible use of available resources.

You will bring:

• Significant operational leadership experience within the NHS or a complex healthcare environment.
• Experience of leading clinical service improvement and transformation.
• Strong knowledge of governance, quality and patient safety frameworks.
• Experience of delivering operational and financial performance within challenging environments.
• Excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• The ability to lead through collaboration and develop strong relationships across professional boundaries.
• Educated to Master's level or able to demonstrate equivalent experience gained through senior operational leadership roles.

Person Specification

Education

• oEducated to Master's degree level or able to demonstrate equivalent knowledge and experience gained through senior management practice
• oEvidence of relevant leadership and management development and continuing professional development.
• o(Desirable) Registered professional of a clinical body/previous professional registration

Knowledge & Experience

• oLeadership experience within the NHS or a complex healthcare environment.
• oProven delivery of performance improvement and organisational change.
• oSignificant financial and budgetary management experience, including savings delivery.
• oExperience of service development and transformation.
• oExperience of partnership and cross-organisational working.
• oUnderstanding of quality, governance and regulatory frameworks.

Skills & Abilities

• oStrong leadership and people management skills.
• oAbility to translate strategy into operational delivery.
• oAbility to lead and manage significant change.
• oStrong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• oAbility to build effective relationships across professional and organisational boundaries.
• oAbility to manage competing priorities and work effectively under pressure.
• o Sound financial and budget management skills
• o Excellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills.
• o Ability to use data and digital technology to support service improvement.
• o Resilient, adaptable and able to work through ambiguity.
• o Commitment to staff development and an inclusive, improvement focused culture.

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.

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust