Associate Director of Operations - Medicine in Sheffield

We are seeking an exceptional Associate Director of Medicine to join our senior leadership team and help shape the future of clinical services. As a key member of both the Care Group and Trust Senior Leadership Team, you will work in partnership with the Associate Medical Director and Associate Director of Nursing to lead the strategic and operational delivery of high-quality, patient‑centred care. Together, you will drive performance, quality, and improvement across a complex, multi‑disciplinary environment.

You will be the senior operational leader for the Group of Directorates, with responsibility for performance, quality, finance, and workforce delivery. This includes meeting national and local targets, delivering productivity and efficiency plans, and developing robust business plans to support sustainable services. This is a high‑impact role for a confident leader who thrives in complexity, builds strong relationships, and delivers results at pace. Join us and make a real difference at system leadership level.

Main duties of the job

• Place patients and families at the heart of decision‑making
• Promote care delivery as close to home as possible
• Balance individual and population needs within available resources
• Lead delivery of national targets and strive to exceed them locally
• Drive continuous improvement through benchmarking and best practice
• Develop and empower colleagues while holding high performance standards
• Build strong partnerships across health, social care, academia and the wider community

About us

At Sheffield Children's, our purpose is clear: to provide healthier futures for children and young people. Our three strategic aims are Outstanding Patient Care, Brilliant Place to Work, and Leaders in Children's Health. We work with partners across local, regional, and national levels to deliver physical and mental healthcare in both acute and community settings. Many of our clinicians are nationally and internationally recognised for their expertise. We're proud that 73% of colleagues would recommend Sheffield Children's as a place to work, placing us among the top five NHS trusts in England -- and the top‑ranked trust in the North East and Yorkshire -- in the latest NHS Staff Survey. Our nearly 4,000 colleagues bring our CARE values -- Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence -- to life every day, creating a kind, welcoming environment where patients and families feel safe and supported.

As we approach our 150th anniversary in 2026, we're excited to keep building our leadership in children's health, improve experiences for patients and staff, and focus on our communities and population health. We also offer excellent benefits to support your wellbeing, with generous annual leave and pension schemes, health and wellbeing programmes, and exclusive discounts -- helping you thrive at work and beyond.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Training

• Professional certification or qualification in leadership or management.
• Evidence of continuing professional development specifically in relation to leadership and management.

Experience

• Substantial management experience and achievement at strategic level, within an NHS Provider organisation, plus evidence of significant achievement in strategic level projects or work‑streams.
• Evidence of contribution to a wider corporate agenda outside of the immediate role remit.
• Experience of managing large budgets across multiple services within a complex financial regimen.
• Involvement at a leadership level on issues relating to quality governance, monitoring and standard setting.
• Experience of successfully developing and leading large scale, multiple and complex teams.
• Experience of designing workforce plans/redesign and managing change across multiple teams.
• Experience of peer review or accreditation processes for services.

Knowledge and Skills

• Knowledge and understanding of NHS policy and context, policy environment and financial requirements for Foundation Trust status.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, using evidence to inform decision‑making with robust approaches to understanding current state and developing plans.
• Strong strategic thinker with the ability to take broad perspectives internally and externally.
• Politically astute with the proven ability to assimilate and understand the work of the organisation, its policy context, operational issues and challenges.
• Ability to present information in a clear, logical and convincing way using evidence to justify decisions.
• Good understanding of financial management, including income and expenditure.
• Ability to motivate teams, influence and inspire and gain consensus at all levels within the organisation.
• Ability to facilitate and manage complex change effectively, with strong organisational skills and ability to plan/implement effective projects and work‑streams.
• Ability to work calmly and logically, identifying risks, proposing solutions and strategies in a fast‑paced environment.
• Achieving results, including drive for results across a broad ranging set of key outcomes, maintaining service user focus and personal high integrity at all times.

Personal Attributes

• Resilient and able to manage a challenging agenda in a positive manner.
• Ability to meet internal and external deadlines with strategic and financial consequences.
• Ability to manage self and exhibit personal skills, including self‑awareness, self‑management and drive for improvement and be able to lead others effectively.
• Able to counsel, coach and mediate in highly emotional and difficult situations.
• Ability to direct and to motivate to establish fully effective working relationships in a multidisciplinary environment at Group level and with collaborative service providers throughout the organisation and with external stakeholders.

Demonstrates Trust Values: Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Excellence.

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.