EPA Network Manager/Laboratory Medicine Service Operational Manager

Employer Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, James Paget Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Town Norfolk Salary £79,504 - £91,609 per annum pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 11/10/2026 23:59 Interview date 23/10/2026

EPA Network Manager/Laboratory Medicine Service Operational Manager

NHS AfC: Band 8c

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) is a 1,200-bedded teaching hospital with state-of-the-art facilities for modern patient care: 1100 beds in the PFI and 100 in Cromer Community Hospital.

The NNUH is part of Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group which includes the James Paget Hospital, in Great Yarmouth and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King Lynn.

We carry out nearly one million outpatient appointments, day case procedures and inpatient admissions annually. The population we serve is predominantly the people of Norfolk and north Suffolk, although some patients are referred from further afield especially to access specialist services available at this Trust.

Our staff of c10,000 care for and support patients who are referred to us by around 100 local GP practices and from other acute hospitals. We run more than 60 specialist services as a tertiary centre, including more than a dozen specialist cancer and radiotherapy treatments, and we are one of the biggest cancer centres in the country.

We provide complex spinal surgery services, specialist Neonatal Intensive Care, neurosciences services and specialist cardiac services. Our Trust runs specialist dermatology, rheumatology, endocrinology, adult congenital heart disease services, treatment of complex liver and pancreatic diseases in adults, cystic fibrosis services and intestinal failure services. We are enhancing our urgent and emergency care specialist services for patients with significant injuries as a result of trauma and have an ambition to become a Major Trauma Centre.NNUH is currently the busiest Trauma Unit in the East of England caring for almost 850 trauma patients annually many with complex care needs.

At NNUH it is our privilege to provide healthcare, and our vision is to ‘provide the best care for every patient’. If this inspires you and you share our values, we really want you to join our team.

Our values support our vision and guide the behaviour of everything we do, these are:

People-focused

We look after the needs of our patients, carers and colleagues, to provide a safe and caring experience for all.

Respect

We act with care, compassion and kindness and value others’ diverse needs.

Integrity

We take an honest, open and ethical approach to everything we do.

Dedication

We work as one team and support each other to maintain the highest professional standards.

We continuously learn and improve to achieve the best outcomes for our patients and our hospital.

We want all our staff to achieve a balance between work and personal life and understand how important flexible working can be. We welcome applications on a full or part time basis, various shift patterns and hybrid working, where roles allow.

At the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH), we know the benefits diversity can bring to our organisation such as creativity, innovation and compassion. All of which have a direct impact towards our staff and patient experience. We are committed to being a Hospital for All – being equitable and inclusive, and a place where all feel a sense of belonging. We therefore particularly encourage and welcome applications from candidates who are underrepresented in NNUH’s workforce. These include people from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, people with disabilities and long term conditions and people within the LGBT+ community.

Job overview

The Eastern Pathology Alliance (EPA) is a joint venture between Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust.

The network processes over 35 million samples each year and is comprised of Clinical Biochemistry, Toxicology and Specialist Chemistry, Immunology, Microbiology, Haematology, Blood Transfusion and Andrology. Point of Care testing at NNUH also sits within Laboratory Medicine.

The postholder will be responsible for the leadership, strategic and operational management of EPA, including budgetary and staff management, contract management and service continuity.

The post holder must deliver a high quality, cost effective service and facilitate improvements through collaborative and constructive dialogue with all lab managers, clinical staff, and stakeholders across the region.

Main duties of the job

The main duties of the job include strategic service development, operational management, commercial management, service improvement, human resource management, governance and corporate responsibility for Eastern Pathology Alliance.

Working for our organisation

Join us at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and be part of a workforce of over 10,000 staff!

The NNUH is one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK, providing first-class acute care for around one million people, living in Norfolk and surrounding areas. We are a teaching and research hospital, at the forefront of innovation, home to state-of-the-art facilities, such as the Quadram Institute. We are pleased to work closely with the University of East Anglia, providing teaching opportunities for our staff and placement opportunities for their students. We attract some of the best and leading professionals from across the country and are proud that our workforce represents 94 countries from across the world.

We are a friendly, collaborative hospital, working with local services and home to N&N Hospitals Charity.

We can offer you the full range of NHS benefits/discounts and in addition:

• Fast Track Staff Physiotherapy Service
• Multi Faith prayer room at NNUH Colney Lane site
• Discounted gym memberships
• Excellent pension scheme and annual leave entitlement
• Wagestream - access up to 40% of your pay as you earn it
• Free Park & Ride service direct to NNUH Colney Lane site
• Free 24-hours confidential counselling support
• On-site Nursery at NNUH Colney Lane
• On-site cafes offering staff discounts at NNUH Colney Lane
• Flexible staff bank
• Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars, Cycle to Work scheme and home electronics

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To ensure that there is appropriate interface with EPA stakeholders and withPrimary Care organisations and specialist commissioners.
• To contribute to the translation of Strategy and Corporate objectives into robust operational and financial plans as part of the overall divisional annual planning process.
• To co-ordinate the Business Planning across the service ensuring that there is an agreed Performance Management framework to monitor effectively the delivery of the annual business plans.
• To support work with financial teams in the preparation of robust business cases which enable the service to remain financially stable and responsible to the demands placed upon them.
• To analyse performance in relation to performance targets and strategic objectives; develops strategies and business plans, taking into account multiple factors requiring complex analysis and provides advice in areas where expert opinion differs.

