Job summary
- Main area
- ICC
- Grade
- Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 242-5119-LR1
- Employer
- North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Estuary Point
- Town
- Estuary Point, Liverpool
- Salary
- £57,528 - £64,750 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 21/07/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Service Delivery Manager
Band 8a
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We are committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet our minimum selection criteria at each stage of the selection process. We will not tolerate discrimination on any of the following: gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, working pattern, caring responsibilities trade union activity or political beliefs-or any other grounds.
In October 2025 we published our Anti-racist Statement, which sets out our key commitments to becoming an anti-racist organisation. These commitments underpin our recruitment practices and reflect our dedication to creating a diverse, inclusive, and representative workforce.
The Trust is currently under-represented in terms of staff from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. We encourage applications from all backgrounds to improve the diversity of our workforce and to better reflect the communities we serve to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right place; every time.
The Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy early if a large number of applications are received.
Due to the volume of applications received for our advertisements, we will only contact those candidates shortlisted for interview via email; we aim to do this within 4 weeks of the closing date. If you do not receive the email, it will be that you have not been shortlisting on this occasion. When applying for this position, it is essential that you read the job description and person specification fully. Please use the supporting information space to demonstrate your ability to undertake this role, drawing on your skills, knowledge and experience.
We also offers a range of excellent benefits including a pension scheme, up to 33 days Annual leave (exclusive of bank holidays), training and development opportunities, access to NHS discounts, Car Lease Scheme, Cycle to Work Scheme, NHS Mortgages and Childcare Vouchers.
Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced operational leader to join North West Ambulance Service as our Service Delivery Manager for Dispatch, Planning & Coordination within the Integrated Contact Centres (ICC).
Every emergency ambulance response begins with a decision. Behind those decisions is a highly skilled team responsible for ensuring the right resource reaches the right patient, at the right time. As Service Delivery Manager, you will provide strategic and operational leadership to one of the Trust's most critical operational functions, ensuring our dispatch, planning and coordination services remain safe, effective and responsive to the changing demands of urgent and emergency care.
Working alongside the Head of Dispatch, Planning & Coordination and the wider ICC Senior Leadership Team, you will lead experienced operational managers across multiple sites, providing visible leadership, driving service improvement, and ensuring operational performance is delivered whilst maintaining an unwavering focus on patient safety and staff wellbeing.
This is a varied and rewarding leadership role where no two days are the same. You will help shape the future of Dispatch & Planning through service transformation, workforce planning, operational resilience and continuous improvement, supporting the delivery of high-quality services for the communities we serve across the North West.
Main duties of the job
As Service Delivery Manager, you will provide senior operational leadership for the Dispatch, Planning & Coordination service, ensuring the effective delivery of operational performance, workforce planning and service resilience across the Integrated Contact Centres.
Working closely with senior operational, clinical and corporate colleagues, you will use operational intelligence, performance data and system insight to identify opportunities for improvement, supporting recovery where required and helping shape future service delivery.
You will provide leadership to a team of Duty Dispatch Leads and Area Dispatch Leads developing a positive, inclusive culture where people feel supported, empowered and accountable. Alongside day-to-day operational oversight, you will contribute to strategic planning, transformation programmes and organisational change, ensuring that improvements are translated into sustainable operational practice.
The role requires an experienced leader who is comfortable making decisions within a fast-paced operational environment, balancing competing priorities while maintaining a relentless focus on patient safety, staff wellbeing and service performance.
You will also deputise for the Head of Dispatch, Planning & Coordination when required, representing the service internally and externally, building strong relationships with operational partners and supporting the continued development of one of the UK's largest Integrated Contact Centres
Working for our organisation
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust provides 24 hour, 365 days a year accident and emergency services to those in need of emergency medical treatment and transport.
Our highly skilled staff provide life-saving care to patients in the community and take people to hospital or a place of care if needed.
