Service Manager - Surgery & Critical Care

NHS; Harlow; On-site; GBP 47,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust in the UK seeks an experienced Service Manager for the Princess Alexandra Hospital. This role involves providing leadership to clinical and non-clinical teams, managing resources to meet national healthcare targets, and ensuring the successful delivery of productivity improvements. The ideal candidate will have a degree, operational management experience in the healthcare sector, and exceptional business acumen. The position offers a competitive salary and the opportunity to contribute to enhancing patient care.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent qualifications/experience.
• Evidence of continuing professional development.
• Previous operational management experience within the Health sector.

Responsibilities

• Provide effective leadership to specific clinical and non-clinical teams.
• Support Divisional Service Teams with surgical resource management.
• Monitor effective staff communication and involvement.

Skills

Leadership

Business management

Financial knowledge

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Degree or equivalent qualifications

Management Qualification

Job description

Job summary

We are looking for an exceptional and experienced Service Manager to join our team at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. This post sits within the Surgery & Critical Care Healthcare Group; a challenging and exciting place to work. You will help to deliver a selection of productivity schemes and therefore will have good business management skills coupled with good financial knowledge. While we face the same financial and performance pressures as all NHS Trusts, we are undertaking significant projects we would want you to lead on to improve healthcare delivery throughout the division.

Main duties of the job

• Provide effective leadership to specific clinical and non-clinical teams and individuals.

• Provide and receive complex, sensitive and contentious information where a wide range of skills including persuasion, motivation, negotiation, empathy and reassurance are required e.g. cost improvement plan requiring redeployment of staff,

  modernising services, implementing change, disciplinary and capability procedures.

• Support the establishment of a clear vision for these specific work areas with senior colleagues to create a working environment that empowers staff to achieve optimal performance.

• Support Divisional Service Teams with surgical resource management and allocation such as Theatre Occupancy, scheduling and session management, staffing allocations, procuring equipment and consumables, organising resources to ensure the Trust achievement of national access targets including 18-week RTT, emergency care targets and cancer targets.

• Ensure that there is widespread implementation of robust human resource (HR) practices, in line with the trusts HR strategy and trust policies.

• Monitor effective staff communication and involvement ensuring staff have the opportunity to be involved in and influence the planning and development of services.

• To lead on division wide work streams such as demand and capacity planning and inpatient length of stay reduction and Theatre Efficiency and Utilisation.

About us

Our Organisation

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) provides a full range of general acute, outpatient and diagnostic services at The Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, the Herts and Essex Hospital in Bishop's Stortford, and St Margaret's Hospital in Epping.

We employ 3,500 staff and serve a local population of around 350,000 people living in west Essex and east Hertfordshire, centred on the M11 corridor and the towns of Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and Epping. Our extended catchment area incorporates a population of up to 500,000 and includes the areas of Hoddesdon, Cheshunt and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire.

Our Values

The Princess Alexandra Promise to our patients as identified by our 3 values which will contribute to improving our patient experiences:

Patient at heart - Always holding the patient and their wellbeing at the centre of our thoughts and efforts

Everyday excellence - Sharing and celebrating our successes, being honest when we get it wrong, giving us the ability to learn from both

Creative collaboration - Knowing strength comes from diversity, we combine our experiences, skills and talents, working together to find new and better ways to care

The Trust believes in investing in all our staff and rewarding high standards of care whilst building for excellence and in return we expect our staff to uphold the Trust values to the highest level.

Details Date posted

23 July 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£47,810 to £54,710 a year Per Annum plus 5% High Cost Area Suppliment

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

6 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

292-6883372-SCC-A

Job locations

Princess Alexandra Hospital

Hamstel Road

Harlow

CM20 1QX

Job description Job responsibilities

Please see the attached Job description and person specification for full vacancy details which is available to download at anytime.

Job description Job responsibilities

Please see the attached Job description and person specification for full vacancy details which is available to download at anytime.

Person Specification Education and Qualifications Essential

• Educated to degree level or equivalent qualifications or experience
• Evidence of continuing professional development

Desirable

• Management Qualification, preferably at Masters Level

Experience Essential

• Previous and successful operational management experience gained within the Health sector or other equivalent sector
• Experience of managing and designing staff rotas, utilising electronic software
• Experience of reporting of service performance
• Experience of working in a busy and fast paced environment
• Experience of the management of operating budgets and delivering financial surplus
• Leadership and performance management of teams and individuals

Skills and Knowledge Essential

• Knowledge of audit, clinical governance mechanisms and CQC standards
• Clear understanding of the NHS agenda
• Understanding of national policies / guidance relating NHS business arrangements and financial flows
• Ability to manage priorities in order to meet specific deadlines
• Proficiency in the use of ICT applications to support efficient work activity, including the analysis, interpretation and presentation of data
• Ability to hold direct and non-direct reports to account
• Knowledge of Clinical and Corporate Governance frameworks, legislation and best practice
• Knowledge and understanding of clinical and corporate governance and risk management systems and processes
• Experience of managing and designing staffing rotas
• Experience of reporting of service performance
• Budgetary and staff management experience
• Business planning experience

Desirable

• Knowledge of planning and commissioning guidelines and targets
• Experience of developing business cases and new business proposals

Personal Qualities Essential

• Ability to work flexibly in a complex and changing environment
• Ability to work under pressure to demanding timetables
• Understands the need to deliver short-term priorities and achieve long-term goals (sense of balance)
• High levels of personal integrity and loyalty
• Ability to deal with confidential issues in a professional and sensitive manner

Person Specification Education and Qualifications Essential

• Educated to degree level or equivalent qualifications or experience
• Evidence of continuing professional development

Desirable

• Management Qualification, preferably at Masters Level

Experience Essential

• Previous and successful operational management experience gained within the Health sector or other equivalent sector
• Experience of managing and designing staff rotas, utilising electronic software
• Experience of reporting of service performance
• Experience of working in a busy and fast paced environment
• Experience of the management of operating budgets and delivering financial surplus
• Leadership and performance management of teams and individuals

Skills and Knowledge Essential

• Knowledge of audit, clinical governance mechanisms and CQC standards
• Clear understanding of the NHS agenda
• Understanding of national policies / guidance relating NHS business arrangements and financial flows
• Ability to manage priorities in order to meet specific deadlines
• Proficiency in the use of ICT applications to support efficient work activity, including the analysis, interpretation and presentation of data
• Ability to hold direct and non-direct reports to account
• Knowledge of Clinical and Corporate Governance frameworks, legislation and best practice
• Knowledge and understanding of clinical and corporate governance and risk management systems and processes
• Experience of managing and designing staffing rotas
• Experience of reporting of service performance
• Budgetary and staff management experience
• Business planning experience

Desirable

• Knowledge of planning and commissioning guidelines and targets
• Experience of developing business cases and new business proposals

Personal Qualities Essential

• Ability to work flexibly in a complex and changing environment
• Ability to work under pressure to demanding timetables
• Understands the need to deliver short-term priorities and achieve long-term goals (sense of balance)
• High levels of personal integrity and loyalty
• Ability to deal with confidential issues in a professional and sensitive manner

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Additional information 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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Employer details Employer name

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Address

Princess Alexandra Hospital

Hamstel Road

Harlow

CM20 1QX

Employer's website

https://www.pah.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details Employer name

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Address

Princess Alexandra Hospital

Hamstel Road

Harlow

CM20 1QX

Employer's website

https://www.pah.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)