Job summary
- Main area
- VSM
- Grade
- VSM
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 390-EXEC-BA-5902
- Employer
- Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Basildon
- Town
- Basildon
- Salary
- Dependant on experience
- Closing
- 09/08/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 25/08/2026
Employer heading
Chief Delivery Officer
VSM
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is the only acute hospital provider in the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS), which is a system of health and care partners working together for our local population.
Within Mid and South Essex there are 149 GP practices, operating from over 200 sites, forming 27 Primary Care Networks and one Ambulance Trust. There are also three main community and mental health service providers who work together through a community collaborative.
We collaborate with other valuable partners, including three Healthwatch organisations, nine voluntary and community sector organisations and three top tier local authorities, with seven district, borough and city councils, as well as our local universities.
Job overview
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an exceptional Chief Delivery Officer (CDO) to join the Trust Board and Group Executive Team. This is a pivotal executive leadership role responsible for driving operational excellence across the Group, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, sustainable services that improve patient outcomes and meet national performance standards.
As a voting member of the Trust Board, the Chief Delivery Officer will contribute to the development of organisational strategy and policy while providing leadership across operational performance, service transformation, productivity, business intelligence, emergency preparedness and system-wide collaboration. The post holder will be responsible for developing and implementing a Group-wide operating model, ensuring effective systems, processes and governance arrangements are in place to support service delivery across hospital sites and corporate functions.
Working closely with Executive Directors, clinical leaders and system partners, the Chief Delivery Officer will lead the delivery of key operational priorities, optimise capacity and resources across the Group, and drive innovation and continuous improvement to ensure outstanding care for patients and communities across Mid and South Essex.
Main duties of the job
The Chief Delivery Officer will:
- Lead operational delivery and performance across Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
- Drive achievement of key constitutional and regulatory performance standards, including Urgent and Emergency Care, Referral to Treatment (RTT), Cancer and Diagnostic targets.
- Develop and implement a Group-wide standard operating model to support operational excellence and consistency.
- Provide strategic leadership for demand and capacity planning across the Group.
- Support the implementation of the Trust's clinical strategy and medium-term planning objectives.
- Lead large-scale transformation, productivity and service improvement programmes.
- Promote effective utilisation of capacity across hospital sites, including theatres, outpatient services and diagnostics.
- Develop and oversee robust performance reporting and business intelligence frameworks to inform decision-making and support delivery.Lead collaboration with local, regional and national partners to improve population health and service integration.Act as the Executive lead for emergency preparedness, resilience and business continuity.Ensure the effective management of resources, productivity programmes and cost improvement initiatives.Provide visible leadership that promotes a culture of accountability, empowerment, inclusion and continuous improvement.Build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders across the NHS, Integrated Care System and wider health community.
Working for our organisation
Our ambition is to deliver excellent local and specialist services, to improve the health and well being of our patients, and provide a vibrant place for staff to develop, innovate and build careers.
We aim to make the most of our skills and experiences so we can become the best we can be. As one organisation we will recruit the finest and retain more specialist staff due to more employment opportunities across our Trust.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Strategic Leadership and Operational Delivery
Provide executive leadership for operational performance across Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, ensuring delivery of national and local performance standards. Lead the development and implementation of effective systems, processes and performance frameworks that support operational excellence, productivity, efficiency and high-quality patient care across the Group.
Transformation and Service Improvement
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Master's degree or equivalent related to Health, Leadership or Management.
Desirable criteria
- Registered doctor, nurse or AHP
Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable experience operating at a senior level and experience of working with a Board, in an acute NHS setting.
- Exceptional leadership and communication skills with experience of dealing with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
- Experience of comprehensive business planning and translating organisation strategy and vision into operational objectives.
- Evidence of successfully leading, influencing and motivating large teams with differing levels of seniority, grade and experience.
- Experience of leading a culture of continuous improvement, that harnesses quality improvement with value for money and efficiency through service delivery development.
- Experience of capacity planning and translating organisational strategy into operational objectives
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working with an organisation going through large scale changes, e.g. following a merger.
Personal and People development
Essential criteria
- Experience of improving staff experience.
- A collaborative management style, which recognises and values personal contributions and agenda and encourages team working.
- Effectiveness in conflict resolution and management.
- The skills to evaluate and learn from outcomes, with a clear commitment to innovation, learning and improvement
- A credible Leader to all within the team - effective leadership influencing, negotiating and interpersonal skills
- Ability to make decisions that encourage innovative ways of working and drive organisational change
Physical Requirements
Essential criteria
- Stamina, energy and enthusiasm and the ability to work effectively under pressure
- The Temperament and ability to act effectively in highly emotive situations
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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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
- Alison Alexander
- Job title
- Senior Business Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0300 443 0003
- Additional information
Please contact Alison via email ([email protected])
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