Cancer Early Diagnosis Improvement Manager

Job summary

The Early Diagnosis Programme Manager will lead the planning, delivery and evaluation of cancer early diagnosis programmes across Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull Cluster.

The post holder will drive improvements in cancer screening, earlier diagnosis, diagnostic pathway performance and health inequalities reduction, supporting delivery of the National Cancer Plan for England.

Working collaboratively with clinical, operational and strategic partners, the post holder will ensure programmes are delivered effectively, performance is monitored, risks are managed and measurable improvements in cancer outcomes are achieved.

The post holder will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by their line manager

Main duties of the job

• Working with the Cancer Partnership Managers for Birmingham and Solihull, and the Black Country to support early diagnosis work
• Providing support for early diagnosis initiatives; working closely with the West Midlands Cancer Alliance (WMCA) Early Diagnosis Programme and Project Leads to support national and local early diagnosis projects and programmes
• Providing support to the cancer screening and early diagnosis programmes
• Liaising with commissioning, programme leads, key stakeholders, and NHS England/ DHSC local, regional and national leads
• Developing and maintaining a clear communication plan to ensure delivery of early diagnosis objectives
• Supporting delivery of reports and returns within required timescales
• Developing and maintaining a content management system to ensure information is properly managed, securely stored and appropriately shared across key stakeholders as appropriate
• Providing a point of contact for all enquires relating to the area of cancer screening and early diagnosis
• Support the ICB Chief Medical Officer for Cancer, and the GP Cancer Clinical Leads in the education and support of PCN Cancer Clinical Leads and Cancer Champions particularly around the Cancer Early Diagnosis DES
• Direct initiatives that will support the improved early diagnosis
• Support delivery of early diagnosis DES within PCN and hold them to account

About us

Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull Integrated Care System bring together the NHS, councils and voluntary sector to serve 2.7 million people. Our vision is to be the healthiest place to live and work, improving life chances and reducing inequalities.

You will model system values, champion inclusion and actively address health inequalities, helping create an environment where everyone can thrive. In return, the Cluster offers a supportive, ambitious and inclusive environment with opportunities to develop and work across partners to deliver meaningful change.

The ICB is committed to having a workforce which is representative of the population of Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull Cluster. Our current staffing profile demonstrates that we are not as representative as we would like to be at this level within the organisation. We would actively welcome applications from women and people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds for this role.

The ICB is registered as a Disability Confident Employer. We actively welcome applications from applicants with a disability and commit to shortlisting all such suitable applicants who meet the essential criteria for an interview. Please let us know of any reasonable adjustments you require to participate in the recruitment process.

Details

• Date posted: 04 September 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 7
• Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year
• Contract: Fixed term
• Duration: 18 months
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: D9118-26-0041
• Job locations: Black Country Integrated Care Board, St. Peters Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1SH, United Kingdom, Birmingham & Solihull Integrated Care Board, Alpha Tower, Suffolk Street Queensway, Birmingham, B1 1TT, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

The Job holder will be accountable for:

• Working with the Cancer Partnership Managers for Birmingham and Solihull, and the Black Country to support early diagnosis work.
• Providing support for early diagnosis initiatives; working closely with the West Midlands Cancer Alliance (WMCA) Early Diagnosis Programme and Project Leads to support national and local early diagnosis projects and programmes.
• Providing support to the cancer screening and early diagnosis programmes.
• Liaising with commissioning, programme leads, key stakeholders, and NHS England/ DHSC local, regional and national leads.
• Developing and maintaining a clear communication plan to ensure delivery of early diagnosis objectives.
• Supporting delivery of reports and returns within required timescales.
• Developing and maintaining a content management system to ensure information is properly managed, securely stored and appropriately shared across key stakeholders as appropriate.
• Providing a point of contact for all enquiries relating to the area of cancer screening and early diagnosis.
• Support the ICB Chief Medical Officer for Cancer, and the GP Cancer Clinical Leads in the education and support of PCN Cancer Clinical Leads and Cancer Champions particularly around the Cancer Early Diagnosis DES.
• Direct initiatives that will support the improved early diagnosis.
• Support delivery of early diagnosis DES within PCN and hold them to account.
• Delivery within primary care, working with PCNs and neigbourhoods to implements changes and improvements in the primary care element of the care pathway to support early diagnosis.

