Job summary
- Main area
- Corporate
- Grade
- Band 9
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 430-CORP26-501A
- Employer
- Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Director Of Operations (Dept)
- Town
- Milton Keynes
- Salary
- £112,782 - £129,783 Per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 26/06/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Deputy Chief Operating Officer - Planned Care
Band 9
At Milton Keynes University Hospital, you will be welcomed into a friendly and supportive environment where teamwork and respect are at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to live our Trust values and behaviours every day, creating a culture where everyone feels heard and valued.
MKUH staff's Motivation and Involvement scores are among the highest in our peer group, showing that our people feel inspired and included in decision-making (Staff Survey, 2024).
Our benefits
We believe in recognising and rewarding the amazing contribution of our staff and that is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your wellbeing, work-life balance, and professional growth, including:
- Free on-site parking including EV charging
- Complimentary refreshments
- Flexible working arrangements
- Discounted gym membership
- Salary sacrifice car scheme
- Generous annual leave, with the option to bank holiday entitlement
- Membership of the NHS Pension Scheme
- On-site nursery (charges apply)
- A wide-ranging staff health and wellbeing programme including EAP
- VIVUP products to support your mental, physical, and financial Wellbeing
Job overview
We are seeking an exceptional and experienced leader to join our senior operational leadership team as Deputy Chief Operating Officer for Planned Care at Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
This is a senior operational leadership role with responsibility for the strategic and day to day delivery of planned care services, including Cancer pathways, referral to treatment performance, diagnostics and elective care recovery.
The post holder will work closely with the Chief Operating Officer and wider Executive team to ensure high quality, safe and effective services for our patients.
You will play a pivotal role in leading transformation, improving performance against national standards and delivering sustainable improvements in patient access and experience.
Face to face interviews will be held at MKUH on Thursday 16 July 2026.
Main duties of the job
You will take a senior leadership role across planned care, shaping how services are delivered and performing across the Trust. This is a role where you can make a visible and lasting difference, leading improvements in referral to treatment, cancer pathways and elective access, and ensuring patients are seen at the right time in the right place.
Working alongside clinical and operational leaders, you will focus on improving patient flow, reducing waiting times and making the best possible use of capacity. You will be at the forefront of driving performance against national and local standards, with a clear line of sight to quality, safety and patient experience.
You will lead and support transformation across planned care, delivering service redesign and embedding continuous improvement in a way that is practical, sustainable and meaningful for teams and patients. This is not just about plans on paper, but about delivering real change at pace.
Equally important will be your ability to build strong, trusted relationships across the organisation and the wider health and care system. You will bring teams with you, developing high performing services, supporting leaders and creating a culture where people feel accountable, supported and motivated to deliver their best.
Working for our organisation
Milton Keynes University Hospital, in proud partnership with the University of Buckingham, is a University Teaching Hospital committed to advancing patient care through cutting-edge research and education. With a “Good” rating from the CQC and significant investment underway, this is an exciting time to join our team and grow your career.
As a medium sized general hospital, we provide a full range of general medical and surgical services, including a busy Emergency Department, Maternity, and Paediatrics. As the population of our city and surrounding areas continues to grow rapidly, we are expanding and enhancing our facilities to meet rising demand and improve access to care for all our communities.
We are also proud to offer a growing portfolio of specialist services. In January 2025 we opened our state-of-the-art Radiotherapy Centre, bringing advanced cancer treatment closer to home. Our services also include neonatology, specialist surgical care, and a wide range of diagnostics, supported by the new Community Diagnostic Centre at Whitehouse Health Centre.
Further investment is underway, including the construction of Oak Wards – a new ward block featuring two 24-bed wards – and the recently approved Women and Children’s Centre, set to open by 2030.
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Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, you will be responsible for the operational performance and delivery of planned care services.
You will lead the planning and delivery of elective care services, ensuring the Trust meets key access standards and delivers high quality care. This includes oversight of referral to treatment pathways, cancer performance, outpatient services, diagnostics and elective activity.
You will work closely with Divisional teams and corporate functions to ensure effective use of capacity, improve productivity and deliver performance trajectories. You will also lead key transformation programmes across planned care, supporting service redesign and new models of care.
