General Manager

Job overview

This is a high-impact senior leadership opportunity to shape the future of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery within RRCV CMG.   As Surgical General Manager, you’ll provide operational oversight and strategic business leadership, working side-by-side with Heads of Service, Matrons and the Senior Leadership Team to deliver high-quality care and achieve demanding performance standards.

You’ll drive continuous improvement and service redesign, strengthen governance and risk oversight, develop robust reporting and performance management, and take delegated responsibility for budgets and CIP delivery. The role will suit someone who can provide calm, clear leadership when services are under pressure. You will need to be an engaging communicator with the credibility to influence, the analytical skills to turn data into decisions, and the resilience to lead through challenge.

Whilst experience of managing elective, planned care would be an advantage, we are looking for someone with strong transferable senior operational leadership skills: curious, resilient and outcomes-focused, with the ability to learn fast and deliver quickly in a complex surgical setting.

Main duties of the job

As Surgical General Manager, you’ll provide senior operational leadership for Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, working in close partnership with clinical and nursing leaders to keep services safe, responsive and high performing. This is a hands-on leadership role where you’ll be expected to take ownership, create momentum and deliver measurable improvement.

What you’ll do

• Lead the day-to-day operational delivery and longer-term service plans, ensuring consistently high standards of patient care and experience.
• Lead on performance and productivity: capacity planning, pathway flow, waiting list management and robust reporting - spotting issues early and driving solutions.
• Drive service improvement and redesign, supporting clinical teams to deliver projects that improve outcomes, reduce waits and use resources more effectively.
• Manage delegated budgets and deliver the annual Cost Improvement Programme (CIP), identifying and implementing cost improvements while maintaining quality.
• Provide visible leadership across a circa 200-strong workforce,
• Ensure strong governance, risk and assurance, including complaints handling and maintaining standards aligned to regulatory and local requirements.
• Build effective relationships across the Trust and wider system, creating clear two-way communication and strong cross-CMG working.
• Participate in the Tactical Rota and provide cover for senior colleagues when required.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The skills and qualities we’re looking for

• Proven senior operational leadership in healthcare with a track record of delivering challenging targets.
• A change leader who can cut through barriers, bring pace, and sustain improvement.
• Strong data/IT capability: confident interpreting complex performance information and turning it into action.
• Clear financial grip with experience of budget management and CIP delivery.
• Credible, collaborative and resilient

Please see main Job Description for further information