Deputy Chief Operating Officer

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust; Stevenage; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust is seeking an exceptional Deputy Chief Operating Officer (DCOO) to join the Trust’s senior leadership team. You will be responsible for day-to-day operational management, patient flow, emergency planning and site performance, working with the COO and executive colleagues to drive standards and continuous improvement.

You will deputise for the COO across sites and system partners, lead transformational change across elective and urgent care, and promote a

Responsibilities

• Day-to-day operational management including patient flow and site performance.
• Lead emergency planning and drive productivity and standards.
• Deputise for the COO across sites, working with divisions and system partners.

Job description

We are seeking exceptional operational leaders to oversee our planned care pathways and urgent and emergency care pathways portfolios, until the end of March 2027. These are high-profile leadership roles, accountable for driving delivery against key operational and performance standards, supporting service improvement, and ensuring patients receive timely, high-quality care. Working closely with a committed Executive Team and Divisional Leadership Teams, the successful candidates will play a pivotal role in shaping operational strategy, improving performance, and leading transformational change across their respective portfolios. These roles offer a unique opportunity to gain significant exposure at the highest levels of the organisation, including experience of Board and Committee structures, providing excellent preparation for future executive leadership roles.

Deputy Chief Operating Officer (DCOO)

is a key role within the Trust's senior leadership team. As the deputy to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), you will be responsible for day-to-day operational management, working with the site office, emergency department, divisions and system partners. You'll operate independently, overseeing daily management of operations, patient flow, emergency planning and site performance, including the delivery of standards, activity and productivity improvements. You'll have delegated authority on behalf of the COO to ensure operational performance is optimised and services engage in continuous improvement, innovation and transformation. A highly skilled and experienced individual, you'll demonstrate a track record in transforming UEC flows, cross-organisational change and operational delivery across elective and urgent care. You'll drive innovation and quality of care, working with colleagues across the Trust and partners. You will support the COO in providing leadership throughout the Trust underpinning a caring, fair and open culture that enables staff to perform at their best. You'll demonstrate compassionate and inspirational leadership and have a track record of promoting inclusivity. You will foster a patient-centred approach and reduce health inequalities. You'll work flexibly across sites and organisational boundaries and deputise for the COO in executive, Board and system discussions.

At East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now. We run the following hospitals:

• The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
• New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
• Hertford County, Hertford
• Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood

We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda. We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.