National Director of Operations - SARC

NHS; Stevenage; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in the UK is seeking a National SARC Director of Operations to provide operational leadership within forensic healthcare. This role involves managing teams nationwide, ensuring service performance against KPIs, and influencing senior stakeholders. The ideal candidate will have over 3 years of experience in SARC or criminal justice settings, possess robust operational management skills, and be committed to continuous improvement. This position offers a significant leadership opportunity within a respected organization focused on quality and patient care.

Qualifications

• Experience in improving clinical practice and delivering clinical training.
• Ability to communicate, present, and influence key stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage multidisciplinary teams across the country.
• Own service performance across KPIs and quality standards.
• Identify service gaps and develop business cases for new models of care.

Skills

Operational Management

Stakeholder Management

Communication and Influence

Clinical Audit

Continuous Professional Development

Education

3+ years in SARC or CJS setting

CQC registered management experience

UKAS and ISO experience

Job description

This is a rare chance to take on a genuinely meaningful national role in forensic healthcare. As our National SARC Director of Operations, you will help shape services that support people at incredibly vulnerable moments, while working with partners across health and justice to make sure they receive the right care. Mountain Healthcare is a leading provider of forensic healthcare and SARC services. We work closely with police forces, NHS commissioners and criminal justice agencies to deliver safe, compassionate care.

Main duties of the job

The scope of the role includes operational leadership, strategic development and national influence, including:

• Leading Contract Directors and multidisciplinary teams across the country, setting clear expectations and building high performing, values driven services
• Owning service performance across KPIs, quality standards, patient satisfaction and financial delivery
• Overseeing operational accreditation activity, including CQC, UKAS, ISO 15189 and Forensic Regulator requirements
• Acting as an ambassador for SARC services, influencing commissioners, partners and stakeholders at a national level
• Identifying service gaps, shaping new models of care and developing business cases that improve patient journeys and outcomes
• Driving continuous improvement through learning, feedback, incident review and quality improvement activity

About us

Mountain Healthcare is one of the UK’s leading providers of forensic healthcare and sexual assault referral services. We work in partnership with police forces, NHS commissioners and criminal justice agencies to deliver safe, compassionate, high quality care to people at some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Our services are trusted nationally for their professionalism, governance standards and clinical integrity, and we operate at the interface of healthcare, justice and safeguarding every day.

We are an organisation that takes responsibility seriously. Quality, safety and accountability are not abstract concepts here. They are expectations. Our leaders are visible, our governance is robust, and our services are built around doing the right thing.

Job responsibilities

As our National SARC Director of Operations, you will help shape services that support people at incredibly vulnerable moments, while working with partners across health and justice to make sure they receive the right care. We are looking for a senior operator with experience in SARC, forensic or criminal justice healthcare, who understands the complexity and sensitivity of these services. You will feel confident working at pace, influencing senior stakeholders and managing the balance between compassion, operational delivery and commercial realities. In this role, you will lead a nationally distributed service line, setting direction and standards while staying close to frontline delivery. You’ll have the space to shape culture, champion continuous improvement and strengthen relationships with commissioners, partners and regulators. Mountain Healthcare is one of the UK’s leading providers of forensic healthcare and sexual assault referral services. We work in partnership with police forces, NHS commissioners and criminal justice agencies to deliver safe, compassionate, high quality care to people at some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Our services are trusted nationally for their professionalism, governance standards and clinical integrity, and we operate at the interface of healthcare, justice and safeguarding every day.

We are an organisation that takes responsibility seriously. Quality, safety and accountability are not abstract concepts here. They are expectations. Our leaders are visible, our governance is robust, and our services are built around doing the right thing. The scope of the role includes operational leadership, strategic development and national influence, including:

• Leading Contract Directors and multidisciplinary teams across the country, setting clear expectations and building high performing, values driven services
• Owning service performance across KPIs, quality standards, patient satisfaction and financial delivery
• Overseeing operational accreditation activity, including CQC, UKAS, ISO 15189 and Forensic Regulator requirements
• Acting as an ambassador for SARC services, influencing commissioners, partners and stakeholders at a national level
• Identifying service gaps, shaping new models of care and developing business cases that improve patient journeys and outcomes
• Driving continuous improvement through learning, feedback, incident review and quality improvement activity

Essential Skills

This role carries significant leadership responsibility. You will shape culture, support wellbeing, develop senior leaders and ensure that staff across the service line are supported, compliant and able to deliver at their best. You will play an active role within Mountain Healthcare’s senior leadership team, contributing to organisational strategy while retaining clear accountability for your service line.

The opportunity exists because the current post holder has been promoted internally, reflecting the strength of leadership and progression within the organisation and creating space for the next senior leader to step into a role with strong foundations, national visibility and genuine scope to make a lasting impact.

You will hold end-to-end accountability for the SARC service line, including financial performance, contractual delivery, governance and clinical standards. You will also be the senior point of contact for commissioners and regulators, representing Mountain Healthcare across the national health and justice landscape.

For the right person, this role offers real purpose, visible influence and the opportunity to make a difference at scale - both for patients and for the wider system. We are looking for someone with senior operational experience within SARC, forensic or criminal justice healthcare, who understands the complexity of these services and the responsibility that comes with leading them. You will be comfortable operating at pace, influencing at senior level and balancing compassion with commercial and operational rigour. This is a role for someone who wants to lead nationally, shape services that matter and take full ownership of a critical part of the healthcare and justice system.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• 3 plus years in SARC or CJS setting
• Operational Management in healthcare setting
• External stakeholder Management experience
• Experience of improving clinical practice, developing and delivering clinical training, and conducting clinical audit.
• Delivering and monitoring clinical supervision as well as providing mentorship to clinical staff
• Commitment to continuous professional development and learning.
• Experience of managing clinical incidents including safeguarding concerns and developing tangible action plans to address
• Demonstrable ability to communicate, present, and influence key stakeholders at senior level
• Full driving license to fulfil the requirement of national travel
• UKAS and ISO experience
• CQC registered management experience
• Experience in strategic planning and service development.
• A track record of promoting patient safety, clinical quality, and patient experience.

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.