Senior Programme Manager - Operational & Quality Improvement in Birmingham

Opportunity in the West Midlands Cancer Alliance for a Senior Programme Manager – Operational and Quality Improvement to join a dynamic, high profile and busy team on a permanent basis. The role will lead performance and quality improvement work across provider organisations, overseeing projects that contribute to operational performance and pathway improvement resulting in improved outcomes for patients.

About Us

The West Midlands Cancer Alliance serves a population of 6.5 million, incorporates 15 Provider Trusts across a varied geography who work in partnership to achieve improved early and faster diagnosis and overall outcomes for those diagnosed and living with and beyond cancer, ensuring that we address inequalities, reduce variation and enhance patient access and experience.

Operational Responsibilities

• Working within the overall strategic objectives, devise, implement and monitor the Operational Performance and Improvement strategy.
• Evaluate, interpret, and locally implement best practice, focusing on achieving the constitutional standards for Cancer Waiting Times.
• Provide overall management to the operational performance and improvement programme.
• Develop and implement qualitative and quantitative measures to determine performance against the organisational strategy.
• Report progress against the strategy through personal representation at senior management forums and by written reports, tailoring delivery to meet the needs of the audience.
• Ensure that best practice is developed and delivered at organisational and departmental levels.
• Challenge ways of working and persuade, motivate, and influence other stakeholders to realign their practice where necessary.

Full Responsibilities

• Budgetary responsibility for a function(s) and the services provided within that function.
• Evaluating value for money of new contracts, monitoring the performance of existing providers and ensuring that provider performance aligns, and complies, with contractual terms and conditions.
• Constantly strive for value for money and greater efficiency in the use of these budgets and to ensure that they operate in recurrent financial balance year on year, in a way that is compliant with Standing Orders and standing Financial Instruction.
• People Management – support and line manage the West Midlands Cancer Alliance team, building a collaborative working environment and an innovative culture.
• Support an effective matrix approach to achieve NHS objectives, where appropriate across the West Midlands footprint.
• Manage, motivate, inspire, and develop staff within the team to ensure that they are able to deliver the objectives of the cancer programme.
• Responsible for the recruitment and development of staff, including undertaking appraisals, ensuring team and individual development.
• Information Management – devise, develop, and implement appropriate information sharing systems.
• Lead the creation, maintenance, and review implementation of information systems for collecting, evaluating and interpreting complex data; to inform short, medium and long term strategies.
• Developing and presenting reports, summarising status on issues, appraising outcomes, providing progress reports for senior staff or groups of staff as directed from time to time, tailoring content to meet the needs of the audience.
• Research and Development – use comprehensive knowledge and understanding of clinical pathways and processes, work with clinicians and health care professionals to make best use of new technologies and deliver sustainable business change that improves the service to the patient.
• Seek opportunities to test innovation and implement best practice to ensure optimal outcomes for patients across the West Midlands.
• Policy and Service Development – identify and assess opportunities for new services and threats to existing services and market developments.
• Develop plans and seize opportunities, mitigate threats and deliver strategic objectives.
• Within own function make recommendations for service delivery.
• Propose and draft changes, implementation and interpretation to policies, guidelines and service level agreements (SLAs) which may impact service delivery and sector.
• Maintain a good knowledge of emerging policies from government departments to assist in the thinking and definition of strategy discussions.

Key Working Relationships

• Regular contact with internal and external stakeholders, sensitive, complex, contentious and confidential issues.
• Participate in relevant internal and external working groups, projects, services and initiatives to provide project, information and analytical advice and expertise.
• Oversee the team to develop and implement processes and systems that align to strategy.
• Present verbal, written and numerical information and issues, explaining complexities, to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Liaise with other Managers to share best practice.

Person Specification

Essential Qualifications:

• Master's Level Qualification or equivalent management experience
• Evidence of Continuous Professional Development relevant to the role

Desirable Qualifications:

• Project management qualification (e.g. Prince 2) or equivalent experience or equivalent project/quality improvement experience

Essential Experience:

• Senior Operational experience in cancer services
• Knowledge of cancer policy and current priorities/deliverables
• Extensive experience of managing improvements and projects in the NHS environment engaging clinical staff, patients and other key stakeholders in collaborative projects
• Experience of managing significant change and developing services in difficult or sensitive environments, involving situations of conflict
• Subject matter expertise across a number of key areas relating to cancer management
• Should have an appreciation of the relationship between the Department of Health, NHS England and individual providers and commissioning organisations
• Experience of budgetary responsibility, including budget setting with evidence of working knowledge of financial processes

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.

For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.