Deputy General Manager

Transformation Unit; East Midlands; Remote; GBP 58,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust in Derby is seeking an experienced Deputy General Manager Operations (Band 8a) to lead the Site Capacity and Flow team. You will play a pivotal role in patient flow, capacity, and demand across the organisation, working with clinical and operational colleagues to deliver safe, effective care.

The role requires strategic leadership, on-call responsibility, and the ability to improve performance to national standards.

Qualifications

• First degree or equivalent experience
• Evidence of CPD

Responsibilities

• Lead operational management of patient flow, capacity and escalation.
• Coordinate responses to pressures including bed management and discharge.
• Support achievement of performance standards via monitoring and improvement.
• Link clinical, operational and corporate teams for communication and decisions.
• Provide visible leadership to operations teams; drive accountability and patient-centred care.
• Participate in Senior Manager On-Call rota for escalation/BCP.
• Lead development/implementation of operational policies and service improvements.
• Analyse data to identify trends and risks for informed decisions.
• Build relationships with clinical teams, partners, commissioners and emergency services.
• Deputise for GM, represent service at meetings.

Education

First degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Employer University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Royal Derby Hospital Town Derby Salary £57,528 - £64,750 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 17/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 01/12/2026

Deputy General Manager

Band 8a

As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together.

Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work.

With over 14,000 members of staff, you can expect huge variety and new opportunities every day! Our staff go above and beyond and take pride in caring for our patients.

University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust are fully committed to promoting inclusion, equality, diversity and human rights in employment and delivery of its services. The Trust is committed to providing an environment where all employees, patients, carers and visitors experience equality of opportunity by means of understanding and appreciating the value of diversity.

As a Trust we promote an inclusive environment and welcome applications from a diverse pool of talent and backgrounds. All individuals are valued and given every opportunity to succeed based on merit.

The Trust actively encourages applications from members of our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities. These groups are under-represented in our organisation, and it’s important to us that our workforce reflects the diversity of our communities as much as possible.

Armed Forces and Disability Confident guaranteed interview scheme

To further support the pledges in the Armed Forces Covenant and to make a positive contribution to support ex-armed forces personnel (veterans) make the transition to civilian life, the Trust has introduced a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for veterans who meets the essential criteria set out in the person specification, to help them overcome barriers to find civilian employment. The scheme will operate for all external recruitment.

The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer and committed to both employing and retaining people with disabilities. This commitment is to guarantee an interview for any candidate that has disclosed a disability under the Equality Act 2010 and who meets the essential criteria set out in the person specification. Reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 will be considered upon request.

if you are blind or visually impaired and require application material in an alternative format- such as Braille, large print, audio or accessible electronic formats or you require support/adjustments with your application please contact the recruitment team on 01332 788466

The Trust is proud to be a signatory of the Care Leavers Covenant and is committed to supporting care-experienced people into employment.

Applicants who identify as a care leaver and who meet the essential criteria for the role, as detailed in the person specification, will be guaranteed an interview.

If you wish to be considered under this scheme, please indicate this within your application.

Join us and help make a real difference to our Trust.

Here’s more about the role and what we’re looking for;

Job overview

An excellent opportunity has arisen for an experienced, forward-thinking and motivated operational leader to join our dynamic and dedicated Site Capacity and Flow team

The Deputy General Manager Operations plays a pivotal role in ensuring the safe, effective and efficient management of patient flow, capacity and demand across the organisation. Working closely with operational, clinical and divisional teams, the post holder supports the delivery of key operational objectives, national performance standards, financial targets and service improvement initiatives.

The role provides senior operational leadership both during normal working hours and through participation in the Senior Manager On-Call rota, ensuring robust escalation processes, effective communication and coordinated responses to operational pressures.

Closing date of applications - 17 November 2026

Interview date - 01 December 2026

If you are considering applying for an internal secondment, please ensure you have discussed this with your line manager and obtained their support prior to submitting your application.

Please be aware that there is no guarantee that you will be released from your substantive post, so you should seek approval before applying as you are applying or a Secondment.

If you have any questions or require further guidance, please contact the Recruitment Team.

Main duties of the job

• Leading the operational management of patient flow, capacity, demand and escalation processes across the Trust to support timely access to care.
• Coordinating responses to operational pressures, including bed management, discharge processes and emergency care performance.
• Supporting the achievement of national and local performance standards through proactive performance monitoring and service improvement.
• Acting as a key link between clinical, operational and corporate teams to ensure effective communication, collaboration and decision-making.
• Providing visible leadership and management to operational teams, fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and patient-centred care.
• Participating in the Senior Manager On-Call rota and providing operational leadership during periods of significant escalation, major incidents and business continuity events.
• Leading and contributing to the development and implementation of operational policies, procedures and service improvement programmes.
• Analysing operational data and performance metrics to identify trends, risks and opportunities for improvement, ensuring informed decision-making.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including clinical teams, system partners, commissioners and emergency service providers.
• Deputising for the General Manager as required, representing the service at internal and external meetings

Working for our organisation

As a trusted organisation at the heart of our communities, we recognise the important role we can play in supporting the public, patients, our own people and local partners in achieving the best of health for the local population and the communities in which they live by providing Exceptional Care Together

Our fundamental Values of Compassion, Openness and Excellence underpin how we intend to work as a Trust and the associated behaviours are becoming embedded in all aspects of how we work.

