Chief Delivery Officer

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Employer University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Worthing, across site as required Town Worthing Closing 27/02/:59

At UHSussex we're proud to be at the heart of the NHS. As one of the UK's largest acute trusts, we're a leading example of the excellence, the ambition and the values that have embodied the NHS for over 70 years.

Our hard working, talented and dedicated people work together towards a common goal - to deliver Excellent Care Everywhere for our patients, our people and our communities. Whatever your role here at UHSussex you will play a part in driving us forwards and in improving the lives of patients across Sussex.

At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us deliver Excellent Care Everywhere. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of staff networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 3) and a Veteran Aware Trust.

We value compassion, inclusion and respect as our core values. We treat our patients and staff with the same compassion and empathy we expect for ourselves. We're here for them when they need us, and we go above and beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in our wellbeing programme for staff which is extensive and designed to support you when you need it, including where possible, flexible working to support work life balance - because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves.

As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching and training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us and throughout your career we will help you to grow and develop. We hope that in choosing UHSussex you are choosing a long and happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make and feel valued for all that you do.

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We look forward to receiving your application and the start of your journey with UHSussex.

Job overview

This is a new role, created as a central part of our new operating model, and it sits at the heart of how we will lead delivery across the Trust and deliver our strategy, Excellent Care Everywhere.

We are one of the largest and most complex acute providers in the NHS. We deliver care across seven hospitals on five main sites, alongside satellite and community services, and we are a major trauma centre and tertiary provider for Sussex and beyond. We serve a population of around 1.8 million people, employ approximately 20,000 colleagues, and operate around 1,700 beds. Across the Trust we run six emergency departments, four maternity units, and more than 50 operating theatres, alongside extensive outpatient and diagnostic services. Over recent years, the Trust has made important progress, including sustained improvements in waiting list performance. We need to deliver further, sustained improvement in urgent and emergency care and cancer performance, alongside continued focus on elective access, quality, productivity and flow. These are not short term challenges, and they require consistent leadership and disciplined delivery.

Main duties of the job The Chief Delivery Officer will provide clear leadership for our divisions and the four divisional Managing Directors, who will play a central role in driving performance and improvement. Our Managing Directors will also attend the Executive Committee and the Board, ensuring that delivery is firmly connected to our strategy, governance and decision making at the most senior level.

We are now entering the next phase of our journey. This is about consolidating improvement, strengthening delivery against constitutional standards, and transforming services so that we make the best possible use of our scale as a single, cross site organisation. It also requires us to change how we lead. We need to be clearer about priorities, more consistent in how we hold ourselves and each other to account, and more deliberate in creating a culture where people feel safe to speak up, learn, and improve. Delivery and culture are inseparable, and both matter if we are to succeed.

Working for our organisation At UHSussex, diversity is our strength, and we want you to feel included to help us always deliver Excellent Care Everywhere, as shown in our Outstanding for Caring CQC rating. Your uniqueness and experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of staff networks to help break down barriers, and can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We're proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 3) and a Veteran Aware Trust.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities Sussex is a distinctive and diverse county, encompassing large urban centres, coastal communities, and rural areas, with significant variation in health outcomes, life expectancy and access to services. Alongside our system partners, University Hospitals Sussex has a vital role to play in tackling these inequalities and improving outcomes for the people we serve. This is therefore a pivotal appointment. I am looking for an exceptional, experienced operational leader who can help build and lead a strong delivery team, sustain performance, and lead the next phase of service transformation across the whole Trust. It requires judgement, resilience and credibility, and the ability to work in genuine partnership with clinicians, managers, partners and communities. It is also a role with a clear development pathway. For the right candidate, this is a genuine route to a future Chief Executive role, offering Board level exposure and the opportunity to lead at scale in one of the largest and most complex trusts in the NHS.

If you believe you have the experience, drive and commitment to help continue our journey of improvement and delivery for the people of Sussex, I would encourage you to explore the role further and to speak with our advisers at Odgers, whose details are included in this pack.

Person specification Experience & Qualifications

• Educated to masters degree level or equivalent professional experience
• Post graduate management qualification or training or equivalent professional experience
• Evidence of continuous personal, professional and managerial development
• MBA

Knowledge & Experience

• Proven track record of operational leadership in a complex NHS organisation at board level
• Recent experience of operating as COO or CDO in an acute hospital setting
• Evidence of leading complex change and modernisation relating to improving organisational performance and efficiency
• Experience of leading organisation cultural improvement and embedding new ways of working within an NHS operational environment
• A track record of successes in delivering against national and local NHS operational performance targets
• Background of improving service standards and delivering efficiencies, and value for money
• Experience of working in a commissioning environment
• Experience of working in a commercial environment

Communication & Relationship Skills

• Ability to provide and receive highly complex, sensitive or contentious information, negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues including performance and change
• Effective and strategic influencing skills at all levels of the organisation including Board and external stakeholders
• Highly developed collaborative working skills - ability to build strong relationships with clinical leaders and multi professional staff groups
• Ability to present complex and sensitive information at all levels both internally and externally
• Ability to write reports and present at Board level
• Extensive knowledge and understanding of the NHS, politically astute and able to identify and work with key influencers to deliver a range of acute healthcare services
• Sound understanding of national health policy and local health initiatives
• Demonstrable understanding of the Trust's strategic objectives, financial and management challenges
• The intellect and interpersonal skills to have the respect of senior clinicians, managers and academics
• Resilience and perseverance to ensure delivery and implementation of key goals
• The ability to develop capability and confidence in colleagues, ensuring targets are achieved and maintained
• The ability to motivate staff in all professions and harness and nurture talent
• Ability to quickly build clinical and managerial credibility
• Evidence of a compassionate and inclusive leadership style

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

• Evidence of having undertaken own development to improve understanding of equalities issues
• Evidence of having championed diversity in previous roles (as appropriate to role).

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