As a visible and credible leader, you will support and challenge teams, strengthen governance and help embed a culture of continuous improvement.
Communications and relationships
• Model clear, timely communication and maintain accountability to stakeholders across the Trust, ensuring consistent two-way engagement on priorities and performance.
• Build effective partnerships and engagement with internal and external stakeholders, influencing and negotiating to deliver integrated pathways and agreed service priorities.
Strategy
• Hold corporate responsibility for delivery of the Planned Care agenda across the Trust and its contribution to MK Place and the Central East Integrated Care Board (ICB).
• Oversee planned care recovery strategy and trajectory to full achievement of NHS Constitutional Standards by 2029 and planned care implications from the 10 Year Plan, and its implications for transformation and capacity requirements.
Operational and performance management
• Ensure a robust annual planning cycle with Finance and Performance teams, aligning system plans and agreed activity levels for Planned Care, and providing constructive input and challenge.
• Lead, with the Associate Director of Performance, the interface between Informatics and clinical/corporate divisions to deliver clear, timely and actionable planned care performance reporting.
Financial Management
• Manage budgets within Standing Orders, Standing Financial Instructions and relevant statutory and national requirements, in line with the annual financial plan.
• Monitor and control direct budgetary expenditure, investigating overspends and taking prompt corrective action.
Leadership and Management
• Act with appropriate autonomy to interpret national planned care policy and strategy, set goals and standards, making recommendation to the Executive Team and deputising for the COO when required.
• Create a supportive culture where people feel valued, empowered and able to deliver exceptional care together.
Please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification for full details of responsibilities.
Person specification
Qualifications and knowledge
Essential criteria
- Educated to Masters degree level or equivalent qualification/ experience
- Leadership qualification
- Ability to access, analyse and act upon complex performance data and financial information
- Knowledge of NHS performance targets and regulatory requirements and proven ability to obtain and consistently achieve them
- Empowering management style with evidence of driving change through coaching
- Understanding of diversity and equity in the context of providing patient services
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of Milton Keynes health economy
Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant senior management experience in the health sector
- Track record of sustainable operational performance and achievements
- Management of complex change processes while maintaining sustained improvement against key performance indicators
- Strong track record of creating a climate and culture of high performance
- Experience of preparing and presenting papers to Boards and Committees
Desirable criteria
- Leadership of transformation, redesign and service improvements, including change outside the hospital setting
- Leadership of adoption of digital innovations
Skills
Essential criteria
- Passionate about patient care
- Ability to develop effective collaborative relationships with a range of stakeholders internally and externally
- Respectful of others
- Ability to cope with rapid and sustained change and competing demands, managing priorities within tight deadlines
- Integrity, genuineness and trustworthiness in all interactions
- Ability to use different leadership styles as and when required
- Focus on own health and well-being, and that of others
Personal and people development
Essential criteria
- Understands the importance of personal development and acts as a role model for others
- Evidence of continuing professional and personal development
- Supports learning and development of self and others
- Demonstrate significant experience of situational leadership, human resource management and people development
- Committed to the continuous development of staff and self
- Support staff development through regular feedback, coaching and agreed development plans, underpinned by effective two-way communication.
- Actively promote equality, diversity, and inclusion, both in the delivery of the Trust’s services and in the recruitment, management and development of staff
Communication
Essential criteria
- Well-developed communication and influencing skills with ability to motivate others internally and externally
- Strong interpersonal and negotiating skills, with the ability to engage, build and sustain relationships, both within the Trust and within external organisations
- Able to communicate ideas, motivate and generate action through others
- Experience of building successful alliances with healthcare partners, ICS, the independent sector and public representative groups
- Proven high level of communication skills using a range of methods including written, verbal and presentations
- Well-practised ability to question, challenge and influence assumptions across professional and organisational boundaries whilst maintaining credibility and positive working relationships.
- Model clear, timely communication and maintain accountability to stakeholders across the Trust, ensuring consistent two-way engagement on priorities and performance.
- Demonstrate significant experience of influencing and negotiation to deliver services, leading effective engagement with strategic stakeholders
Specific requirements
Essential criteria
- Able to perform the duties of the post with reasonable aids and adaptations
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- James Biggin-Lamming
- Job title
- Chief Operating Officer
- Email address
- [email protected]
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