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Job summary

Main area
Service Manager
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 7
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
391-RFL-7781841
Employer
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Royal Free Hospital
Town
Hampstead
Salary
£56,276 - £63,176 Per annum inclusive of HCAS
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
10/03/2026 23:59

Employer heading

NHS

Band 7 Service Manager - Theatres

NHS AfC: Band 7

Our trust has over 17,000 staff serving 2 million patients every year. It comprises Barnet Hospital, Chase Farm Hospital, the Royal Free Hospital, North Middlesex University Hospital and more than 30 services in the community.  This larger scale organisation provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to continue our pioneering work, particularly in finding ways to deliver even better care to our patients.

Our mission is to deliver world class care and expertise in our clinical services, underpinned by world class teaching and research and we will continue to measure our progress against our five governing objectives: excellent outcomes, excellent patient and staff experience, excellent value for taxpayers’ money, being safe and meeting our external duties, and building a strong organisation.

Everyone is welcome at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. We're proud of our diversity and we continue to undertake new initiatives to advance equality for LGBT+, BME, gender equality, staff carers and people with disabilities and lived experiences to promote good relations and understanding between our staff.

Click here to view our video Welcome to the Royal Free


 

Job overview

We are seeking a proactive and driven Band 7 Service 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.

Working for our organisation

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/

Detailed job description and main 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 criteria
  • Demonstrable ability to meet the Trust Values

Education & professional qualifications

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

Experience

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

Skills

Essential criteria
  • 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 criteria
  • 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

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Nursing TimesApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleDisability confident employerTimewise PartnerCare Quality Commission - Requires improvementEnei MemberArmed Forces Covenant

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Application numbers

This vacancy may close early if it receives a high number of applications. Please complete and submit your application in good time to avoid disappointment.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
John O'Hare-Price
Job title
Deputy General Manager for ATICU
Email address
jo'[email protected]
Telephone number
0207 794 0500
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