Service Manager

NHS; Manchester; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in England is seeking an experienced Service Manager to support patient care operations. This role involves providing visible leadership, managing budgets, and fostering teamwork among multidisciplinary staff. Ideal candidates will have significant NHS experience, strong analytical skills, and a proven track record in operational management. Opportunities for personal development and advancement are available.

Benefits

Personal development plans

Access to development opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience in operational management within the NHS.
• Knowledge of clinical effectiveness and patient safety.
• Ability to present complex information clearly.

Responsibilities

• Lead and guide the General Manager in decision-making.
• Monitor performance and ensure quality standards.
• Inspire and develop staff through coaching.

Skills

Project management

Operational management

Budget management

Negotiating skills

Analytical skills

Education

Degree level education or equivalent experience

Job description

Go back Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Service Manager

The closing date is 01 October 2025

Are you ready to take your leadership career to the next level? At MFT, we are embedding an exciting new Operating Model, placing roles closest to patient care at the heart of decision-making. By creating clinically led, multidisciplinary leadership teams, we ensure decisions are informed by clinical expertise while maintaining the operational knowledge needed to deliver safe, successful services.

We are looking for experienced, forward-thinking leaders to support the introduction of these new ways of working. You will be well supported with a bespoke personal development plan and access to a range of development opportunities.

This is a unique opportunity to play a central role in decision-making, influence the future of patient services, and contribute to a Trust-wide movement embedding clinical leadership at every level.

We are currently inviting applications for:

Role:Service Manager - Medical Specialties

Band:8a

Time commitment:37.5 hours

Locations: Wythenshawe Hospital with cross site working

Main duties of the job

We are seeking applications from colleagues who are confident in their ability to:

Lead:Provide visible leadership supporting the General Manager in setting direction and ensuring colleagues feel guided and empowered in their roles

Govern:Contribute to governance by monitoring performance, ensuring safe processes are followed and escalating risks appropriately, helping the services meet its quality and compliance standards

Educate: Play a vital role in team development - sharing knowledge, supporting training and encouraging a culture of continuous improvement and learning

Collaborate:Work closely with clinical, operational and administrative colleagues, fostering effective teamwork and strong relationships across the service and wider system.

Key Responsibilities:

Operational:Deliver and monitor key performance indicators at specialty level, including activity, performance targets as well as national local targets

Finance:Ensure budgetary management controls and monitoring is in place and in accordance with Standing Financial Instructions

Innovation:Contribute to the review of services to identify ways to improve quality, productivity, efficiency and patient experience

People Management:To inspire and motivate others by role modelling a values-led compassionate style of leadership behaviour

If this sounds like a role you would thrive in, we want to hear from you! Apply now to progress your career at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

About us

MFT is England's largest NHS Trust with a turnover of £2.6bn & is on a different scale than most other NHS Trusts. We're creating an exceptional integrated health & social care system for the 1 million patients who rely on our services every year.

Bringing together 10 hospitals & community services from across Manchester, Trafford & beyond, we champion collaborative working & transformation, encouraging our 28,000 workforce to pursue their most ambitious goals. We set standards that other Trusts seek to emulate so you'll benefit from a scale of opportunity that is nothing short of extraordinary.

We've also created a digitally enabled organisation to improve clinical quality, patient & staff experience, operational effectiveness & driving research and innovation through the introduction of Hive; our brand-new Electronic Patient Record system which we've launched in September 2022.

We're proud to be a major academic Research Centre & Education provider, providing you with a robust infrastructure to encourage and facilitate high-quality research programmes. What's more, we're excited to be embarking on our new Green Plan which will set out how MFT continues to play its part in making healthcare more sustainable.

At MFT, we create and foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, provide equal opportunities for career development that are fair, open and transparent, protecting your health and wellbeing and shaping the future of our organisation together.

Job responsibilities

To find out more about the key responsibilities and the specific skills and experience youll need, take a look at the Job Description & Person Specification attachments under the Supporting Documents heading. So that youre even more equipped to make an informed decision to apply to us, youll need to take time to read the Candidate Essentials Guide that sits with the Job Description and Person Specification. This document provides you with details about the Trust, our benefits and outlines how we care for you as you care for others. Most importantly, it also contains critical information youll need to be aware of before you submit an application form.

COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst COVID-19 vaccination is not currently a condition of employment, we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated, there is helpful advice and information available by searching on the NHS England website where you can also find out more about how to access the vaccination.

Diversity Matters

MFT is committed to promoting equality of opportunity, celebrating and valuing diversity and eliminating any form of unlawful discrimination across our workforce, ensuring our people are truly representative of the communities we serve. All individuals regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation are encouraged to apply for this post. As an inclusive employer, we are here to support you. If you have any special requirements to help you with your application, email our team at [e-mail].

Were looking forward to hearing from you!

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent relevant and significant experience

Knowledge

• Knowledge and experience of project/programme management
• Knowledge of the clinical effectiveness, patient safety and quality agenda

Training & Experience

• Operational management experience, which would usually have been gained through at least 3 years of working within the NHS at management/operational level
• Experience of supporting the development of staff, fostering a culture of continuous improvement
• Experience in Operational improvement initiatives
• Experience in pathway redesign

Skillls and Abilities

• Ability to present highly complex and emotive information clearly and openly with staff.
• An open and facilitative style of leadership which can be adapted when necessary to ensure delivery of objectives
• Good performance management skills combining clarity around expectations, direction and holding others to account
• Ability to analyse and interpret performance and present in a clear format
• Management of budgets and contributing to VfP
• Negotiating and influencing skills
• Ability to make calm and rational decisions in the face of adversity
• An understanding of effective systems for integrated governance and the management of clinical and non-clinical risks
• Strong analytical skills and ability to consider the wider picture

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.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust