East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Divisional Operations Director

The closing date is 15 March 2026

Job summary

Are you an exceptional senior leader ready to take on your next challenge?

We are seeking an experienced, forward-thinking individual to join our Senior Leadership Team as Divisional Operations Director within our Surgical Division.

In this pivotal role, you will provide strategic direction and operational oversight across all aspects of the division. You will bring outstanding facilitation skills, uniting diverse disciplines, perspectives, and backgrounds to ensure every voice is heard and always with a clear focus on our patients, their families, and our staff.

You will demonstrate excellence in operational and relationship management, with the ability to analyse complex information and navigate challenging situations with confidence and clarity. A proven track record of building, developing, and empowering high-performing teams is essential.

We are looking for a leader who listens deeply, understands the challenges others face, and works collaboratively to deliver innovative, practical solutions. We are proud to promote a culture of psychological safety across our organisation.

Above all, you will be passionate about improving patient outcomes. You will bring a flexible, inclusive approach to decision-making, driving efficiency and continuous improvement to ensure the very best standards of patient care.

Please note the assessment process will consist of an in-person interview on the 1st April 2026 and a stakeholder event virtually on 2nd April 2026.

Main duties of the job

Reporting to the Director of Operations, the Divisional Operations Director (DOD) works in partnership with the Divisional Clinical Director and Divisional Nursing Director (DND). The three roles have operational accountability for service delivery, performance, clinical quality and safety, the workforce and financial control, and the implementation of the Trust's strategy.

You will lead, develop and be responsible for the effective and efficient delivery of the day to day operational performance of the Division ensuring sustainable delivery of high quality patient care, safety processes, operational standards and quality/service improvement programmes.

You will work closely with the Director of Operations in monitoring performance against objectives and in ensuring high standards of corporate governance are adhered to.

You will provide strong local leadership balancing strategic plans with operational needs and robust delivery and will drive service improvement to achieve efficiency gains and improve the operational effectiveness of the Division.

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

Date posted

04 March 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 9

Salary

£109,179 to £125,637 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

432-HR1354-25

Job locations

Colchester / Ipswich

CO4 5JL

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

Qualifications

Essential

Educated to degree level
Masters degree or equivalent level of experience
Evidence of continued professional learning and development

Experience

Essential

Experience of managing complex services and teams with a track record of delivering and meeting key operational targets
Evidence of promoting innovation, delivery individual ideas and the development of the ideas of others
Experience of working across a range of services/organisations to achieve significant service change
Proven ability to manage £multi-million budgets effectively
Track record of developing and maintaining positive partnership relationships to develop, manage and deliver services
Understanding of issues related to healthcare and the effective running of a complex NHS organisation.
Experience of developing business plans which support/deliver corporate and divisional objectives
Evidence of using analytical and problem solving skills in resolving difficult problems and the management and measurement of improved performance

Desirable

Evidence of working at a strategic level across boundaries within an ICB
Currently operating in a divisional operational leadership role

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Educated to degree level
Masters degree or equivalent level of experience
Evidence of continued professional learning and development

Experience

Essential

Experience of managing complex services and teams with a track record of delivering and meeting key operational targets
Evidence of promoting innovation, delivery individual ideas and the development of the ideas of others
Experience of working across a range of services/organisations to achieve significant service change
Proven ability to manage £multi-million budgets effectively
Track record of developing and maintaining positive partnership relationships to develop, manage and deliver services
Understanding of issues related to healthcare and the effective running of a complex NHS organisation.
Experience of developing business plans which support/deliver corporate and divisional objectives
Evidence of using analytical and problem solving skills in resolving difficult problems and the management and measurement of improved performance

Desirable

Evidence of working at a strategic level across boundaries within an ICB
Currently operating in a divisional operational leadership role

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

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Colchester / Ipswich

CO4 5JL

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

Colchester / Ipswich

CO4 5JL

Employer's website

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