Band 8b General Manager - Acute and Emergency Medicine in Birmingham

Birmingham Heartlands Hospital is based at the heart of a bustling, dynamic community and is part of UHB. It has one of the busiest Emergency Departments in the country with nearly 163,000 patients seen last year. We are looking for an exceptional General Manager for Acute & Emergency Medicine to join our Clinical Delivery Group. This is a high-profile leadership opportunity for an experienced general or operational manager who thrives in complexity, can turn strategy into action and is passionate about delivering outstanding care for patients and communities.

Reporting to and supporting the Associate Director of Operations for CDG1B, you will provide strong operational and strategic leadership. You will bring a proven track record of leading change, improving performance and developing services within a demanding organisation. Experience within unplanned care is highly desirable, as would a strong understanding of the operational, workforce, quality and financial challenges associated with emergency and acute services.

This role is about more than managing day-to-day operations. We are looking for someone with the ambition, energy and creativity to challenge established ways of working, develop innovative pathways and bring people together around a shared vision for excellent patient care. You will work closely with clinical/operational leaders, staff and external partners to improve patient flow, strengthen integration and ensure services are equipped to meet the needs of our communities.

Main duties of the job include ensuring safe, effective and high-quality care for patients and the local community. The role will provide senior operational leadership across quality, performance, finance and workforce. You will work closely with clinical and operational teams to develop and improve pathways, strengthen partnerships, enhance patient experience and deliver sustainable transformation.

We are looking for a confident, resilient leader with significant operational management experience in a complex organisation, a strong record of service improvement and change delivery, and excellent communication, influencing and stakeholder-management skills alongside the ability to engage, motivate and develop teams through change. Experience in acute, emergency or unplanned care is desirable.

At BHH, our people are central to everything we do. You will join a values-led, supportive multidisciplinary team, with the opportunity to shape services, develop your leadership and make a visible impact during a period of transformation. If you are an ambitious operational leader looking for stretch, challenge and lasting impact, we would welcome a conversation.

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.

Details:

• Date posted: 21 August 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 8b
• Salary: 66,582 to 77,368 a year
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working
• Reference number: 304-9017701
• Job locations: Heartlands Hospital, Bordesley Green E, Birmingham, West Midlands, B9 5SS, United Kingdom

Person Specification:

Qualifications:

• GCSE/O Level -- English and Maths Grade C or equivalent
• Educated to degree level or equivalent
• Masters level qualification in a management subject, or equivalent relevant experience.

Experience:

• Substantial experience in a senior managerial and leadership role within an acute healthcare setting which is commensurate with the complexity and size of the allocated area of responsibility.
• Knowledge and experience of leading significant change to patient services, delivering tangible and sustained improvements.
• Experience of developing and maintaining active partnerships with stakeholders in the development of services.
• Experience of improvement measurement systems and understanding of the role of measurement in performance improvement.
• Experience of directly line managing and providing strategic leadership to large numbers of specialist staff/multidisciplinary service teams ranging from bands 3 -- 7.
• Experience of managing individual and team performance through the setting of objectives, PDPs, and appraisals.
• Experience of application of recruitment strategies and workforce development including undertaking skill mix reviews and succession planning.
• Experience of using service redesign methodology.
• Has a highly developed understanding of the changing NHS environment and its impact on service provision and staff.
• Impact -- uses a variety of methods to gain support for ideas, strategies, and values.
• Understanding of how to use technology to support delivery of improvements to services.
• Application of absence management, sickness, disciplinary and grievance policies in accordance with UHB HR policies.
• Uses technical, non-verbal, and visual aids effectively.

Additional Criteria:

• Organisational skills -- able to deliver objectives within an agreed timeframe.
• Leadership -- highly developed leadership and influencing skills with the ability to enthuse, motivate, and involve individuals and teams and have them understand the Trust's and assigned speciality's expectations.
• Able to build rapport and credibility with senior clinical and managerial teams in the delivery of performance targets, service delivery and change programmes.
• Strategic and business planning -- able to think and plan strategically, tactically, and creatively and gain agreement to relevant plans.
• Analysis -- proven numeric and analytical skills.
• Ability to analyse complex problems and to develop practical and workable solutions to address them.
• Communication -- relates to and communicates with all levels of staff.
• Able to prioritise work in the face of competing demands.
• Strong sense of personal and team accountability coupled with a clear understanding of the boundaries around delegated authority.
• Able to collaborate constructively with internal and external partners to create conditions for successful partnership working.
• Extensive knowledge of practice and policy across a broad range of financial responsibilities including the management of budgetary expenditure up to 15m.
• Presentation skills -- presents concepts and ideas clearly so that others understand what is being communicated.
• Political acumen.
• Self-confidence -- states own position on issues; unhesitatingly takes decisions when required within area of authority and commits self and others accordingly.
• Flexibility -- adapts to ensure achievement of objectives within constantly changing situations and environments.
• Self-motivated -- possesses high internal work standards, sets stretching yet attainable goals; wants to do things better and to measure progress against targets.
• Strong sense of commitment to openness, honesty and integrity in undertaking the role.
• Commitment to ongoing life-long learning and personal development.
• Motivation -- driven by a genuine interest and concern for the quality and appropriateness of patient services.
• Flexibility -- identifies feasible alternative options in planning and decision making, holds different options in focus simultaneously and evaluates their relative pros and cons.