Job overview

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust (DGT) is a dynamic and transforming Trust, committed to delivering the highest quality service to the communities we serve. We pride ourselves on being an organisation where people feel valued, supported and empowered to deliver their best work.

We provide services across Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Queen Mary’s Hospital Sidcup, Erith and District Hospital, Bexley and Gravesham Community Hospital in Gravesend, as well as community settings across our population.

At DGT, we put quality at the heart of everything we do. Whether directly or indirectly, everyone contributes to providing safe, effective and compassionate care.

We are seeking an experienced operational leader to join our senior divisional team as Divisional Director of Operations for Surgery, Critical and Planned Care.

This role requires:

• Extensive operational and leadership experience within an acute healthcare setting, with a strong surgical background.
• The ability to work in close partnership with senior clinical colleagues, supporting the development of high-performing surgical service lines.
• The confidence to lead large, complex teams and manage significant budgets, while driving service transformation and innovation.
• Strong relationship-building skills, including the opportunity to work closely with neighbouring acute providers to develop shared pathways and improve patient outcomes across the wider health economy

Main duties of the job

You will work alongside the Divisional Medical Director and Divisional Director of Nursing to provide strategic leadership and ensure robust governance, operational delivery and continuous improvement. This is a pivotal role in shaping surgical services and wider divisional performance, and would suit someone looking to consolidate their leadership experience ahead of a future Board-level career.

What We Offer

• A highly supportive environment, with significant investment in leadership and management development.
• The opportunity to influence and transform surgical and planned care services at scale.
• A culture that values compassion, respect, collaboration and excellence.

If you are a proven senior leader with strong surgical operational experience, and are excited by the chance to work collaboratively with both internal colleagues and neighboring acute providers to deliver high-quality care, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Working for our organisation

We are committed to being an inclusive and diverse employer. We strive to employ people who reflect the communities we serve, and aim to create an inclusive culture where everyone can reach their full potential. Whatever your race, ethnicity, belief, generation, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, disability or experience, you’ll appreciate the opportunities we give you to work in an inclusive atmosphere. We welcome applications from people of diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences to build on the progress we’ve achieved to make our Trust diverse and the best place to work. We celebrate the diversity of thought, viewpoints and ideas that help us overcome challenges and embrace new possibilities. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant Pledge and have a commitment to the Armed Forces Community.

We are dedicated to using our Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) approach as our shared organisation model of change to enhance our services and ensure excellence in patient care.

If you are considering applying for a role, please be aware that as an NHS Employee you may have contact with vulnerable service users. We strongly encourage that all our staff are vaccinated against COVID-19 and are vaccinated annually against Flu, in order to protect the health and safety of our staff and patients. Your commitment will help us to put the safety and care of our patients first, as well as helping us to protect you and your colleagues.