HIW Programme Manager – Industry and Innovation (HealthTech Innovation Strategist)

University Hospital Southampton NHS FT; Chilworth; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS trust in Chilworth is looking for an experienced Programme Manager to drive healthcare innovation. You'll collaborate with NHS and industry stakeholders to implement solutions that enhance patient care. Candidates should have strong project management skills and relevant healthcare experience. This role provides an opportunity to impact healthcare services while working within a diverse and inclusive team.

Qualifications

• Experience in an NHS or care service setting or healthcare commercial setting.
• Experience of engaging stakeholders through needs identification.
• Proficient IT skills and ability to deliver projects.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain stakeholder relations with NHS bodies.
• Communicate NHS needs to innovators.
• Host educational meetings on innovation topics.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Communication

Adaptability to new technologies

Education

Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant discipline

Professionally qualified or a relevant degree

Tools

MS Office Suite

Job description

Job Overview

Health Innovation Wessex is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Please see below for a detailed job description of the role

Main duties of the job

Are you fascinated by change and innovation? Can you help the NHS and social care sectors identify and adopt innovation faster, to help deliver better care to patients and improve services?

At Health Innovation Wessex we improve people’s health, achieve excellence in healthcare, and boost innovation and growth in the life sciences and healthcare sectors regionally and nationally.

As one of 15 health innovation networks across England, we connect and support industry, NHS, social care, academia and others to bring fresh energy to old problems, inspired thinking to new ones, and to implement innovative practice at scale.

We are looking for a full-time skilled and experienced Programme Manager, with a deep knowledge of the NHS and/or development of healthcare innovation who can bring together clinical, commissioning and commercial teams to accelerate the development, evaluation and deployment of innovation in a range of health and care settings.

Working for our organisation

University Hospital Southampton is one of England's largest acute teaching Trusts, offering a wide range of learning and development opportunities to support your career aspirations.

Located on the south coast with an international airport and direct rail links to London, Southampton offers an ideal setting to live and work, with the New Forest, South Downs and Jurassic Coast.

We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalizing your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.

At UHS we’re committed to providing a flexible working environment where possible. Whether you are balancing family, study, or your wellbeing with your career, we want to support you so you can help our patients.

At UHS, we proudly champion individuality, recognizing that outstanding care is only possible with a diverse, inclusive team. We’re committed to creating an anti-racist, anti-discriminatory environment where everyone feels valued, safe, and empowered to make a meaningful impact in our communities. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds, identities, and experiences to join us in building a healthcare community where everyone can belong, thrive, and contribute.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

You will be responsible for aspects of the Health Innovation Wessex Innovation Exchange as commissioned by the Government’s Office for Life Sciences, with particular responsibility for communicating regional NHS needs to innovators and innovation scanning for solutions on behalf of local and regional NHS bodies, and for directly supporting innovators as they develop their products and evidence base.

You will build and maintain professional stakeholder relations with NHS bodies including integrated care systems, primary care networks, acute and community providers, to understand their priorities and needs and provide appropriate horizon scans and options appraisals.

You will also be responsible for working with external stakeholders to host appropriate educational meetings on topics that are important to both commercial and clinical innovators.

We are an ambitious organisation, looking for passionate and motivated people to join us with a proven track record of delivery. You will need a tenacity to succeed, great communication and project management skills, an ability to build new relationships quickly, and the capability to independently produce high quality work, drawing on a wide range of sources.

We welcome applications from people with a wide range of past experiences – whether that be clinical, NHS management or from industry – an appreciation of the challenges involved with innovation deployment and transformation in the NHS is an advantage to succeed in this role. Past experience of commissioning, transformation and project management are also advantageous.

Person specification

Qualifications / Training Required

Essential criteria

• Professionally qualified or a relevant degree, plus project management experience or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline
• A Master’s degree or equivalent postgraduate qualification in relevant discipline
• Project management experience in an NHS or care service setting or in a commercial setting within the healthcare sector
• Experience of engaging internal and external stakeholders through the process of needs identification and problem specification.
• Experience of organising and delivering events of 10-100 delegates, including strategic direction, logistics and delivery
• Experience of working with commercial innovators, especially those in late stage development or early stage deployment from either the supplier side or from the NHS side
• Experience of supporting the implimentation of innovation(s) into a transformation pathway(s) in an NHS setting
• Experience of critical appraisal and product evaluation
• Knowledge of issues, trends and opportunities for delivering improved health and care services through innovation
• Experience of initiating, planning and organising the development and implementation new projects within specialist area of work
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Project management training (e.g. PRINCE II)
• Management experience
  
  

Aptitudes And Skills Required

Essential criteria

• Proficient IT skills, with the ability to quickly adapt to new technologies, including demonstrating first class knowledge of MS Office Suite
• Experience in engaging managers and practitioners in project development
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of holding budgets for project portfolios; monitoring budgets, and responsibility for budget planning for projects
• Experience of communicating findings and outcomes through a range of media and channels
  
  

Special requirements of the post

Essential criteria

• Able to travel to sites across Wessex (preferably with driving licence and car)
• Occasional flexibility in hours worked e.g. (may be occasional evening meetings)
• Ability to work in a hybrid environment
  
  

Values and behaviours

Essential criteria

• Innovative
• Inclusive
• Collaborative
• Achieving
• Trustworthy
• Patients First
• Always Improving
• Working Together