Go back
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Assistant General Manager - Theatres, Anaesthetics and Critical Care

The closing date is 11 January 2026

Apply for this job

Job summary

We are seeking an enthusiastic and operationally experienced Assistant General Manager to join our leadership team within Theatres, Anaesthetics and Critical Care. This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated individual who is passionate about operational excellence and service transformation.

In this role, you will focus on supporting the integration of services across sites, working closely with clinical and nursing colleagues to maximise the use of theatres and critical care resources. You will drive the efficient utilisation of capacity, ensuring high-quality patient-focused care while maintaining operational performance and financial sustainability.

Reporting to the General Manager, you will play a key part in shaping and developing the delivery of services, contributing to strategic planning, and leading teams to continually improve productivity, efficiency, and patient outcomes. This position requires a hands-on leader who thrives in a fast-paced and high-pressure environment, enjoys collaborative working, and is committed to service excellence.

If you are energised by leading change, improving performance, and supporting teams to deliver the very best care--this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Main duties of the job

  • Ensure that service delivery standards are achieved (for instance, wait time milestones)
  • Work collaboratively with the Divisional Director, Clinical Leads, other CDG leads Clinical Services, and other colleagues to ensure that service delivery and improvement plans are developed, implemented and reviewed
  • Ensure that financial controls are established and maintained within the relevant clinical specialties
  • Act as a champion for patient safety, operational effectiveness and quality

About us

We are ESNEFT and we provide hospital and community health services to almost one million people across east Suffolk and north Essex. Our dedicated staff deliver care from acute hospitals in Colchester and Ipswich, community hospitals, surgeries, community clinics and in patients' own homes.

We are one of the largest NHS organisations in England, employing more than 12,000 staff.

We pride ourselves on supporting our staff. We offer a wide range of training and development opportunities, as well as flexible working options.

Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

Our philosophy is that Time Matters to everyone. Across the Trust, we concentrate on improving the things we do and removing those which cause time delays for our staff and patients.

We are investing in our commitment to Time Matters with a partnership with leading electronic patient record (EPR) supplier Epic. This digital transformation will bring what's widely regarded as the world's best EPR system to ESNEFT, transforming life in hospital for staff and patients.

If you are passionate about patient care and want to develop your skills and knowledge, then we want to hear from you.

Find out about living and working here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkPu7HphU8A

Details

Date posted

02 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

432-HR1084-25

Job locations

Ipswich Hospital

Heath Road

Ipswich

IP4 5PD


Job description

Job responsibilities

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Job description

Job responsibilities

For full details of the responsibilities and duties of this role please see the attached job description.

Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Proven experience of working in a management/leadership role
  • Experience of managing , leading and motivating a team
  • Leading service changes to improve performance
  • Responsible for a budget and budget setting
  • Business case development and annual planning, longer term planning

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to masters level or equivalent experience
  • Management/leadership qualification or equivalent experience at post graduate level

Desirable

  • Project Management Qualification

Knowledge

Essential

  • In depth understanding of change management
  • Able to use IT systems including Microsoft Office
  • Good understanding of the current NHS agenda and healthcare policy
  • Risk management and governance

Desirable

  • NHS IT systems
Person Specification

Experience

Essential

  • Proven experience of working in a management/leadership role
  • Experience of managing , leading and motivating a team
  • Leading service changes to improve performance
  • Responsible for a budget and budget setting
  • Business case development and annual planning, longer term planning

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to masters level or equivalent experience
  • Management/leadership qualification or equivalent experience at post graduate level

Desirable

  • Project Management Qualification

Knowledge

Essential

  • In depth understanding of change management
  • Able to use IT systems including Microsoft Office
  • Good understanding of the current NHS agenda and healthcare policy
  • Risk management and governance

Desirable

  • NHS IT systems

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

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ipswich Hospital

Heath Road

Ipswich

IP4 5PD


Employer's website

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

Employer details

Employer name

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ipswich Hospital

Heath Road

Ipswich

IP4 5PD


Employer's website

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

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

General Manager

Mel Newnham

mel.newnham@esneft.nhs.uk

Details

Date posted

02 January 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£55,690 to £62,682 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

432-HR1084-25

Job locations

Ipswich Hospital

Heath Road

Ipswich

IP4 5PD


Supporting documents

Privacy notice

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust's privacy notice (opens in a new tab)