Specific requirements of the role:

• Lead the development, implementation and monitoring of Early Diagnosis programmes across the Integrated Care System (ICS) to increase the proportion of cancers diagnosed at stages 1 and
• Deliver strategic initiatives that support earlier cancer diagnosis through pathway redesign, innovation and evidence-based interventions.
• Support the implementation of risk stratification, targeted case finding and proactive approaches to identifying individuals at increased cancer risk.
• Coordinate programmes that improve access to timely diagnostic investigations and reduce variation in diagnostic pathways.
• Ensure all Early Diagnosis programmes incorporate a strong health inequalities focus, targeting communities with poorer cancer outcomes and lower screening participation.
• Use population health intelligence and cancer data to identify unwarranted variation and develop targeted actions to improve equity of access.
• Support the development of culturally appropriate engagement strategies that improve awareness and uptake of cancer services.
• Support the identification, evaluation and implementation of innovative approaches that improve cancer diagnosis and patient outcomes.
• Contribute to pilot programmes and transformation initiatives involving digital diagnostics, genomics, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
• Ensure lessons learned regarding improving early diagnosis and best practice are shared across organisations and programmes.
• Working collaboratively across all domains, including primary, community, secondary care services, and voluntary third sector providers to support them in the delivery of early diagnosis and screening projects.
• Supporting, facilitating and monitoring progress associated for services associated with area of specialist long term condition.
• To lead on the strategic re-design and operational implementation of a range of cancer transformation projects (focused on early diagnosis) across BBCS.
• To act as subject matter expert on early diagnosis and screening for the post role portfolio.
• To work with Primary Care Networks, GP Cancer Clinical Leads, neighbourhoods, provider Trusts, third sector partners, the West Midlands Cancer Alliance, other key individuals in the ICB Cluster, and patients/communities to develop plans for the delivery of National Cancer Plan early diagnosis targets and ambitions, and improvement of services in line with identified ICB Cluster commissioning priorities.
• Effectively and proactively lead a portfolio of concurrent, complex projects.
• Development of cases for change for the portfolio.
• Develop, inform and make the case for investment and disinvestment decisions.
• Responsible for the development and delivery of cases for change associated with the portfolio to enable delivery of organizational objectives.
• Play a key role in informing investment and disinvestment decisions.
• Evaluate and scope current early diagnosis provision (with particular reference to health inequalities) to inform the development of community and healthcare services which are responsive to the needs of local diverse communities.
• Work alongside the ICB Cluster Cancer and Diagnostics Team to inform strategic commissioning of services to deliver earlier diagnosis and better outcomes/longer term survival.
• Carry out strategic service and prioritization reviews for areas of the Cancer portfolio with regard to screening, early diagnosis and one-year survival; with particular reference to addressing health inequalities.
• Instigate scoping and review of current challenges and barriers to early diagnosis, review current provision, interpret results and develop solutions, ensuring that all developments are underpinned by and demonstrate high impact changes, delivery of NHS Cancer Plan (2026) objectives and targets; importing quality, enabling innovation, maximising productivity and delivering early intervention
• Support cancer early diagnosis strategy development and transformation.
• Working with system partners to reduce health inequalities and outcomes in cancer pathways, reduce variation and improve earlier diagnosis through early presentation and assessment.
• Work with Primary Care to support the development and deployment of Clinical Decision Support Tools to support early symptom recognition and onward referral.
• Linking with the wider Strategic Commissioning to deliver system objectives.

Please refer to the full job description attached to the advert