Business Development Manager - Private Patient Services, NHS Partnership (Dorset) in Salisbury

Regent's Park Healthcare (RPH) is an independent UK healthcare company specialising in the development and operation of clinical services in partnership with the NHS. RPH is now entering an important new phase of growth through a major strategic partnership with University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD) — one of the South of England's largest University Hospital systems, spanning the Royal Bournemouth and Poole hospital campuses. This is a rare opportunity to build something from the ground up. You'll be working alongside RPH and UHD teams to shape what we believe will become one of the largest private patient units outside London — a venture with real momentum behind it, underpinned by UHD's planned care treatment centre at Poole, set to be the largest of its kind in the UK. Few private healthcare businesses ever get the chance to build on a platform of this scale.

We are looking for an exceptional commercial healthcare leader to help drive that growth.

The Role

This is a Director-level appointment with a clear and central mandate: growing the business and delivering the returns on which this partnership will be judged. This role is not about running hospital operations — prior operational experience is assumed — it is instead about identifying, developing and commercialising the opportunities that sit on top of them: new specialties, new patient pathways, stronger consultant engagement, and better commercial terms with insurers and patients. You will be the person translating a strategic partnership into a large business unit built from the ground up — working closely with RPH and UHD leadership, consultants and commercial teams to shape a private healthcare business of real scale across Bournemouth and Poole.

Key Responsibilities

• Owning the commercial growth strategy for the partnership, with direct accountability for the returns it delivers.
• Identifying and developing new specialties, services and patient pathways with the greatest commercial potential.
• Developing robust business cases — market demand, activity forecasts, pricing, investment requirements and expected returns — for new opportunities.
• Establishing and driving commercial and financial KPIs, using activity, capacity, utilisation and performance data to manage delivery.
• Building a strong, prioritised pipeline of future growth across both campuses.
• Identifying underutilised capacity and working with UHD to convert it into commercial opportunity.
• Leading commercial negotiations with consultants, insurers, suppliers and other partners.
• Building and developing relationships with insurers, referrers and other partners to drive patient growth.
• Developing self-pay, PMI and other private patient pathways.
• Leading consultant engagement and participation strategies, working closely with clinical leaders to develop compelling new private patient propositions.
• Acting as RPH's principal point of commercial engagement with UHD executives, divisional management and clinical leaders.
• Working with UHD's clinical and operational teams to ensure new commercial propositions are clinically credible, appropriately governed and deliverable in practice.
• Supporting the successful launch of new services and remaining closely involved through their early commercial development.
• Contributing to the partnership's medium- and long-term strategic plan alongside RPH and UHD leadership.

The Person

We are looking for a commercially-minded healthcare leader who understands how hospitals work well enough to be credible with clinicians and NHS leaders — but whose primary instinct, track record and ambition is growing a business, not running one. You are likely to be a Commercial Director, Business Development Director, or senior service-line leader within a private hospital group, NHS organisation or specialist healthcare provider — someone who has built or significantly grown a healthcare business and is now looking for a bigger canvas to do it again. This will be an on-site role, and the successful candidate will be expected to live within reasonable daily commuting distance of Bournemouth & Poole.

Experience & Capabilities

• A strong track record of growing a healthcare business and its commercial performance.
• Commercial and strategic business development capability, ideally within private or NHS-partnered healthcare.
• Understanding of hospital operations, capacity and clinical services to be credible with NHS and clinical partners.
• Strong understanding of private patient healthcare, including PMI and self-pay markets.
• Experience developing new specialties, pathways or service lines from concept to commercial delivery.
• Business planning, financial modelling and investment appraisal.
• Experience of pricing, contracting and commercial negotiation.
• Experience working closely with consultants and senior clinical leaders.
• Strong analytical and financial capability.
• Excellent communication, influencing and presentation skills.
• Experience within an NHS/private healthcare partnership would be particularly valuable.
• An MBA, healthcare management qualification or equivalent postgraduate experience would be advantageous but is not essential.

The remuneration package for this role is aligned to a Director level position and reflects its strategic and commercial scope.