Job summary
We are seeking an exceptional and accomplished leader who is
currently serving as a Chief Operating Officer or an experienced Deputy Chief
Operating Officer within a comparable organisation.
As Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of one of
the largest NHS trusts in the country, the post holder will play a pivotal role
in leading and delivering the Trusts operational services. You will ensure the
highest standards of patient care and operational performance across our
clinical service units, driving quality, efficiency and sustainable improvement
at scale.
As a key member of the Executive team, you will bring the
credibility, presence and leadership required to inspire confidence and
influence colleagues at every level from ward to Board.You will champion our values fostering behaviours that places people at the heart of everything we do, empowering colleagues to lead and innovate, promoting personal accountability and strengthening fairness, inclusion and collaboration across the Trust.
Through this leadership, you will help drive continuous improvement ensuring our services continually evolve to mee the needs of our patients, their families our communities and colleagues.
Planned Interview Date
7th April 2026
Main duties of the job
Ensure excellence in delivery of the operational services
for our patients.
Deliver mandated operational performance standards for our
patients in line with regulatory requirements.
Provide clear leadership, guidance and support to the
Clinical Service Units, within a clear and effective accountability framework
to deliver the annual operational plan.
Work in collaboration with partners across Leeds and West
Yorkshire to ensure high quality and sustainable services for our patients.
Named Board lead for business continuity and Emergency
Preparedness.
About us
Leeds
Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest and
busiest acute hospital trusts in the country. We are the local
hospital for Leeds and provide specialist services for our local
communities, the Yorkshire and Humber region and beyond.
This means
that people in Leeds have access to some of the very best care in the
country and benefit from a seamless provision of all services.
We
play an important role in the training and education of
medical, nursing and dental students, and are
a centre for world class research, innovation and
pioneering new treatments.
Leeds
Teaching Hospitals has a budget of more
than £2.1 billion and a 20,000 strong colleagues. Last
year, we delivered close to 1.8 million episodes of
care, including 109,000 in patient admissions, 1.3 million outpatient attendances and 359,000 attendances
in our Emergency Departments.
Our care
and clinical expertise is delivered from seven hospitals on five
sites, and they are all joined by our vision to be the best
for specialist and integrated care.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see supporting documents for full Job Description
with further information on requirements of the role, the department and
workflows and full person specification.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see supporting documents for full Job Description
with further information on requirements of the role, the department and
workflows and full person specification.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to Masters level in relevant discipline or equivalent by experience
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrable and successful recent experience and achievement at Board Director level or equivalent in a similarly complex organisation or system, ideally within an acute provider
- Experienced, compassionate and inclusive leader with significant operational experience and responsibility for meeting a wide range of service and business performance targets
- Proven track record of outstanding leadership in service delivery and innovation in healthcare
- Proven experience of effective demand and capacity planning
- Experience of business continuity and emergency preparedness planning and implementation
- Track record of leading successful change programmes, including service improvement, cultural change, outcome improvement and cost efficiency
- Demonstrable experience of developing relationships into productive partnerships, cross boundary working and working with stakeholders at all levels to achieve system and organisational excellence
- Extensive record of successful workforce, financial and resource management, ensuring high performance and holding individuals to account
- Demonstrable experience of using data to lead improvement. Track record of building high performing, cohesive teams and inspiring others to achieve excellence.
- Highly developed knowledge of professional Allied Health Professional standards, practice and policy
- Track record of proactively managing performance
Skills And Behaviours
Essential
- Excellent interpersonal skills and significant personal credibility
- Aligned to the Trust's values, behaviours and Nolan Principles of public life
- Demonstrable commitment to promoting and celebrating inclusion in the workplace and in service delivery
- Facilitative, collaborative and inclusive management style
- Committed to the ethical standards expected of public sector leaders in the UK, including fit and proper persons test
- Working with others to improve and enhance the patient experience and services across the organisation and the system, balancing a bias to action
- Resilient and determined to overcome challenges, recover from setbacks, and demonstrable persistence to deliver strategic objectives
- Passionate about high quality patient care and delivering outstanding outcomes
- Strategic thinker with highly developed influencing, persuasion and negotiation skills and using them to bring about change and develop services, standards and systems
- Resilient under pressure and calm in a crisis
- Committed to a culture of continuous improvement, and learning
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to Masters level in relevant discipline or equivalent by experience
Experience
Essential
- Demonstrable and successful recent experience and achievement at Board Director level or equivalent in a similarly complex organisation or system, ideally within an acute provider
- Experienced, compassionate and inclusive leader with significant operational experience and responsibility for meeting a wide range of service and business performance targets
- Proven track record of outstanding leadership in service delivery and innovation in healthcare
- Proven experience of effective demand and capacity planning
- Experience of business continuity and emergency preparedness planning and implementation
- Track record of leading successful change programmes, including service improvement, cultural change, outcome improvement and cost efficiency
- Demonstrable experience of developing relationships into productive partnerships, cross boundary working and working with stakeholders at all levels to achieve system and organisational excellence
- Extensive record of successful workforce, financial and resource management, ensuring high performance and holding individuals to account
- Demonstrable experience of using data to lead improvement. Track record of building high performing, cohesive teams and inspiring others to achieve excellence.
- Highly developed knowledge of professional Allied Health Professional standards, practice and policy
- Track record of proactively managing performance
Skills And Behaviours
Essential
- Excellent interpersonal skills and significant personal credibility
- Aligned to the Trust's values, behaviours and Nolan Principles of public life
- Demonstrable commitment to promoting and celebrating inclusion in the workplace and in service delivery
- Facilitative, collaborative and inclusive management style
- Committed to the ethical standards expected of public sector leaders in the UK, including fit and proper persons test
- Working with others to improve and enhance the patient experience and services across the organisation and the system, balancing a bias to action
- Resilient and determined to overcome challenges, recover from setbacks, and demonstrable persistence to deliver strategic objectives
- Passionate about high quality patient care and delivering outstanding outcomes
- Strategic thinker with highly developed influencing, persuasion and negotiation skills and using them to bring about change and develop services, standards and systems
- Resilient under pressure and calm in a crisis
- Committed to a culture of continuous improvement, and learning
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.
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 UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
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.
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 UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
