Operational Team Lead

NHS; Chichester; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 53,000

Job description

Job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced operational and people manager to join NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies.

We are nationally recognised as a high performing NHS Talking Therapies service, with a reputation for clinical excellence, innovation and collaborative working with secondary care and voluntary services.

We provide a range of NICE compliant psychological therapies for people experiencing mild to moderate mental health difficulties, and achieve excellent recovery outcomes for our patients. We have good staff retention and aim to grow inclusive staff teams where diversity is valued and the workforce reflects the communities served.

The successful candidate will join our existing operational team lead in our West locality and share the operational lead of clinical and non-clinical staff. You will also be part of a wider team of deputy managers working within our service.

Main duties of the job

As operational team lead, you will operate as a valued member of the management team to ensure a high quality service is provided for all our patients, and that our clinicians are supported to achieve our key performance indicators.

The successful candidate will work collaboratively with the local and wider senior teams. Reporting to the deputy operational head of service, you will ensure the service is efficiently and effectively run through excellent operational, HR, financial and performance management. You will drive our change management programmes to achieve improvements in process and patient outcomes.

You will also support the business and administration process manager in the leadership of the administration team. Working as part of a wider team across the different West Sussex Talking Therapies localities you will ensure consistency across the services.

Candidates will need to display strong leadership qualities and the ability to form relationships and engage with clinical and non-clinical colleagues.

This post is based in Chichester and you will need to be able to travel to our other bases and localities across West Sussex.

NHS West Sussex Talking Therapies is one of England's leading Talking Therapies services.

We are proud of our supportive culture, innovation and excellent staff retention.

We are proud to be part of Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust please see the attached information about working for our Trust.

About us

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex. Our 6,000 staff serve a population of 1.3 million providing essential medical, nursing, and therapeutic care to adults and children.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community, helping people plan, manage, adapt to changes in their health, supporting avoidable hospital admissions and reducing hospital stay times.

We have opportunities for everyone across our wide variety of services including medical, clinical, support and corporate services.

Why work for us?

• Positive 2022 NHS Staff Survey results, scoring highly in compassionate culture & leadership, and staff wellbeing support
• Variety of working environments across the community, in patients' homes, within our community hospitals and bases across the county
• Supportive flexible working patterns such as: part time, flexi time, annualised hours, and flexi retirement options
• Excellent training and development opportunities
• Research opportunities
• Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove and Brighton
• Thriving BAME, Disability and Wellbeing, LGBT+ and Religion and Belief staff networks
• Level 3 accredited Disability Confident Leader, committed to creating inclusive workplaces
• Veteran Aware Trust, achieving accreditation from Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA)
• Located in stunning Sussex, with easy access to the South Downs and the coast
• Access to a wide range of benefits and discounts for staff

Date posted: 26 March 2025

Pay scheme: Agenda for change

Band: Band 7

Salary: £46,148 to £52,809 a year per annum (pro rata)

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Part-time

Reference number: 150-MM1605-PC

Job responsibilities

You will have a proven track record of delivering high performance in areas you have managed, bringing your project management skills to strategic service development.

You will be a team player with excellent communication and organisation skills, good attention to detail, awareness of risk management, business planning aptitude and the ability to work independently and use initiative.

Knowledge and understanding of the NHS and national mental health strategies would be an asset.

Please see the attached job description for full details.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree qualification or equivalent
• Post graduate project management qualification or experience managing projects
• Evidence of continued development

Desirable

• Post graduate management or business

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrable experience at an operational level
• Experience of dealing with complaints
• Proven project management experience, ideally within the healthcare industry
• Experience of financial and budgetary control
• Significant experience of managing staff
• Able to demonstrate experience of being patient centred in approach to service development
• Proven ability to project manage multiple projects at any one time

Desirable

• Experience of key stakeholder management across a range of audiences
• Management and training/coaching experience
• Knowledge and experience of delivering work stream solutions which include clinical services, governance and compliance, estate, IM&T etc

Skills and Knowledge

Essential

• 'Change Champion' - able to demonstrate
• Self-starter and good knowledge of office software
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Well-developed leadership and management skills with the ability to enthuse, motivate and engage individuals and teams
• Confident communicator, able to present to large groups and chair meetings
• Demonstrable influencing and persuasion skills
• Collation of complex information requiring analytical skills with the confidence to present findings
• Able to produce reports and assist in business case writing
• Strong planning and organisational skills
• Understanding of NHS and current mental health agenda

Desirable

• Able to travel across sites, driver with access to vehicle

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.

Employer details

Employer name: Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Address: Bicentennial Building, Southern Gate, Chichester, PO19 8EZ

Employer's website: https://www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/work-with-us/