Director of Adult Services

Job overview

Please note: at this stage, the role is open only to colleagues currently employed within Kent and Medway NHS Trusts, the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Medway Community Healthcare or working on the Staff Bank within these organisations. Nursing and AHP vacancies are also open to Student Nurses and Newly Qualified Nurses/AHPs.

The NHS is changing. More emphasis on community-based care means there’s never been a better time to join us.

We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Director of Adult Services to join our caring and progressive team on a fixed term basis. This is an exceptional opportunity for a senior operational leader with a proven track record of leading complex, diverse services and delivering sustainable improvements across multiple service areas.

The successful candidate will bring extensive operational management experience, demonstrating the ability to provide strategic leadership while maintaining a strong focus on operational performance, quality, patient experience, workforce development and financial sustainability. Experience of leading large multidisciplinary teams across a broad portfolio of services will be essential.

We are a close and supportive team that welcomes fresh thinking, innovation and collaborative leadership. If you can bring a professional approach, strong operational expertise and a commitment to delivering outstanding care, we would love to hear from you.

It is important to us that all our staff are aligned to our Values and, in particular, the behaviours we expect from KCHFT managers. As part of the selection process, applicants will be asked to complete two additional assessment activities alongside the competency-based interview. This extended selection process is designed to assess leadership style, operational decision-making and alignment with our values. Details of the exercises will be provided to shortlisted candidates. The provisional date of the selection event is 23 September 2026, although this may be subject to change.

Main duties of the job

Could you use your skills and experience to support the NHS to deliver great patient care? Great patient care needs great people to support clinical teams. That’s where you come in.

As Director of Adult Services, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across a broad portfolio of adult services, ensuring high standards of performance, quality, patient experience and financial management. You will be responsible for leading multiple services and teams, working collaboratively with clinical and corporate colleagues to deliver organisational objectives and continuous service improvement.

We are looking for a leader with substantial experience of managing complex operational services at scale, who can demonstrate success in driving performance, leading service transformation, developing teams and managing competing priorities within a challenging healthcare environment.

Although NHS experience is advantageous, we welcome applications from senior leaders who can evidence extensive operational leadership across multiple services in other complex organisations. Most importantly, you will share our passion for delivering excellent care and improving outcomes for patients and service users.

This is a challenging and rewarding role that requires resilience, sound judgement and the ability to lead through change. In return, you will have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the development of adult services and the experience of our patients, service users and staff.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

As a community Trust, many of our roles require individuals to be able to drive to perform their duties. Where driving is a requirement of the role, you will be asked to confirm that you hold a full UK driving licence or a full driving licence issued by an EU country (not exchanged from a non-EU country) to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment. If you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via kentchft.recruitment@nhs.net, quoting the vacancy reference number, so we can support you further.

The job description and person specification gives you all the information you need about this role. Please look carefully at the criteria in the person specification and tell us what you have done that shows you meet this in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format please let our recruitment team know. All information you supply on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate.

Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you, their contact details can be found in the job advert.

We can get a lot of applications for some roles so to be in with the best chance of being shortlisted please make sure you apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job.

At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and non-clinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. In this way we will be doing all we can to ensure your safety and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve.

Find out more about the community difference here.

Good luck! We can’t wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity.

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.