Band 7 Operations Manager - Emergency Department

This is an exciting opportunity to join Queen Elizabeth Hospital as an Operations Manager, taking on a key leadership role within a busy, complex and fast-paced Emergency Department with a recently opened co-located UTC. We are looking for an ambitious, compassionate and improvement-focused operational leader who can build strong relationships, confidently manage competing priorities and turn data into action. Working closely with the General Manager, Clinical Service Lead, Matron and multidisciplinary teams, you will lead on operational performance, patient flow, workforce, finance and service improvement within your areas of responsibility.

What makes this opportunity particularly exciting is the breadth of the role and the opportunity to help shape how emergency and urgent care develops. With our co-located UTC now open, there is a real opportunity to support new ways of working, strengthen patient pathways and deliver improvements across performance, productivity and patient and staff experience. You will gain valuable senior leadership exposure, lead meaningful operational improvement and transformation, manage complex priorities and deputise for the General Manager when required.

If you are an enthusiastic operational leader looking for your next challenge and want to develop your experience while making a visible difference every day, we would love to hear from you. This full time role supports service delivery with shifts during core hours of 7am-6pm, Mon-Fri.

Main duties of the job: You will support the day to day operational management of the Emergency Department and co-located Urgent Treatment Centre, helping to deliver safe, effective and timely care within a busy Major Trauma Centre. As part of the senior leadership team, you will maintain a visible presence, respond to emerging pressures and ensure agreed actions are delivered. Core deliverables include improving patient flow and operational performance; monitoring demand, capacity and quality information; supporting workforce planning and effective use of resources; managing delegated budgets; and leading service improvement. You will use data to identify variation, risks and opportunities, turning insight into clear actions and sustainable improvements. You will also support governance, business planning and performance reporting, manage and develop staff, and deputise for the General Manager when required.

Day to day, you will work collaboratively with clinical, nursing, operational and corporate colleagues, balancing immediate priorities with longer-term improvement. The ideal candidate will be organised, resilient and calm under pressure, with strong communication, analytical, problem solving and people-management skills. You will demonstrate sound judgement, accountability, financial awareness and an inclusive leadership style, with the confidence to constructively challenge and influence across professional boundaries.

About us: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust strives to have an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong, can thrive, knows that they add value and feels valued. We do this by developing compassionate and culturally competent leaders, being values driven in all that we do and by creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace that thrives on the diversity of our people. As such we want to attract and recruit talented individuals from all backgrounds, and for each of you to feel supported for the diversity you bring, to achieve your full potential. For those staff with a disability, including physical disability, long term health condition, mental health or neurodiverse condition, this also means being committed to making reasonable adjustments needed for you to carry out your role.

Person Specification:

• Qualifications: Educated to degree level or able to demonstrate equivalent knowledge and experience gained through relevant professional roles. Postgraduate management qualification or equivalent level of knowledge and expertise, acquired through a combination of operational management experience, continuous professional development, and relevant training courses.
• Experience: Experience of managing staff and working in a leadership role within a complex organisational environment. Significant knowledge and experience of budgetary management, including revenue and capital budgets, forecasting, and financial monitoring. Experience of service development through business planning, performance monitoring, and leading the implementation of change management processes. Evidence of contributing to the delivery of high standards of patient care and service quality. Good understanding of clinical governance, risk management, and health and safety principles. Clear understanding of the NHS agenda, priorities, and operating context. Experience of handling confidential and sensitive information appropriately. Experience of dealing with patients, relatives, and members of the public in a professional and compassionate manner.

Desirable: Experience of working within the NHS. Experience of managing inpatient and outpatient waiting lists, including the development and implementation of mitigating actions. Working knowledge of NHS waiting list systems. Knowledge of medical staffing issues and workforce planning. Working knowledge of Patient Administration Systems (PAS).

Additional Criteria: Flexible approach to working hours, including working outside core hours when required to meet service needs. Ability and willingness to work across UHB sites as required. A commitment to improving patient services through an ability to sustain a clear performance focus on achieving demanding goals. A strong commitment to improving patient services, maintaining a clear performance focus on achieving demanding objectives.