Head of Community Services Operations

Principal Medical Limited; Bicester; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Principal Medical Limited is seeking an experienced operational leader to oversee Community Services, translating strategic priorities into stable service delivery. You will manage service leads, ensure governance and performance reporting, and work with finance and workforce teams to optimize delivery across NHS community and primary care services.

The role emphasizes clinical governance, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and ongoing service development to improve patient outcomes and

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent experience in operations, healthcare, or business.
• Registered professional with NMC or GMC.
• Formal management/leadership, quality improvement or project/programme qualification.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational leadership across Community Services.
• Line-manage service/operational leads and ensure clear objectives and ownership.
• Own Community Services performance rhythm and governance reporting.
• Collaborate with Finance, People & Culture to manage workforce and costs.
• Lead service development and integration initiatives and ensure governance.

Skills

Calm authority

Written communication

Governance reporting

NHS commissioning knowledge

Education

Relevant degree or equivalent professional experience (operations/healthcare/business)

NMC or GMC registration

Management/leadership qualification

Job description

At PML, you'll have the opportunity to make a tangible difference to the communities we serve while helping shape the future of locally delivered healthcare. We are a values-driven organisation with a strong reputation for innovation, partnership working and high-quality patient care. In return, we offer the chance to work alongside passionate and supportive colleagues, influence service development at scale, and play a key role in delivering sustainable healthcare solutions that improve outcomes for patients and communities.

Main duties of the job

This position exists to provide operational leadership, performance grip and integration discipline across Community Services, ensuring services are safe, contractually controlled, financially understood, and aligned to PML's neighbourhood / community development priorities. The postholder will provide the management layer between the Executive Team and Community Services leads, translating strategic and assurance priorities into stable service delivery, clear accountability, disciplined follow-through and proportionate governance.

About us

PML is a successful not-for-profit, GP-led organisation providing various NHS community and primary care clinical services to patients across Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. We have evolved as a NHS healthcare provider since 2004 and in the last few years have grown significantly, now employing around 300 staff with a turnover of circa £16m. PML holds GMS contracts, as well as being a GP Federation representing circa 50 GP practices covering approximately 650,000 patients.

We welcome applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds and circumstances and people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010

Job responsibilities

Operational leadership and service delivery

• Provideday-to-day operational leadership across Community Services.
• Linemanage and support service leads / operational leads, ensuring services haveclear objectives, escalation routes, action ownership and timelyfollow-through.
• Maintainservice continuity and resilience, escalating material operational, workforce,quality, finance or contract risks through the agreed route.
• Ownthe Community Services performance rhythm, ensuring monthly service outputs arecompleted, reviewed and converted into useful assurance for Exec, CorporateGovernance and Board reporting.

Workforce

• Workwith Finance, People & Culture, BI and service leads to maintain a clearview of funded, approved, filled and usable establishment across CommunityServices.
• Supportthe development of service-level capacity and demand baselines, including workforceconstraints, flexible-working implications, mileage / travel impact and cost ofdelivery.
• Ensureworkforce changes, new posts and service developments are supported by clearrole purpose, affordability, governance and implementation plans.

Finance, contracts and commercial discipline

• Workwith Finance to understand and explain the Community Services cost base.
• Supportservice leads to understand contract requirements, activity assumptions,deliverables, risks and the operational implications of changes in commissionerexpectations.
• Monitor performanceagainst financial and operational targets, identifying variances and supportingcorrective actions.

Service development and integration

• Leadthe operational development of Community Services priorities agreed through theExec route, including CCT frailty / Ageing Well opportunities, neighbourhoodintegration, Community Gynae sustainability, UTC contract matters and OCNSservice assurance.
• Translatestrategic priorities into service development ideas and controlledimplementation plans with clear risks, milestones, owners, benefits andgovernance route.
• RepresentPML in delegated operational / commissioner discussions where appropriate.

Clinical governance

• Workclosely with the Medical Director, Quality Director and clinical leads toensure operational arrangements support safe scope of practice, clinicalescalation, supervision, safeguarding, incident learning and CQC readiness.

There will be a chemistry call for successful applicants, and interviews will be held on site in Bicester on the 19th November.

Person Specification

Skills and Knowledge

• Able to operate with calm authority in ambiguous or pressured situations, with the ability to keep delivery moving in difficult environments;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to
• produce concise reports, governance updates, business cases and
• Understanding of NHS commissioning, ICB relationships, primary care networks, neighbourhood health policy and multi-neighbourhood provider development.

Qualifications

• Relevant degree or equivalent professional experience in operations, healthcare, or business-related field.
• NMC or GMC registered professional;
• Formal management, leadership, quality improvement, project / programme management or healthcare operations qualification.

Experience

• Significant operational leadership experience in healthcare, community
• services, primary care, urgent care, neighbourhood / integrated care, or a comparable regulated service environment;
• Proven ability to lead multiple services or operational teams through service stabilisation, performance improvement, workforce change and governance scrutiny;
• Strong people leadership skills, including line management of managers / leads, setting objectives, holding accountability, supporting development and managing performance issues fairly;
• Strong financial and commercial literacy, including experience interpreting budgets, P&Ls, contract income, workforce establishment, forecast variances and service cost drivers.
• Experience of working on service redesign, same day access, complex care or integrated care models.

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.