General Manager

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 67,000 - 77,000; Full time

Job summary

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced General Manager for Oncology Services to lead operational performance, workforce, and financial objectives across a major cancer centre in the North East. You will work with clinical and nursing leaders to deliver patient‑centred, high‑quality cancer care while achieving demanding targets.

Reporting to the Associate Director of Operations, the role requires delivering service transformation, governance, and

Qualifications

• Demonstrated leadership in busy NHS or large healthcare settings.
• Proven track record in operational management and service improvement.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational performance standards across oncology services.
• Accountable for operational management, capacity, workforce, quality, productivity and finances.
• Collaborate with Clinical Directors, Lead Nurses, Matrons and service leads to drive improvements.
• Develop and implement strategic plans for sustainability and growth of oncology services.
• Drive performance trajectories, recovery plans and improvements using data and insights.
• Oversee budgets, cost improvements and resource utilisation while maintaining safety.
• Support workforce development, recruitment, retention and staff wellbeing.
• Ensure governance with incidents, complaints, risks, audits and assurance.
• Build relationships with regional partners, commissioners and internal teams.
• Deputise for the Director of Operations as required.

Skills

Leadership

Management

Communication skills

IT skills

Education

Master's degree

Job description

Main area 317 Cancer and Haematology Clinical Board Grade Band 8b Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 317-2026-41-012

Site Freeman Hospital Town 317 01 Freeman Hospital Salary £66,582 - £77,368 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 21/10/2026 23:59 Interview date 02/11/2026

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS hospital trusts in the country. We have around 16,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.7 billion.

With strong history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation regionally, nationally and internationally, w e’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country.

As well as providing a wide range of hospital and community services, we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and ambitious operational leader to join the Cancer & Haematology Clinical Board as General Manager for Oncology Services.

This senior leadership role will be responsible for the operational management, performance and strategic development of a portfolio of oncology services, working within one of the largest and most complex specialist cancer centres in the North East and Cumbria. Reporting to the Associate Director of Operations, the postholder will work in partnership with clinical, nursing and scientific leaders to ensure the delivery of safe, effective and patient-centred services whilst achieving demanding operational, workforce and financial objectives.

• Interview Date Monday 02 November 2026

NO AGENCIES PLEASE

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will play a key role in leading service transformation, recovery and improvement programmes across oncology services. They will provide visible leadership to multidisciplinary teams and contribute to the development and delivery of the Clinical Board's strategy, ensuring services are sustainable, high performing and responsive to the needs of patients and staff.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced NHS manager who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment, has a proven track record of delivering complex operational change and is passionate about improving cancer services and patient outcomes.

Working for our organisation

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

With around 2 million contacts with patients every year, we deliver care from:

• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria

These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.

We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.

Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The General Manager will provide operational leadership across oncology services and will:

• Lead the delivery of operational performance standards, ensuring patients receive timely access to high-quality cancer care and treatment.
• Be accountable for the operational management of oncology services, including capacity, workforce, quality, productivity and financial performance.
• Work collaboratively with Clinical Directors, Lead Nurses, Matrons and service leads to deliver service improvement, innovation and transformation programmes.
• Lead the development and implementation of strategic plans to support the future sustainability and growth of oncology services.
• Drive delivery of performance trajectories, recovery plans and improvement initiatives, using data and intelligence to identify opportunities and manage risks.
• Lead on the management of delegated budgets, cost improvement programmes and resource utilisation, ensuring delivery of financial objectives whilst maintaining quality and safety.
• Provide leadership for non-medical staff within the service portfolio, supporting workforce development, staff engagement, recruitment, retention and wellbeing.
• Ensure robust governance arrangements are in place, including the effective management of incidents, complaints, risks, audits and service assurance processes.
• Develop productive relationships with regional partners, commissioners, the Northern Cancer Alliance and internal corporate teams to support pathway improvement and service development.
• Deputise for the Director of Operations as required and provide expert operational advice to support decision making across the Clinical Board.

Person specification

Qualifications & Education

• Degree level of education supplemented by postgraduate study and management or clinical experience to master’s degree level or equivalent

Knowledge & Experience

• Successful track record and recent relevant experience as a manager within an NHS organisation
• Significant knowledge and understanding of managing acute and community health care services
• Extensive knowledge of operational, people and financial management
• Evidence of effectively managing clinical services and change
• Evidence of budgetary and staff management experience
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Well-developed understanding of health service issues
• Understanding of key performance targets, measures, clinical and corporate governance requirements
• Specialty specific knowledge and experience

Skills & Abilities

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Skilled negotiator
• Effective report writing skills
• IT skills – significant proficiency in use of MS Office Suite and other IT systems

Whilst Newcastle Hospitals are a forward thinking and highly innovative organisation, the use of Third-Party Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents a risk to the integrity of our Recruitment & Selection processes. If you use AI, and it poses a risk to the integrity of your individual application or to the recruitment process, we may withdraw your application at any stage of the process.

Important note on completion of reference section of Application Form

All references from current and previous employers will be sought and must cover a minimum of 3 years employment. Therefore, when completing the reference section of your application form, please give the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current/previous line managers that cover 3 years employment. Failure to complete this section may result in your application not being processed.

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.

Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e‑mail. You should check your SPAM folders as well as your inbox. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you should assume your application has been unsuccessful.