Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Band 7 Service Manager - Theatres

The closing date is 15 March 2026

Job summary

We are seeking a proactive and driven Band 7Service Manager to join the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) Theatre Services in a permanent capacity. This is a pivotal operational leadership role responsible for the seamless day-to-day management of our surgical theatres and the long-term optimisation of our perioperative pathways. The successful candidate will ensure strict compliance with maximizing theatre utilisation, and provide high-quality, consistent leadership to our multidisciplinary teams. You will play a central role in shaping the future of our services, ensuring both operational efficiency and excellent outcomes for every patient.

This is an exciting time to join RFH Theatres. We are currently evolving our clinical workflows and are looking for a forward-thinking leader to help us achieve our long-term vision. You will have demonstrable experience within the NHS and a proven track record of collaborating with consultants and clinical leads to drive sustainable service improvement. If you are an organised, adaptable leader ready to make a lasting impact on surgical care, we encourage you to apply.

Main duties of the job

Operational Management & Efficiency

  • Oversee the daily operational flow of the theatre suites, ensuring lists start on time and sessions are utilised to their maximum capacity.

  • Regularly track and report on KPIs, supporting the services with their RTT, and minimizing on-the-day cancellations.

  • Coordinate closely with the scheduling team to ensure that clinical staffing (anaesthetists/surgeons) aligns perfectly with the physical theatre space available.

Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

  • Act as the key point of contact for the Clinical Service Lead for Anaesthesia, ensuring that departmental needs are met and communication remains fluid between management and clinicians.

  • Manage administrative staff and support teams, fostering a culture of accountability and high performance.

Rota Management & Workforce Coordination

  • Coordinate & maintain the anaesthetic rota, ensuring all theatre lists are safely and appropriately staffed.

  • Manage annual leave, study leave, and sickness absence within the anaesthetic team, proactively identifying gaps and liaising with agencies or internal banks to secure cover.

Service Improvement & Governance

  • Implement long-term service improvements, using rota data to identify where "dark" theatre time can be reopened through better staffing models.

  • Ensure all staffing levels meet safety standards and participate in departmental audits and risk management.

About us

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's biggest and most innovative trusts. Across three main hospitals, our dedicated army of staff care for over 1.6million patients, treat more than 200,000 in A&E, deliver over 8,000 babies and carry out more than 17million tests.

Our size, scale and influence offer you unrivalled career opportunities and a forward-thinking approach to working that works around your lifestyle. From flexible hours and generous benefits, to next level training, we make it easier to take your career to the top.

Therapy Services has a high profile within the Trust, being firmly committed to quality improvement, audit, service evaluation and improvement. We undertake yearly presentations of our achievements for the year; undertaking PDSA and QI projects to ensure we are delivering the most effective, safe and high quality service.

For more information please follow link https://www.royalfreelondonjobs.co.uk/

Details

Date posted

25 February 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£56,276 to £63,176 a year Per annum inclusive of HCAS

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

391-RFL-7781841

Job locations

Royal Free Hospital

Pond Street

Hampstead

NW3 2QG


Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description for more information about this role and working at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description for more information about this role and working at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

Person Specification

Royal Free World Class Values

Essential

  • Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust Values

Education & professional qualifications

Essential

  • Postgraduate degree in a related field or equivalent experience
  • Management qualification or equivalent experience
  • Evidence of continuing personal development

Experience

Essential

  • Demonstrable experience of working in healthcare in a junior management position
  • Experience of staff management and leading a team
  • Budget management experience including monitoring expenditure and identifying savings

Desirable

  • Experience and familiarity with business planning and preparation of business cases
  • Introducing new ways of working
  • Project management

Skills

Essential

  • Understanding of national NHS policy and targets.
  • Good communication and interpersonal skills, including oral and written skills, including chairing team meetings, writing reports.
  • Competent in the use of Microsoft office; Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, etc.
  • Skilled in using an EPR system
  • Strong numeracy skills with good analytical skills and ability to understand and produce information to use in problem solving
  • Ability to negotiate with and influence staff at more junior and senior levels
  • Ability to manage own time/ priorities with minimal supervision

Personal qualities

Essential

  • Well organised and practical with a logical, analytical approach to work
  • Pays careful attention to detail
  • Ability to work under pressure in a dynamic environment
  • Flexible, collaborative and a team player
  • Ability to work on own in pursuit of team objectives
  • Positive and motivated
Person Specification

Royal Free World Class Values

Essential

  • Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust Values

Education & professional qualifications

Essential

  • Postgraduate degree in a related field or equivalent experience
  • Management qualification or equivalent experience
  • Evidence of continuing personal development

Experience

Essential

  • Demonstrable experience of working in healthcare in a junior management position
  • Experience of staff management and leading a team
  • Budget management experience including monitoring expenditure and identifying savings

Desirable

  • Experience and familiarity with business planning and preparation of business cases
  • Introducing new ways of working
  • Project management

Skills

Essential

  • Understanding of national NHS policy and targets.
  • Good communication and interpersonal skills, including oral and written skills, including chairing team meetings, writing reports.
  • Competent in the use of Microsoft office; Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, etc.
  • Skilled in using an EPR system
  • Strong numeracy skills with good analytical skills and ability to understand and produce information to use in problem solving
  • Ability to negotiate with and influence staff at more junior and senior levels
  • Ability to manage own time/ priorities with minimal supervision

Personal qualities

Essential

  • Well organised and practical with a logical, analytical approach to work
  • Pays careful attention to detail
  • Ability to work under pressure in a dynamic environment
  • Flexible, collaborative and a team player
  • Ability to work on own in pursuit of team objectives
  • Positive and motivated

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.

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 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.

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 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).

Employer details

Employer name

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Royal Free Hospital

Pond Street

Hampstead

NW3 2QG


Employer's website

https://www.royalfreelondonjobs.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Royal Free Hospital

Pond Street

Hampstead

NW3 2QG


Employer's website

https://www.royalfreelondonjobs.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Deputy General Manager for ATICU

John O'Hare-Price

jo'hare-price@nhs.net

02077940500

Details

Date posted

25 February 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£56,276 to £63,176 a year Per annum inclusive of HCAS

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

391-RFL-7781841

Job locations

Royal Free Hospital

Pond Street

Hampstead

NW3 2QG


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)