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Job requirements
Requirements from the employer’s person specification. These describe the role, not your personal match.
Essential
25 listedRequirements the employer expects applicants to meet.
- Values and behaviours
Demonstrates NHS values and HINWC behaviours: brave, innovative, collaborative, caring and engaging all voices.
- Values and behaviours
Works across boundaries, listens, involves others, acts with integrity and values diversity and inclusion.
- Values and behaviours
Actively develops self and others, with self-awareness, accountability and resilience.
- Knowledge & experience
Significant senior management experience in a complex health, care, public sector, academic, innovation or partnership environment.
- Knowledge & experience
Experience leading operational/corporate services such as HR, finance, estates, IT/digital, governance, planning, contracts or SLAs.
- Knowledge & experience
Strong understanding of the NHS/care system, integrated care, governance, risk, equality and information governance
- Qualifications & Education
Master’s level qualification or equivalent senior professional experience in a relevant field.
- Qualifications & Education
Evidence of continuing professional development relevant to senior operational leadership.
- Work-related circumstances
Strong financial and budget-management skills, including planning, monitoring and value-for-money decisions.
- Work-related circumstances
Able to oversee responsible use of estates, digital/IT and information resources.
- Work-related circumstances
Able to ensure accurate reporting and maintain information governance/confidentiality standards.
- Leadership & service development
Able to lead, modernise and improve a high-quality operations and corporate services function.
- Leadership & service development
Able to translate strategy into clear plans, milestones, measures and delivery arrangements
- Leadership & service development
Able to manage risks, competing priorities and represent the organisation professionally. Able to manage risks, competing priorities and represent the organisation professionally.
- Analytical judgement and planning skills
Highly developed analytical and judgement skills, able to interpret complex information and make balanced recommendations.
- Analytical judgement and planning skills
Highly developed analytical and judgement skills, able to interpret complex information and make balanced recommendations. Able to develop workplans, logic models, SMART objectives, milestones, financial profiles and performance measures. Able to use evidence, data and insight to support decisions and improvement.
- Communication, relationships & influencing
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to explain complex information clearly.
- Communication, relationships & influencing
Highly developed influencing, negotiation and facilitation skills.
- Communication, relationships & influencing
Able to build trusted relationships across health, care, academia, industry, local government and national partners.
- Financial, physical & information resources
Strong financial and budget-management skills, including planning, monitoring and value-for-money decisions.
- Financial, physical & information resources
Able to oversee responsible use of estates, digital/IT and information resources.
- Financial, physical & information resources
Able to ensure accurate reporting and maintain information governance/confidentiality standards.
- Improvement, innovation & digital capability
Knowledge and practical application of improvement, change, modernisation, innovation adoption or service redesign.
- Improvement, innovation & digital capability
Able to identify opportunities for innovation, productivity, service improvement and improved outcomes. Able to identify opportunities for innovation, prodAble to identify opportunities for innovation, productivity, service improvement and improved outcomes. uctivity, service improvement and improved outcomes.
- Improvement, innovation & digital capability
Confident user of Microsoft 365 and digital collaboration tools, supporting efficient hybrid working and digital adoption.
Desirable
10 listedAdditional qualities the employer would prefer.
- Values and behaviours
Experience acting as an organisational ambassador in regional, national or partnership settings.
- Knowledge & experience
Experience in a Health Innovation Network or equivalent innovation environment.
- Knowledge & experience
Experience of funding routes, bids, estates, agile working or digital workplace transformation.
- Qualifications & Education
Project, programme, change, improvement or leadership qualification.
- Work-related circumstances
Experience managing contracts, SLAs, procurement, supplier relationships or hosted-service arrangements.
- Leadership & service development
Experience leading organisational change or contributing to strategy, annual planning or board development.
- Analytical judgement and planning skills
Experience of impact evaluation, benefits realisation, business intelligence or dashboard/reporting approaches.
- Communication, relationships & influencing
Senior presentation, media, stakeholder engagement or public-speaking experience.
- Financial, physical & information resources
Experience managing contracts, SLAs, procurement, supplier relationships or hosted-service arrangements.
- Improvement, innovation & digital capability
Experience of innovation pipelines, spread/adoption programmes, evaluation, Power BI, SharePoint, Teams, Planner or equivalent tools.
Job overview
Are you a dynamic and forward-thinking operational leader who thrives on solving problems, driving improvement and turning ambition into action? Health Innovation North West Coast (HINWC) is seeking an exceptional individual to join our leadership team as Head of Operations.
This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping the systems, governance, processes and organisational infrastructure that support the delivery of our ambitious strategy. We are looking for a highly motivated, solutions-focused leader who can combine strategic thinking with operational excellence and who is passionate about creating the conditions that enable people and organisations to thrive.
As Head of Operations, you will lead a broad portfolio spanning operations, corporate services, programme management, digital transformation and organisational improvement. Working closely with colleagues across the organisation and the wider Health Innovation Network, you will help ensure HINWC remains resilient, effective and well positioned to maximise its impact across health and care.
Main duties of the job
Reporting to the Associate Director of Operations, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across a diverse portfolio that is central to the effective running of the organisation.
You will:
- Lead and develop high-quality operational and corporate services functions.
- Provide leadership and oversight of the Programme Management Office (PMO).
- Drive digital transformation and organisational improvement programmes.
- Strengthen governance, assurance and reporting processes.
- Support organisational performance management and business intelligence.
- Lead the development of systems, processes and ways of working that improve organisational effectiveness.
- Work collaboratively with the Senior Leadership Team to deliver strategic priorities and organisational change.
This role will be instrumental in delivering our Target Operating Model and ensuring the organisation has the capability, resilience and infrastructure required to achieve its ambitions both now and in the future.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You will be an experienced senior leader with a strong track record of operational leadership, organisational development and delivering complex change programmes.
You will bring:
- Significant experience of leading operational and corporate services functions within a complex organisation.
- Strong knowledge of governance, risk management, organisational performance and corporate assurance.
- Experience of delivering transformational change and service improvement.
- Excellent communication, influencing and relationship-building skills.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
- The ability to balance strategic leadership with practical delivery.
Most importantly, you will be a proactive and collaborative leader who is energised by continuous improvement, motivated by achieving results and committed to finding practical solutions to complex challenges.
If you are an ambitious, solution-focused leader who enjoys driving improvement, building organisational capability and enabling others to succeed, we would love to hear from you.
Join Health Innovation North West Coast and help create the systems, culture and capability that allow innovation, people and great ideas to flourish.
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Head of Operations with Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Head of service role. The advertised salary is £79,504 - £91,609 per annum. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 09 Oct 2026.
Before you apply, compare the job description with the person specification and mirror the employer's essential criteria in your supporting information. Use the vacancy title, employer, location, salary, contract type, closing date and posted date (17 Sep 2026) to decide whether this role fits your current NHSjob search. If the employer can close applications early, prepare the application before the stated deadline rather than waiting for the final day.
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