Performance and Planning Manager

NHS; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a permanent Performance and Planning Manager to drive analytical work, performance reporting and strategic planning. You will collaborate with senior clinicians and managers to embed performance indicators and support continuous improvement across the organisation.

You will play a key role in communicating timely performance information to Commissioners, NHS regulators and the Board, ensuring data-driven decisions and effective planning

Qualifications

• English GCSE grade 4 or above.
• Degree level education required.
• Experience in performance management and benchmarking.
• NHS Acute hospital experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide timely, validated performance information to senior managers.
• Lead on benchmarking projects with NHS Benchmarking Network.
• Develop activity plans and performance trajectories.
• Support business planning and tender responses.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Analytical thinking

Communication

Negotiation

Education

Degree level education

Tools

Power BI

Excel

Job description

Main area 317 Corporate Performance and Governance - Corporate Grade Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 317-2026-45-05-DR

Site Freeman Hospital Town 317 01 Freeman Hospital Salary £49,387 - £56,515 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 22/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 10/12/2026

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 a Performance and Planning Manager to join the Performance and Planning team at Newcastle Hospitals on a permanent basis.

Successful candidates will be highly motivated individuals with proven analytical and numerical ability. This role is intrinsic to the continuous development of performance management across the organisation and applicants should have a successful track record at a senior level, strong interpersonal and communication skills and a current working knowledge of performance management systems, frameworks and operational standards.

The post-holder will play a key role in the effective communication and evaluation of timely, validated performance information both internally as well as external to the Trust, as well as participate in the ongoing development and enhancement of the performance management and planning functions across the organisation. Key to delivering this will be working effectively alongside clinicians and managers to embed awareness and understanding of performance indicators and providing appropriate support, challenge and advice to senior managers to facilitate sustainable improvements in organisational performance and adhere to business planning processes.

• Interview Date: 10th December 2026

Main duties of the job

The role will include providing complex performance information/advice and taking a corporate lead with senior officers on corrective action where performance is not being met. The post-holder will work closely with the Head of Performance to embed a culture of continuous improvement across the whole organisation. They will ensure that timely, validated and approved performance information is routinely reported to Commissioners, NHS regulators, Board of Directors and the wider Trust.

Due to the evidenced based nature of the role the post-holder should have excellent interpretive skills for processing qualitative and quantitative data as well as the ability to present complex information to staff across all levels of the organisation. Excellent negotiating skills are required with the ability to constructively challenge current practice and influence successful outcomes. The post-holder will be skilled at prioritising their own workload with the ability to change priorities at short notice as required.

This is a high profile, interesting and varied role working across the entire organisation, requiring collaborative working with other corporate teams as well as Clinical Boards to support the overall strategic objectives of the Trust. This role will provide the post-holder significant challenge and experience which will be helpful to further career progression.

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’.

For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Ensure that timely, validated and approved performance information, including contextual narrative, is reported to the Board of Directors, commissioners and other relevant bodies, identifying and addressing any discrepancies prior to submission
• Critically evaluate a range of complex information and relevant performance measures, initiating further data analysis and improvement work as required to identify and advise senior managers and clinicians of opportunities for performance improvement, achieving clinical, service and Trust objectives
• Ensure the continuous development of activity and performance monitoring across Clinical Boards in conjunction with the wider Performance and Planning Team, identifying areas requiring additional support to understand, interpret and report performance information and supporting teams to deliver this
• Attend Monthly Quality & Performance Review meetings, contribute to discussion relating to Clinical Board performance highlighting key trends and areas of promise or concern, and produce a formal record of the meeting
• Ensure the continuous development of performance reporting in conjunction with the Trust Information Services Team, producing relevant and forward-looking performance reports and action plans, both for internal and external audiences, focussing on the objectives set for the service/Trust
• Work closely with Operations, Information, Finance and other corporate teams to support Clinical Boards in the development and implementation of action plans to improve performance, understanding local issues and barriers and working collaboratively to overcome these
• Provide performance information and advice to inform complex negotiations and influence commissioning decisions based on the organisation’s performance
• Lead on and co-ordinate the Trust’s participation in benchmarking projects such as those facilitated by the NHS Benchmarking Network, working with colleagues across relevant services to provide accurate information and communicating outputs succinctly and meaningfully to relevant teams, identifying opportunities for improvement
• Develop activity plans and performance trajectories in collaboration with operational and corporate services to support the annual NHSE planning submission, developing expert knowledge to clearly communicate guidance, requirements and outputs
• Develop the use of capacity and demand tools and modelling projections to improve future planning within the Trust and to identify potential problem areas at an early stage
• Support the Trust Business Planning process, identifying key priorities to support performance improvement and delivering robust monitoring of outcomes supported by contextual information
• Support the development of corporate and clinical business cases that contribute to the delivery of the Trust strategy
• Support the running of a robust business planning process in line with Trust SFIs including maintaining a Masterfile and database of investment proposals
• Contribute to regional work to demonstrate Trust performance against other organisations and at an ICB level
• Monitoring key tender portals and co-ordinating Trust-wide responses to tender opportunities

Qualifications & Education

• English Language GCSE grade 4 or above
• Degree level education

Knowledge & Experience

• Recent relevant specialist experience, preferably in a corporate performance, planning, quality, operational or information role
• Knowledge of performance management systems and frameworks
• Knowledge of ongoing Health Service reforms, operational performance standards and key issues effecting service provision
• Experience in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data and information, ensuring accuracy
• Thorough understanding of the process of converting data into useable information in order to advise, confirm and challenge
• Experience in designing, producing and presenting analytical reports tailored to audience
• Experience supporting the development and delivery of activity and performance planning, including forecasting and trajectories
• Experience of business and corporate planning and preparation of business cases
• Good working knowledge of NHS Finance
• Evidence of relevant Continuing Professional Development
• NHS Acute hospital experience
• Knowledge of the impact of national and local commissioning decisions on planning and performance requirements within an Acute Trust
• Experience developing and supporting implementation of performance management and benchmarking frameworks
• Experience of using or creating Capacity & Demand models
• Experience of using or creating Power BI reports
• Knowledge of statistical process control
• Experience of leading and developing change / setting up and innovating new projects
• Experience of responding to tender opportunities

Skills & Abilities

• Ability to develop and maintain excellent communication (written and verbal) with people on complex matters, issues and ideas
• Strong interpersonal skills with an ability to forge and maintain effective working relationships
• Ability to question, influence and negotiate successful outcomes, affecting change without direct management responsibility
• Ability to manage challenging situations using tact and diplomacy
• Practical numerical skills with the ability to analyse complex problems and develop workable solutions
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritising to meet tight deadlines
• Demonstrable ability to work collaboratively as part of a team, supporting other colleagues during periods of pressure
• Expert user of Microsoft Office packages including Microsoft Excel and advanced keyboard skills

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.