Deputy Chief Operating Officer

Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced and visionary leader to join us as Deputy Chief Operating Officer.

Working closely with the Chief Operating Officer, you will ensure effective service delivery across clinical and non-clinical areas while championing innovation, collaboration, and compassionate leadership. This role offers an exceptional opportunity to lead within an organisation renowned for its world-class care, cutting-edge services, and commitment to its staff.

This is a key leadership role in which you will play a pivotal part in shaping the Trust’s future, driving operational excellence, and delivering high-quality, patient-centred care.

Main duties of the job

1. Deputise for the Chief Operating Officer, providing strong and visible leadership across the organisation.
2. Drive performance improvement in key areas, including RTT, cancer, and DM01 standards, and oversee the elective recovery programme.
3. Champion patient safety, quality, and operational efficiency across all services.
4. Lead on capacity planning, modelling, and the delivery of the Trust’s financial programmes.
5. Coordinate monthly assurance reporting for operational performance and provide clear insights into performance drivers.
6. Work collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, including clinicians and partner organisations, to deliver seamless, high-quality services.
7. Contribute to the implementation of the Trust’s five-year strategic plan, driving innovation and sustainable service delivery.
8. Provide compassionate, inclusive leadership that reflects and promotes the Trust’s values of compassion, excellence, and collaboration.

This role will require participation in the on-call rota and occasional travel to Trust sites and external meetings.

About us

Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is the UK’s leading heart and lung hospital, delivering care to more than 50,000 patients a year in its new state-of-the-art hospital in Cambridge. We perform the most heart and/or lung transplants in the UK and carried out the UK’s first successful heart transplant in 1979. It also offers emergency heart attack treatment, sleep centre care and is one of just five centres nationally for those in severe respiratory failure.

Based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe, the Trust is at the heart of treatments of the future. Royal Papworth became the first hospital trust in the country to be rated outstanding in all five areas assessed by the Care Quality Commission – a rating it still holds today. The Trust holds its values of compassion, excellence & collaboration at its core, and all colleagues joining the team are expected to uphold these in their day-to-day roles & interactions. Royal Papworth is proud of its diverse workforce and encourages people to embrace their individuality.

The Trust values difference and welcomes all applications irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion & belief, sex and sexual orientation. Providing they meet the minimum post criteria, applicants with disabilities will be offered an interview.

Job responsibilities

On this page you will find a Role Profile which provides information about the hospital and full details about the role. We recommend that you review this and refer to it as you complete your application. Please include how you will meet the Trust Values Compassion, Excellence and Collaboration. If you would like more information about the role or working at Royal Papworth Hospital, please get in touch with the contact for this role.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to master’s level or equivalent experience in a management or leadership field of expertise.
• Membership of relevant professional or registered body.

Experience

• Evidence of continued learning and professional development.
• Experience in senior operational roles specifically focused on elective care and RTT recovery.
• Proven experience of leading complex, multi-faceted change and modernisation programmes aimed at raising organisational performance across healthcare systems.
• Track record of partnership working across local health economies.
• Exceptional leadership and communication skills with experience of dealing with a range of internal/external stakeholders, including clinicians, NHSI, commissioners and patients.
• Experience of leading multidisciplinary functions during large scale change programmes.
• Proven success at improving productivity and performance.
• Resilience and perseverance to ensure delivery and implementation of key objectives.
• Innovative and responsive to change, characterised by an ability to improve performance to ensure targets are achieved and maintained. Knowledge and understanding of lean management principles and the application of efficiency and productivity measures.
• Ensure the effective delivery of customer service, quality standards and targets through team working including, effective management of people, performance, and change, valuing diversity.
• Development of people and processes to promote organisational learning.
• Establish and develop successful collaborative and partnership working with others at all levels both internally and externally.
• Present complex information in a concise, accurate and understandable way.
• Adjust quickly to changing circumstances, communicate effectively, contribute constructively, and remain focused on the objective under pressure.
• Acts as a credible ambassador and advocate for Royal Papworth, with a wider range of internal and external contacts at all levels.

Additional Criteria

• Please provide evidence of your commitment to uphold the Trust’s values: Compassion, Excellence, Collaboration
• Ability to participate in an on-call rota.
• This post holder is required to work in an agile way across the Trust and will need to travel to our offices in Huntingdon to provide leadership and management.
• The post holder may also be required to attend meetings off site.

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.

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