Please refer to the Job Description for the full specification of responsibilities and requirements for this post.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree or equivalent
• Doctoral Level qualification or MBA or equivalent experience
• Project management Qualification or equivalent experience
• HCPC Registered Biomedical Scientist

Experience

• Significant experience at senior management level within the NHS or equivalent setting
• Experience of managing in complex organisations across more than one organisation or with a network
• Experience of managing within a commercially successful health or care business
• Experience of managing complex projects and meeting targets

Skills

• Proven ability in operational and performance management
• Proven ability to develop and implement organisational and business strategy
• Proven ability to develop business opportunities and deliver returns on investment
• Experience of managing complex projects and meeting targets
• Knowledge of NHS Performance and Management Indicators of Organisations
• Effective role model, demonstrating NNUH’s PRIDE values of People focussed, Respect, Integrity, Dedication and Excellence
• Team leader and decision maker
• Ability to manage a change process
• Effective leadership skills with a significant drive for service improvement

The Job Description, which includes a Person Specification, provides a full outline of responsibilities and requirements for this role. Please use your supporting statement to demonstrate how you meet the person specification.

Visa and Immigration

If you are wishing to apply for this role and would require sponsorship (this includes if you are already in a sponsored post and looking to change employer), you can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for this post by assessing your circumstances against criteria specified on the gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/your-job.

Travelling to work

Staff parking is available onsite; however, this is limited during core working hours. We have more capacity in the evening and at weekends and can usually provide spaces during those hours.

We look to allocate these spaces fairly. Our Travel Office have a set of criteria that staff must meet in order to qualify. If you qualify for a space, you may be placed on a waiting list if we are at full capacity.

The NNUH is served by a number of public buses, and we offer generously discounted monthly passes with First Bus & Konect.

The Costessey Park and Ride runs regularly each day from 06:30 (from P&R) to 20:45 (from NNUH) and this service is free for NHS staff. Applications to the Travel Office for a Trust ID badge are required for this service. We also have a discounted service from the airport P&R if you purchase a bundle. Please see Konect website for further details.

The NNUH host multiple bicycle racks and a salary sacrifice scheme. We also benefit from a Beryl station onsite.

If you work at another Trust site, please discuss travel and parking arrangements at interview.

DBS

If this post involves working with children or adults the application form will ask for information regarding previous convictions as you will be required to undertake a Criminal Record and Barring Check known as a DBS check.

If you are a new employee or registering with the Staff Bank you will need to meet the cost of this unless your salary is below Band 4 (AfC).

NHS Service

Should you be appointed to the post we will need to establish any previous NHS service via the ESR IAT and we will accept the submission of your application as your agreement to this.

UK Professional Registration

You will need to have current UK professional registration where this is a requirement of the role. When you submit an application which includes professional registration details, you are providing consent to the checking and verification of this information.

Application

Following candidate feedback and to reduce our dependency on paper, all our communication with you regarding your application will be by email so could you please check your e-mails (and Spam) regularly.

We value equality in our team and recruit from all sections of the community. We recognise there is a wealth of talent among people who have a disability and if you meet the minimum criteria detailed in the person specification and have a disability, you may wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme by indicating this in the relevant section on your application.

We look forward to receiving your application and if you do not hear within the next four weeks this will usually mean that you have not been short-listed. However, if you wish to confirm this please contact the person indicated on the advert.

Flexibility

Whilst every effort will be made to recruit to the post as it is advertised, there may be occasions where we consider alternative working patterns, such as part time working, or contract types, such as secondments, depending on circumstances. Should you wish to work in a different working pattern to that stated in our advertisement, please indicate this in the supporting statement to your application.

Notice: the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) will never ask candidates to make any payment during the recruitment process, offer employment without a formal recruitment process, or contact applicants via WhatsApp, social media, or free email accounts. Please only apply for vacancies advertised through official NHS recruitment channels and be cautious of any unsolicited job offers. If you receive suspicious recruitment communications claiming to represent NNUH, do not share personal information or make any payments.

Useful Information

Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates about the exciting career opportunities available at NNUH - @NNUHjobs

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.

Name Anthony Mutti Job title Director of Operational Delivery, Care Group E Email address anthony.mutti@nnuh.nhs.uk Telephone number 01603 286286

Additional information

Hamish Lyall, Consultant Haematologist and EPA Chief of Service

hamish.lyall@nnuh.nhs.uk