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Job overview
This is a role which will be key to the Trust’s role as leader and influencer in South East London and to achieving Essentia’s strategic ambitions. The role is highly autonomous and ultimately accountable for interpretations of legal and national policies and interpreting this into a deliverable strategy and operational practice that ensures GSTT sites are compliant.
This is a pivotal leadership position responsible and wholly accountable for leading the planning, delivery, and performance of all infrastructure services across Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. The role will be responsible for leading infrastructure strategy, development and integrated operational delivery of infrastructure management, engineering and maintenance services to ensure the estate and associated infrastructure is fit for purpose, legally compliant, whilst the teams provide high levels of customer service and meeting other institutional priorities and initiatives. The role will also play a crucial role in delivering GSTT’s sustainability strategy and carbon reduction targets.
The role requires an executive-level strategic planning, people centric leader, who delivers operational transformation whilst championing the Trust values prioritising our commitments to EDI and culture transformation.
Main duties of the job
- Lead the infrastructure stewardship of the estate, ensuring it is legally compliant, safe and with appropriate levels of resilience and instil a customer and solution-oriented culture.
- Lead the development of strategies to address GSTT’s legacy of under investment in estate infrastructure and that delivers a safe, healthy, accessible and secure environment for patients, staff and visitors.
- Lead the implementation of GSTT’s strategy for re-active and PPM maintenance of the estate across all estate infrastructure having regard to agreed institutional and clinical priorities.
- Establish and deliver operational performance (financial and non-financial) targets against agreed service standards, including compliance with Financial & Procurement Regulations.
- Continuously monitor and review services; identify and implement service, operational and financial improvements to deliver within allocated budgets, improving value for money, including being responsive to changing business needs.
- Ensure the team has appropriate technical and professional skills and the necessary management competencies to undertake duties in line with the Trust values and behaviour
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. For both overviews, please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.
Person specification
Knowledge
Essential
- Excellent understanding and specialist knowledge of NHS Estates departments
- Highly developed communication skills, with ability to communicate highly complex information where exceptional influencing skills are required
- Highly developed leadership skills with the ability to enthuse, motivate and involve individuals and teams, and have them understand the Trust-wide and local performance expectations
Additional
Essential
- Commitment to the Essentia Way - working together, doing it well and looking after each other
- Commitment to Equality and Diversity for all and with a demonstrable leadership capacity in inclusion.
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- bility to analyse, synthesise and interpret highly complex data, filtering and interpreting information to identify and focus on issues to be addressed at board level.
- Intellectual flexibility with the ability to cut through ambiguity and complexity and to shape and implement a vision that looks beyond existing structures, ways of working, boundaries and organisations to produce more effective and innovative service delivery models.
- Independent self-starter, able to work with a very high level of autonomy.
- Proven strong written communication skills, in particular for complex drafting, and ability to produce & present effective business cases.
- Sound political judgment and sensitivity when dealing with stakeholders at all levels.
- Flexible and resilient approach, able to work under significant pressure
Previous experience
Essential
- Extensive, successful track record of leading engineering functions within an Estates environment.
- Extensive, successful track record of leadership and achievement at a senior level in a relevant large, complex environment.
- Experience of formulating long term, organisation-wide strategic plans and development of projects resulting in positive value for money outcomes.
- Experience of organisation-wide policy development, interpreting legislative and other requirements.
- Detailed understanding of the engineering requirements within a complex NHS environment.
Qualifications/ Education
Essential
- Education to PhD/Masters degree level, in an engineering discipline alongside additional in-depth professional training and specialist knowledge in a relevant discipline to doctorate or equivalent level, acquired through training and experience over an extended period.
- Evidence of continued professional and managerial development.
- Chartered Engineer (CEng).
Professionals/ Statutory Registration
Essential
- Extensive expertise in Estates leadership.
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Executive Director Infrastructure with Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London, London, England. It is listed as a Manager and corporate role. The advertised salary is VSM. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 29 Jul 2026.
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