Band 8d Associate Director of Operations

Job summary

This Associate Director of Operations role offers a genuine opportunity to grow, develop and make a visible impact at one of the largest NHS Trusts in the country. The current postholder is leaving after three successful years, having grown in the role and secured promotion, demonstrating the scale, profile and development potential this opportunity can offer.

Working directly with Yma Choudhury, Managing Director for Group Clinical Support Services (GCSS), you will hold a senior operational leadership role at the centre of patient flow, clinical delivery and organisational performance. You will drive pace, grip and improvement across a critical portfolio, with a focus on Imaging, Labs, Medical Physics and Pharmacy.

GCSS is often described as the spine of UHB. Its services touch every service user, from X-rays and blood tests to medicines, diagnostics and specialist diagnostic support that enables clinical teams to provide safe, timely and effective care.

UHB is moving forward with renewed ambition, building on improvements in staff experience, patient experience, partnership working and its recent CQC journey. You will help us use our scale to strengthen services and work effectively with partners across Birmingham, Solihull and the wider system.

You will lead General Managers and senior teams, work closely with site leads at executive level and continue to strengthen relationships with partners across the private sector, primary care and Integrated Care Boards.

Interviews: Friday 04.09.2026

Main duties of the job

We are looking for an exceptional operational leader who brings pace, grip, focus and constructive challenge to complex, high-profile services. You will drive delivery across multi-site services, strengthen performance management and maintain clear oversight of capacity, demand, risk and priorities.

You will support standardisation and improvement across sites, levelling up to the best so patients receive consistently high-quality care wherever they access services. Using data, benchmarking and operational insight, you will identify variation, unblock issues and turn plans into delivery.

Strong financial and business discipline will be essential. You will make best use of resources, understand productivity opportunities and manage services through a clear focus on efficiency within a constrained financial environment, balancing quality, access, workforce and finance while keeping patient experience at the centre.

Digital innovation and service transformation will support safer, more efficient and more consistent services, enabling teams to work across sites as one organisation.

Success will come from balancing operational oversight with compassionate, inclusive leadership. You will support, develop and hold General Managers and senior teams to account, building capability and creating the conditions for colleagues to deliver well for patients and each other.

We would welcome you to contact us in confidence to discuss this role and gain a further insight.

About us

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust strives to have an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong, can thrive, knows that they add value and feels valued. We do this by developing compassionate and culturally competent leaders, being values driven in all that we do and by creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace that thrives on the diversity of our people. As such we want to attract and recruit talented individuals from all backgrounds, and for each of you to feel supported for the diversity you bring, to achieve your full potential. For those staff with a disability, including physical disability, long term health condition, mental health or neurodiverse condition, this also means being committed to making reasonable adjustments needed for you to carry out your role.

Details

• Date posted: 17 August 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 8d
• Salary: £94,356 to £108,814 a year
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working
• Reference number: 304-1103437
• Job locations: Trustwide, Mindelsohn Way, Birmingham, West Midlands, B15 2TH, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Please note for a specific detailed job description for this vacancy please see attached job description.

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).