In return we will offer:

• Development opportunities, both professional and leadership development
• On-going support from recruitment to when you join our team and beyond.
• Staff benefits including employee assistance programme, discounted gym membership, onsite fitness classes, car schemes

Key Facts:

• We see on average 4810 OP appointments a day.
• We are the 4th busiest Trauma & Orthopaedic outpatients department in England – an average of 2077 per week.
• An average of 1115 patients are seen in A&Es across our network every day – 3rd largest in the country.
• Our hospitals admit an average of 195 emergency patients daily.
• Last year we undertook almost 33,700 planned surgical operations in our 57 operating theatres.
• We are one of only 7 Trusts nationally with more than 50 operating theatres.
• We carry out more than 140 elective procedures each working day.
• UHDB is a research active University Hospital with a large and varied portfolio of clinical trials and research opportunities for all staff.

Person specification

Qualifications

• First degree or equivalent experience
• Evidence of CPD

Experience

• Excellent problem solving skills using team when appropriate
• Experience within the Healthcare sector at senior manager level including operational responsibility for complex specialities and services
• Evidence of ability to lead and motivate a team
• Knowledge and understanding of demand and capacity tools and techniques

Communication and relationship skills

• Evidence ability to adjust plans and actions according to priority and need
• Excellent time management with ability to meet tight deadlines
• Ability to work well, involve and engage with colleagues across all professions / services including evidence of successful team working
• Ability to assess the need for service developments and developing future services

Planning and Organisational skills

• Able to chair and lead meetings, providing relevant documentation
• Able to plan and organise a broad range of complex activities in a changing environment
• Ensure effective management of risk within sphere of responsibility

Our Trust aims to provide the highest quality care to patients within Derbyshire and South East Staffordshire and we want the very best people to work with us.

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION

If we receive a high number of applications for this position, we reserve the right to withdraw the post before the closing date, therefore it is advisable that you apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

At UHDB, we offer different ways to work flexibly to each and every one of our colleagues, many of whom already work flexibly at all sites of the Trust.

For our roles we are open to discussing the possibility of part-time/ reduced hours/ compressed hours/ flexible start and finish times/ fixed/flexible shifts/annualised hours/ term time hours/ hybrid working – working partly in the trust/partly at home.

Why don’t you talk to us at interview about the flexibility you would like to explore and what it means to you, and we will discuss what’s possible for the job and team, and the opportunities we might be able to create together.

We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise to work with you to look at all the available options.

Most of our posts are subject to a DBS check, however having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from obtaining a position. Please be aware that all new employees starting work with us will be charged for the cost of their DBS check, if it is required for their role.

All correspondence relating to your application will be sent to you via our trac.system account. Please ensure that you regularly check your emails; this includes junk/spam, as your security settings may not recognise the sender.

Anyone from outside of the UK (excluding from the Republic of Ireland) will need permission from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to work in the UK and may also need entry clearance before travelling here.

UKVI is responsible for managing migration. To obtain a visa or entry clearance, you will need to meet certain requirements and demonstrate you have the right the work in the UK via:

• the points‑based immigration system
• the EU settlement scheme
• eVisa

During the course of its employment activities, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust collects, stores and processes personal information about prospective, current and former staff.

Our Privacy Notice includes applicants, employees (and former employees), workers (including agency, casual, honorary and contracted staff), volunteers, trainees and those carrying out work experience – please refer to our Privacy Notice available on our Trust website: https://www.uhdb.nhs.uk/information-governance

UHDB is committed to fair and transparent recruitment. We welcome authentic applications that reflect your own skills, experience and motivations for the role. While we understand that candidates may use AI tools for grammar, formatting or accessibility purposes, applications that appear to be substantially AI‑generated may be subject to additional review. If this applies to your submission, we will let you know and may ask for clarification. Please ensure your application accurately represents your experience and is written in your own words.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Application numbers

If we receive a high number of applications for this position we reserve the right to withdraw the post before the closing date, therefore it is advisable that you apply as early as possible to avoid disappointment. Please ensure that you had read the Job Description and Person Spec and that you meet the criteria before applying.

Name Jemma Phillips Job title General Manager Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 07989441621

If you have problems applying, contact

Address Recruitment Team, Workforce Management
Training Centre
Rehab Block, Level 3
Royal Derby Hospital
Derby
Derbyshire
DE22 3NE
Telephone [phone]