Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust

Care Group Manager - Pathology

The closing date is 02 February 2026

Job summary

Here at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, we are proud to provide expert, compassionate care for our local population. We are ranked as the third in the country for research, embedding education and training across the organisation. Our main hub is the Queen Alexandra Hospital, which is one of the largest hospitals on the south coast employing over 8,700 staff.

Our patients come from all walks of life and so do we. We hire great people from a wide variety of backgrounds because it makes our hospital stronger. If you share our values and our enthusiasm for getting it right for patients, colleagues, and our community, you will find a home at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust.

Main duties of the job

Portsmouth Pathology is a large and modern diagnostics service with 300 staff working from a purpose-built facility on the Queen Alexandra Hospital site. It provides a broad range of pathology services, from high throughput analysers to very specialist, low volume testing. Total workload figures for the service per annum are approximately 2.5 million blood samples, 400,000 microbiology investigations and 45,000 tissue biopsies. This is delivered by a dedicated team of scientific, technical, admin and clinical staff. Core services operate 24 hours a day, every day, supporting clinical decision making in the busy Queen Alexandra hospital and the surrounding community. It also includes a busy mortuary service. The breadth and depth of the scientific services, coupled with high demand, makes this a dynamic and exciting service to lead.

As the Care Group Manager for Pathology at PHU, you will provide senior operational leadership to the pathology services including the mortuary.

About us

Working in a triumvirate partnership with the Clinical Director and Senior Biomedical Scientist , you will lead the strategic and financial planning for the Care Group. You will be responsible for navigating the transition towards integration with Isle of Wight pathology services and the development of the Southern Counties Pathology Network business case into proposed new model across the network. You will provide direct leadership to the Business Manager, whilst supporting the Heads of Service, ensuring that laboratory supports RTT and cancer targets and the further digitisation of pathology services.

Date posted

16 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8c

Salary

£76,965 to £88,682 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

REF1969Q

Job locations

Queen Alexandra Hosp, Southwick Hill Road

Portsmouth

PO6 3LY

Job description

Job responsibilities

Technological Strategy: Lead the development of business cases for capital investment in laboratory automation and digital pathology.

Operational Excellence: Maintain a rigorous focus on national access standards and laboratory turnaround times (TATs).

Workforce Innovation: Develop a resilient workforce strategy that addresses the national shortage of HCPC registered scientists through creative "grow your own" initiatives.

Interviews for this vacancy will take place on Monday 9th February 2026

Job description

Job responsibilities

Technological Strategy: Lead the development of business cases for capital investment in laboratory automation and digital pathology.

Operational Excellence: Maintain a rigorous focus on national access standards and laboratory turnaround times (TATs).

Workforce Innovation: Develop a resilient workforce strategy that addresses the national shortage of HCPC registered scientists through creative "grow your own" initiatives.

Interviews for this vacancy will take place on Monday 9th February 2026

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Educated to Degree level or equivalent qualification/experience.
Post Graduate Qualification or equivalent.
Evidence of continuing professional development including management studies to masters level or above or equivalent experience.

Experience

Essential

Significant experience working on both strategic and operational matters.
Significant NHS/Public sector experience and knowledge and understanding of the NHS system reform policy and other key policy drivers.
Demonstrable success in building, leading, motivating and developing multi-disciplinary teams as highly effective people manager.
Experience of leadership of complex operational change/project management while also developing and maintaining high standards of quality.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Educated to Degree level or equivalent qualification/experience.
Post Graduate Qualification or equivalent.
Evidence of continuing professional development including management studies to masters level or above or equivalent experience.

Experience

Essential

Significant experience working on both strategic and operational matters.
Significant NHS/Public sector experience and knowledge and understanding of the NHS system reform policy and other key policy drivers.
Demonstrable success in building, leading, motivating and developing multi-disciplinary teams as highly effective people manager.
Experience of leadership of complex operational change/project management while also developing and maintaining high standards of quality.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.