General Manager, . University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

About the role

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust – Castle Donington, Derby DE74 2NP, UK

Job Summary

An exciting opportunity for an experienced, innovative, and highly motivated General Manager to provide strategic and operational leadership across the Neonatal Centre and COMET Transport Services. This pivotal role requires an exceptional leader who can drive service excellence, foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement, and ensure the delivery of safe, effective, and compassionate care for some of the most vulnerable patients and their families.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across the Neonatal Centre and COMET Transport Services.
• Ensure safe, effective and efficient service delivery in line with organisational objectives and healthcare standards.
• Lead and support multidisciplinary teams to achieve excellent patient outcomes.
• Manage budgets, workforce planning, performance targets and service development initiatives.
• Drive continuous improvement, governance and quality assurance processes.
• Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Oversee day‑to‑day operational performance, ensuring quality, patient safety, workforce, financial and activity targets are consistently achieved.
• Maintain strong relationships with clinicians, senior leaders, partner organisations and regional networks.
• Lead on governance and risk management processes, ensuring regulatory compliance and initiating learning and improvement initiatives.
• Support and empower multidisciplinary teams by promoting staff wellbeing, professional development and continuous learning.

Person Specification

Commitment to Trust Values and Behaviours

• Demonstrate behaviours consistent with the Trust's Values and Behaviours.

Essential Skills and Experience

• First degree or equivalent experience.
• Extensive knowledge of healthcare provision.
• Evidence of CPD.
• Significant operational management experience within the healthcare sector, with clear accountability for day‑to‑day delivery and service performance.
• Experience working in an acute NHS hospital or equivalent urgent/acute healthcare environment.
• Demonstrable track record of meeting challenging operational targets and KPIs – e.g., timeliness, quality, capacity/flow, patient experience – using data to drive improvement.
• Experience leading and delivering programmes of change and service improvement with evidence of benefits realised for patients and families.
• Experience managing workforce and performance matters in line with HR policy and a just, supportive approach.
• Demonstrable ability to communicate clearly and confidently with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior leaders, clinical teams and external partners.
• Ability to adapt communication style to suit the audience and situation, ensuring messages are understood and actions are agreed.
• Strong influencing, negotiating and conflict‑resolution skills with evidence of building effective relationships across organisational boundaries.
• Capacity to analyse complex operational and performance information and translate it into clear options and recommendations.
• Evidence of structured problem‑solving, including root cause analysis and implementing practical solutions with measurable impact.
• Ability to analyse and understand financial information – budgets, forecasting, variance analysis – to support sound decision‑making and value for money.
• Ability to use data and intelligence to identify risks, prioritise actions and support effective escalation and governance decision‑making.
• Demonstrated ability to remove barriers to change through influencing, stakeholder engagement and delivery planning.
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to plan, prioritise and manage multiple competing demands in a fast‑paced operational environment.
• Ability to develop and deliver operational plans (including rota/leave planning, resilience and contingency arrangements) to maintain safe and timely service delivery.
• Proven track record of establishing and maintaining robust performance management arrangements, monitoring KPIs, reporting variances and coordinating improvement actions.
• Commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, with the ability to create and maintain an inclusive, respectful and psychologically safe working environment.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Experience working within neonatal and/or paediatric services, including transport, critical care, or networked services.
• Experience of communicating complex operational performance quality or financial information through formal reporting and governance routes.
• Experience using recognised improvement and analytical approaches/tools – e.g., PDSA, Lean, process mapping, statistical process control, business case appraisal.
• Experience of developing or improving reporting tools, dashboards or data collection processes.
• Experience of planning and delivering large‑scale change – e.g., service redesign, mobilisation of new pathways, implementation of new systems/processes.
• Experience of working in an acute NHS hospital or equivalent urgent/acute healthcare environment.
• Experience managing workforce and performance matters in line with HR policy and a just, supportive approach.

Additional Requirements

• Ability to participate in the on‑call rota/out‑of‑hours operational leadership arrangements, including timely response to escalation and support to incident management as required.
• Willingness and ability to travel across sites and partner organisations as required for service delivery, meetings and system working.

Compliance Information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check – This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975. A submission for Disclosure will be required 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 Trust website.