Director of Clinical Operations & Nursing

Job overview

This is a newly established senior leadership role created through DCHS’s operating model redesign. This role will support DCHS’s evolution as an integrated health and social care provider and is central to DCHS safely and effectively delivering a neighbourhood health model.

With a strong and up-to-date background in nursing, you will bring visible, credible clinical leadership and operate confidently across organisational and system boundaries, influencing change at scale.

You’ll will be a key role model for a high-support high-challenge care delivery environment, ensuring care delivered is safe and effective and truly puts the needs of people and communities at the centre.

Working closely with senior leaders and partners, you will thrive in complexity, balancing professional expertise with strategic insight to drive improvement, develop high‑performing teams and ensure outstanding care for our communities.

Main duties of the job

Leads and enables high‑performing clinical and professional teams, driving improvement in quality, safety and care experience across a complex organisation.

Works at pace across organisational and system boundaries, using strong influencing, judgement and communication skills to manage challenge, shape decisions and deliver change.

Builds capability in others, fosters a culture of continuous improvement and accountability, and ensures effective deployment of people and resources to meet population needs in a dynamic environment.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Provides senior operational leadership and delivery oversight across a flexible portfolio of care delivery units within neighbourhood and place-based care. Leads integrated, multidisciplinary services to deliver safe, effective, person-centred care, improving access, quality and outcomes. Interprets strategic policy into local delivery, ensures strong governance and financial control, and works with system partners to embed prevention, self-management and strengths-based approaches, supporting the shift from hospital to community and enabling people to remain independent at home wherever possible.

The Director of Clinical Operations and Nursing provides senior professional and operational leadership across DCHS for nursing, allied health professional and social care services. The postholder leads the development of high quality, safe and effective care, ensuring clinical standards, professional practice and workforce capability are consistently delivered across the organisation.

Working as a key member of the Chief Nurse and Chief Operating Officer teams, the role operates at executive level to influence, shape and deliver the Trust’s strategic objectives.

The postholder provides visible leadership across clinical services, supporting care delivery units to maintain high standards of care, respond to operational pressures and deliver continuous improvement in quality, safety and experience.

The role is responsible for ensuring the effective implementation of national and local policies, professional standards and regulatory requirements, holding senior clinical leaders to account where performance falls below expected standards and ensuring robust improvement plans are in place. The Director provides expert clinical and professional advice to Executives and the Board, contributing to decision-making on complex, sensitive and high-risk issues.

The postholder works across organisational and system boundaries, representing DCHS in partnership forums and engaging with regulators, commissioners and system partners to influence and shape service delivery. This includes leading and supporting system-wide programmes, managing relationships in high-challenge environments and ensuring the Trust contributes effectively to wider Integrated Care System priorities.

The role leads the development of a high-performing nursing workforce, promoting a culture of continuous improvement, learning and professional development. The postholder ensures workforce planning, capability and performance are aligned to deliver safe and effective care, supporting leaders to build resilient teams and respond to changing demand.

The Director of Clinical Operations and Nursing also leads and contributes to strategic programmes of transformation, improvement and quality governance, ensuring services are clinically effective, financially sustainable and aligned to the Trust’s operating model. The postholder exercises a high degree of autonomy, making complex decisions and balancing competing priorities across quality, workforce and resources to secure the best outcomes for care receivers.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have regular contact with vulnerable people 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.