We also provide non-emergency patient transport services for those patients who require non-emergency transport to and from hospital and who are unable to travel unaided because of their medical condition or clinical need.
Alongside the other emergency services, we also work to ensure the safety of the public and treatment of patients in the event of a major incident.
We also deliver the NHS 111 service in the North West. NHS 111 replaced NHS Direct in 2013. This service was introduced to make it easier for people to access local NHS healthcare services in England. It provides non-emergency medical help fast, and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
All leadership roles at NWAS are expected to promote and role model our Be Think Do philosophy. We are looking for an inspiring leader who is compassionate, inclusive and able to lead confidently through complexity, ambiguity and periods of sustained operational pressure.
Please ensure that you have read and understood the job description and person specification before applying.
Assessment Centre and Professional Discussions will be; WC 3rd August 2026
Person specification
Skills / competencies
Essential criteria
- Can evidence innovative and strategic thinking ability
- Is credible to internal and external stakeholders
- Has strong analytic, and critical reasoning skills involving highly complex facts or situations and capable of effective analysis, interpretation and comparisons of a range of options
- Able to demonstrate the ability to provide and receive highly complex information where there are significant barriers to acceptance
- Ability to demonstrate the ability to communicate in situations where it is considered sensitive or highly contentious
- Ability to translate strategic goals into effective and achievable operational plans and capable of monitoring their progress and outcomes
- Effective and adaptable interpersonal and influencing ability including the ability to persuade others with personal conviction and facts
- Able to lead, develop and motivate team working
- Highly developed negotiating and influencing skills
- Able to make sense of complex and conflicting priorities and reach effective and speedy solutions
- Is politically astute with knowledge of local decision making and influencing bodies. Open and democratic style
- Ability to handle detail within strategic plans and make informed decisions and judgements
- Ability to assess risks, anticipate difficulties and successfully address them
- Ability to drive, facilitating travel between multiple operational sites
- Demonstrable compassionate and inclusive leadership
- Experience in the application of HR processes
- Demonstrable experience of line management responsibilities
Qualification and knowledge
Essential criteria
- Educated to Degree level in a relevant subject or able to demonstrate significant operational experience in lieu of this
- Educated to Masters level / equivalent experience
- Has specific in-depth knowledge of the challenges facing health and social care gained through a mix of experience and formal training
- Can provide evidence of recent on–going personal development activity
- Has current broad knowledge of the national NHS context in respect of transforming the response to urgent patient care needs
Experience
Essential criteria
- NHS Management experience, including evidence of significant external stakeholder engagement and comprehensive CPD
- Detailed understanding of the factors affecting successful service delivery in the Urgent Care environment.
- Can demonstrate experience in remedial performance management, with evidence of implementing action plans and performance improvement
- Can demonstrate successful financial management, rigorous financial monitoring and control, and evaluating competing budgetary priorities
- Has business planning, objective setting and performance management experience and is able to formulate medium/long term and tactical plans (which contribute to strategic plans) involving uncertainty and which might impact on the Trust
- Can demonstrate experience of successfully leading and managing a team
Values and behaviours
Essential criteria
- Working together – demonstrate collaborative and inclusive working and challenge behaviour that is not inclusive or acceptable
- Being at our best – professional and adaptable and takes pride in work
- Making a difference – act with compassion, kindness and integrity towards everyone
- The post holder must be a role model for openness and inclusion
- Encourages innovative thinking in others
- Demonstrates resilience, confidence and self-belief when under pressure
- Can demonstrate self-awareness which includes awareness of impact on others
- Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
- Has high personal integrity, and emotional toughness
- Demonstrates a leadership style which is visible and democratic
- Committed to promoting diversity and awareness of equal opportunities
- Required to travel extensively across the Area
- Track record of continuous professional development
- Demonstrates commitment to the values, principles of public service and health and social care in particular
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Leigh Cartwright
- Job title
- Head of ICC
- Email address
- [email protected]
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