Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Directorate Manager - Medical Division

The closing date is 28 November 2025

Job summary

We are looking for a dynamic and inspiring leader who is highly motivated and driven to facilitate the delivery of the very best patient experience and outcomesto join the well-established operational team within the Medical Division at MWL.

Reporting to the Deputy Director of Operations & Performance for Medicine, the post holder will be responsible for the management of Cardiology, Diabetes and Endocrinology.

At MWL, Cardiology services operate across 2 main sites, Whiston for inpatients which includes a a Coronary Care Unit, a general Cardiology Ward and Cardiology Catheter Lab, Southport with a Cardiology ward with and integrated CCU and Outpatients and close working with Cardio- Respiratory Diagnostics across all sites. Specific goals within this directorate relate to achievement of patient access targets such as: Rapid access Chest pain clinic (with 14 days), diagnostics support such as Echo within 6 weeks, RTT within 18 weeks and chronic disease management as well as managing efficient patient flow through inpatient areas.

The Cardiology team includes Consultants, Speciality Doctors, a Nurse Consultant and Specialist Nurses.

The Diabetes and Endocrinology team includes Consultants, Speciality Doctors, a Nurse Consultant and Specialist Nurses and a Podiatrist.

Please Note, the Recruitment Process for this position will include an Assessment Centre which will be held on Monday 15th December 2025.

Main duties of the job

This is an exciting time to become a leader of these teams as the MWL services are evolving and synergising in our new combined Trusts to deliver exceptional care to our patients on all sites. The post will provide the successful applicant with the opportunity to lead a wide variety of operational issues and performance targets due to the varied nature of these services.

The post holder will support the development and improvement of all services, continuing to strive to provide the very best care and experience to all patients, as well as continually improving the motivation and wellbeing of staff.

In an ever changing and demanding landscape within the NHS, it is essential that the post holder possess a wide range of skills to manage the demands of this challenging role.

Successful applicants will need to demonstrate substantial management expertise in a complex operational environment and have a proven track record of leadership qualities which have achieved measurable outcomes in performance, quality and patient experience. The specialties that this post holder would be responsible for requires proven experience and success in managing complex inpatient care, community integration and capacity and demand required to transform services.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a rapidly developing team and there are plenty of good reasons to choose us. We are an outstanding Trust where clinicians and managers work together to actively shape services that are Outstanding!

About us

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme

Date posted

17 November 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£64,455 to £74,896 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

409-S7512558

Job locations

Mersey and West Lancashire Hospitals (All Trust Sites)

Warrington Road

Prescot

L35 5DR

Job description

Job responsibilities

The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.

Please view the attached Job Description and Person Specification for detailed main responsibilities.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change.

Please view the attached Job Description and Person Specification for detailed main responsibilities.

Person Specification

Our Values

Essential

We are Kind
We are Open
We are Inclusive

Qualifications

Essential

Educated to degree level and/or equivalent qualification and/or equivalent experience

Desirable

NMC Registered or substantial management/patient flow experience within an acute general hospital
Post graduate qualification in health service management and/or equivalent qualification and experience
Master's degree and/or equivalent qualification and experience

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

Significant current experience of complex operational management in a healthcare setting
A demonstrable capacity and capability for operational service management in an acute hospital environment or similarly complex organisation, including staff management, financial management and change management
Demonstrate highly effective, credible leadership experience within the acute hospital setting
Intermediate IT skills qualification in Microsoft Word and Excel processing
Ability to undertake analysis of capacity and demand in relation to waiting lists and inpatient length of stay
Comprehensive knowledge of planned/unplanned care activities/practice
Excellent innovation skills
Ability to lead and manage all grades of staff within Directorates
Ability to communicate confidently and assertively, both written form and verbally, formally and informally to a wide range of audiences, both internal and external to the Trust

Desirable

Previous NHS experience within Acute hospital setting at a senior managerial level.
Service improvement tools and project planning

Person Specification

Our Values

Essential

We are Kind
We are Open
We are Inclusive

Qualifications

Essential

Educated to degree level and/or equivalent qualification and/or equivalent experience

Desirable

NMC Registered or substantial management/patient flow experience within an acute general hospital
Post graduate qualification in health service management and/or equivalent qualification and experience
Master's degree and/or equivalent qualification and experience

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

Significant current experience of complex operational management in a healthcare setting
A demonstrable capacity and capability for operational service management in an acute hospital environment or similarly complex organisation, including staff management, financial management and change management
Demonstrate highly effective, credible leadership experience within the acute hospital setting
Intermediate IT skills qualification in Microsoft Word and Excel processing
Ability to undertake analysis of capacity and demand in relation to waiting lists and inpatient length of stay
Comprehensive knowledge of planned/unplanned care activities/practice
Excellent innovation skills
Ability to lead and manage all grades of staff within Directorates
Ability to communicate confidently and assertively, both written form and verbally, formally and informally to a wide range of audiences, both internal and external to the Trust

Desirable

Previous NHS experience within Acute hospital setting at a senior managerial level.
Service improvement tools and project planning

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

Certificate of Sponsorship

Employer details

Employer name

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Address

Mersey and West Lancashire Hospitals (All Trust Sites)

Warrington Road

Prescot

L35 5DR

Employer's website

https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Address

Mersey and West Lancashire Hospitals (All Trust Sites)

Warrington Road

Prescot

L35 5DR

Employer's website

https://www.merseywestlancs.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)