Trac proudly powers the recruitment for
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
About
Contact
- Address
- Trust Offices
- St Thomas' Street
- London
- SE1 9RT
- Contact Number
- 020 7188 7188
Clinical Group Director of Operations
Accepting applications until: 31-Aug-2026 23:59
Vacancy status: Open
Accepting applications until: 31-Aug-2026 23:59
Key details
Location
- Site
- Harefield Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospital, St Thomas' Hospital
- Town
- London
- Postcode
- SW3 6NP
- Major / Minor Region
- London
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Salary
- Grade
- Executives / VSM: Executives / VSM
Specialty
- Main area
- Operational Leadership
- Interview date
- 24/09/2026
Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS.
Job overview
This is a really exciting opportunity for an experienced operational lead in the UK’s largest Specialist heart, lung and critical care services in four prestigious hospitals. The Heart, Lung and Critical Care (HLCC) clinical group comprises the adult services at Royal Brompton, Harefield, St Thomas’ and Guy’s hospitals, as well as a private diagnostic facility at 77-79 Wimpole Street. The group was formed following the merger of Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust with GSTT NHS Foundation Trust in 2021.
You will join the clinical group executive leadership team and also be part of the Operational Leadership team at GSTT, as a member of the Trust Operational Board.
EPIC was implemented across all of the sites in October 2023. Our vision is to be a global leader in academic heart, lung and critical care medicine. The group has close academic links with 2 of the world’s leading universities; Kings College London and Imperial College London.
A key focus at the current time is to accelerate focus on cross site integration and to meet the challenges of growing waiting lists and demand, diagnostic waiting times, alongside improving lung cancer 62 day performance all in a challenging financial climate. If you’re energised by complexity, systems working and visible leadership across multiple sites, this is a rare opportunity to shape strategy and deliver day-to-day performance at scale.
Advert
You will lead end-to-end operational performance across HLCC (access, flow, productivity); translate strategy into deliverable plans and measurable improvement; and provide senior operational leadership to directorate teams across a geographically dispersed portfolio.
Key skills and qualities we need include; proven senior operational leadership in a large, complex, high-acuity setting; strong performance and financial management with the ability to set expectations, hold teams to account and support improvement; experience of effective site management; confident stakeholder management and partnership working across systems; ability to lead major change and improvement programmes (including digital-enabled transformation); and an inclusive, values-led leadership style.
Working for our organisation
In HLCC you’ll join a clinically-led, high-performing team delivering complex heart, lung and critical care across Royal Brompton, Harefield, St Thomas’ and Guy’s. Following the 2021 merger that brought together five key locations, the Clinical Group operates as an increasingly integrated, cross-site organisation with services and teams working together over a wide geography.
You’ll work in an environment focused on practical cross-site integration: developing common policies and pathways, creating single points of access where appropriate, using shared waiting lists, joint MDT working and cross-site rotas, to realise the advantage of our scale when this improves patient care. You will be visible across sites and will work closely with senior clinicians, operational leaders and corporate partners to coordinate day-to-day delivery, support site resilience and maintain momentum on integration and improvement programmes.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Scope: Executive operational leadership for HLCC adult cardiovascular, respiratory and critical care services across Royal Brompton, Harefield, St Thomas’ and Guy’s. Member of the Clinical Group Executive Team and the Trust Operations Board; a member of the Clinical Group Board; participates in Trust Silver Commander on-call.
Strategic leadership: shape and deliver HLCC operational strategy and priorities; contribute to Trust-wide objectives; represent HLCC with system partners and key stakeholders.
Operational performance and governance: deliver cross-site operational standards; oversee performance management, quality governance and financial control; lead business planning, productivity, efficiency and capacity planning; ensure business continuity arrangements.
Programme leadership: lead major transformation and service improvement programmes and benefits realisation, including use of digital tools to improve pathways and productivity.
Site management (Royal Brompton & Harefield): ensure effective site leadership and coordination for regulatory/statutory responsibilities, emergency preparedness and incident command; coordinate cross-site escalation and operational planning across shared infrastructure (theatres, cath labs, imaging, critical care); oversee site-level risk and governance processes; provide operational oversight of capital/refurbishment programmes and space management; work with facilities/estates partners to assure site resilience.
Key relationships: Chief Executive HLCC (accountable to), Medical Director and Director of Nursing (close partnership), Trust Chief Operating officer (Professional leadership and Trust Wide Co-ordination) Clinical Domain and Directorate Management Teams, Trust corporate functions (particularly estates/facilities), external partners across the wider NHS system, and charitable and commercial partners supporting services.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.
Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.
As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Flexible working
We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual’s personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.
Due to recent changes in the UK immigration rules which affect Skilled Worker Visas, Global Business Mobility, Higher Skill Level and Increased Salary Thresholds, please ensure that you are able to meet the requirements to live and work in the UK before applying. Further information about eligibility is available on the UK Government website.
Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis.
Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now."
Applicant requirements
Person specification
Essential qualifications and experience:
Essential criteria
- Educated to masters degree level or with equivalent management experience
- A proven track record of strategic and operational management for a minimum of 5 years with responsibility for the full range of high acuity operational and clinical services.
- Experience of working at senior management level in a large complex environment.
- Evidence of having responsibility for site management, managing multiple clinical services to have effective and efficient services to deliver high quality care.
- Experience of leading services across multiple geographically separated hospital sites
Desirable criteria
- Experience in changing service models to maximise efficiency and patient outcomes, particular in the use of digital tools like Epic.
- Leading change across geographically diverse sites
- : Experience of enabling the development or growth of private patient, commercial or other income-generating clinical services within the NHS or another complex regulated healthcare environment.
Setting direction and leading
Essential criteria
- Highly developed leadership and influencing skills with the ability to enthuse, motivate and involve individuals and teams across multiple stakeholders.
- Ability to work at a very senior level with a multi professional group of staff.
- Ability to problem solve using complex information, setting deliverable goals and monitoring performance.
- • Ability to lead the redesign of services to ensure they are delivered to the highest standard and are cost effective.
Delivering the service
Essential criteria
- Ability to lead change with and through the Trust’s senior clinical team, by engaging them in the strategic direction and delivery plans, establishing clear work priorities with them, delegating effectively, ensuring a capability to deliver, monitoring performance and giving feedback.
- Demonstrable expertise in clinical, service and business management functions including in the application of HR and finance to achieve outcomes in agreed timeframes.
- Ability to work constructively with internal and external partners to create the conditions for successful collaborations.
Personal qualities
Essential criteria
- Proven strong communication skills, in particular, in building and managing interpersonal and team relationships, with strong and effective listening skills
- Strong sense of commitment to openness, honesty and integrity in undertaking the leadership role.
- • Demonstrate the ability to work under pressure whilst supporting and getting the most out of staff.
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Richard Grocott-Mason
- Job title
- Chief Executive - Heart, Lung and Critical Care
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
Alternatively, please contact the HLCC Chief of Staff, Dan Pembroke at [email protected]
Start your application
Sign in
Create an account
Create your account and apply for your new job!

