National Director of Operations - SARC in Stevenage

About the Role

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 and professional care. Our teams are united by a strong sense of purpose and a commitment to doing the right thing.

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.

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.