Job vacancy: Head of Operations - Child Health, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, Ashford

Job summary

Main area

Operations

Grade

Band 8C

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time
Flexible working

37.5 hours per week (Participation in the out of hours Tactical On Call rota will be required.)

Job ref

344-7296WCY

Employer: East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type: NHS
Site: William Harvey Hospital
Town: Ashford
Salary: £76,965 - £88,682 Per annum
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 22/10/2025 23:59

Head of Operations - Child Health

Band 8C

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please scroll down to access the full Job Description and Person Specification located in ‘Documents to download’.

If you have further queries please don’t hesitate to get in touch using the contact details below.

Person specification

Qualifications and training

Essential criteria

Masters or demonstration of equivalent substantial continuing professional development.
Management qualification or relevant experience.

Desirable criteria

Qualification in management coaching or improvement

Skills and experience

Essential criteria

Substantial experience of senior management in a relevant healthcare provider, in a multi- disciplinary environment
Experience of developing and/or sustaining a culture consistent with Trust values
Proven track record of management of budgets, including development of cost efficiencies, income generation, capital planning and value for money service developments
Track record of achievement of objectives, including delivery of performance objectives
Experience of influencing at senior level within and across organisations to develop services and improve performance

Clinical governance

Essential criteria

Commitment to implementation and strengthening of clinical governance

Personal/professional attributes

Essential criteria

Environmental and political awareness.
Excellent written and verbal communications, Interpersonal and influence skills
High analytical and numeracy skills.
High level of self-awareness and openness to self-improvement.

Other requirements

Essential criteria

Able to function in a multi-professional environment
Ability to cope under pressure and work to ambitious deadlines
Self-motivated, energetic and flexible, with well- developed interpersonal skills
Personal resilience, self- awareness, determination to succeed

Staff and patients from across East Kent Hospitals are the feature of the biggest NHS recruitment drive in its 70 year history. https://www.ekhuft.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/work-here/

Filmed in William Harvey and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother hospitals, the ‘We are the NHS’ campaign highlights the extraordinary work that staff across EKHUFT do every single day. As one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a population of over one million people, EKHUFT was perfectly placed to demonstrate the care, cutting-edge treatments, research, innovations and life-saving operations that the campaign needed.

There are lots of great opportunities at East Kent Hospitals, where staff are caring and put patients first, innovation flourishes and you can develop your career. We’re on an exciting journey of transformation. With a new Medical School at the centre of our community, a focus on research, clinical leadership and making our trust a rewarding and friendly place to work,
there’s never been a better time to join us. To find out more about east Kent visit our website at. The Trust fully supports the SAS Doctors Charter and is committed to their development through its CPD Framework.

We’ll close this job advert once we’ve received sufficient applications which may be before the closing date so please apply as soon as possible. We only accept online applications. If you have any difficulty with this please contact our Resourcing Team on 01227 866450 who are happy to help.

We have a relocation policy for eligible candidates, parking available at Trust sites but we encourage other options, like car sharing or public transport.

The Trust is committed to supporting flexible working to fulfil our pledge as part of The Trust’s People Strategy to help staff to achieve a healthy work/life balance. Please speak with your Recruiting Manager for further information on how this can be managed alongside department expectations and requirements.

The ability to converse easily and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for all customer facing roles.

Most positions require a Disclosure and Barring check and will be exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Posts working regularly or unsupervised with children or vulnerable adults require an enhanced check.

Applicants for eligible roles requiring Tier 2 sponsorship must meet UK Visas and Immigration eligibility criteria.

We operate a no-smoking policy on all our sites and grounds.

You can search for and apply for roles directly on our website.

If you are applying via NHS Jobs your application will be sent to our recruitment system TRAC. All subsequent information will be generated from TRAC so you won’t be able to see the progress of your application or receive messages through NHS Jobs and we won’t be able to respond to e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to us transferring your application and details to our system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records. Good luck with your application, we’ll contact you via email so please check your junk/spam folders.