Job Description

The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is seeking an exceptional Deputy Chief Operating Officer to join our team to lead our Emergency and Medicine Division. As a talented and experienced senior leader, you will help drive performance, innovation and compassionate care across our services.
Reporting directly to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) you will work in partnership with Divisional Medical Directors and Divisional Head of Nursing supporting the Trust's ambitious Community First Programme for services within Division 2 to ensure patient receive the right care in the right place.
The Trust's Emergency and Medicine Services include one Emergency Department (ED), two Urgent Treatment Centres (UTCs), two Same Day Emergency Care Services (SDECs), 470 inpatient beds at New Cross Hospital and ambulatory care services across multiple sites including outpatients, endoscopy, renal dialysis and service diagnostics. The Division is split into twelve separate Directorates and the post holder is also responsible for Capacity and Site Management.
If you're strategic, resilient, and passionate about empowering teams to achieve their best -- we'd love to hear from you.
Provisional Interview Date - Thursday 11th December - New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton.
Main duties of the job
The Deputy Chief Operating Officer, together with the Divisional Medical Directors and the Head of Nursing, will take considerable responsibility within a devolved structure for the management of the services within their area. This will include delivering the clinical services strategy - providing best practice care and improving the efficiency of these services and improving the experience of these services whilst ensuring finances are sustainable. This will also include developing clinical pathways for delivering innovative care to deliver the best quality for patients in a sustainable way.
About us
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is one of the largest NHS trusts in the West Midlands providing primary, acute and community services and we are incredibly proud of the diversity of both our staff and the communities we serve. We are building a workforce that can help us to fulfil our values, improve the quality of care for patients, and solve the health care problems of tomorrow. We're passionate about the value that diversity of thinking and lived experience brings in enabling us to become a learning organisation and leader in delivering compassionate care for our patients.
We are delighted that we have been rated as "Good" by CQC. We have achieved numerous awards; The Nursing Times Best Diversity and Inclusion Practice and Best UK Employer of the Year for Nursing Staff in 2020.
The Trust is a supportive working environment committed to creating flexible working arrangements that suit your needs and as such will consider all requests from applicants who wish to work flexibly.
Details
Date posted
14 November 2025
Pay scheme
Agenda for change
Band
Band 9
Salary
109,179 to 125,637 a year per annum
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time
Reference number
225-DIV2-7598650
Job locations
New Cross Hospital
Wolverhampton
WV10 0QP
Job description
Job responsibilities

• Take specific responsibility for the day-to-day management and operational and financial performance of the clinical and other services within the Division across all hospital sites.
• Be responsible for providing an appropriate infrastructure to support the clinical activity of the Division, ensuring the optimum utilisation of all resources available.
• Be responsible for developing a clear, detailed and shared understanding of the Divisions performance and financial contribution, and the factors driving these, and using this understanding to inform better operational decisions and the planning and prioritisation of change.
• Form and drive a coherent strategy and change agenda to achieve the quality and finance expectations set out in the Clinical Services Strategy and Trust business plans. To achieve this, the DCOO will secure effective support from corporate functions and make best use of resource and outputs from the Clinical Quality and Service Transformation and Efficiency Programmes.
• Work closely with Wolverhampton Place colleagues and across the Group Structure to further develop and refine services.
• Lead bids for services and contract negotiations within the Trusts corporate framework, collaborating as needed with Trust colleagues and other health care providers to promote innovation and the development of services.
• Ensure the line management of Divisional staff is undertaken professionally and that each member of staff has a development and training plan consistent with Division and Trust objectives.

See attached job description for full details including:

• Operational Management
• Management of Services
• Corporate and Clinical Governance
• Financial and physical resources
• Performance Management
• Strategic, Service and Change Planning and Delivery
• Human Resource Management
• Development of the Culture within the Division

Job description
Job responsibilities

• Take specific responsibility for the day-to-day management and operational and financial performance of the clinical and other services within the Division across all hospital sites.
• Be responsible for providing an appropriate infrastructure to support the clinical activity of the Division, ensuring the optimum utilisation of all resources available.
• Be responsible for developing a clear, detailed and shared understanding of the Divisions performance and financial contribution, and the factors driving these, and using this understanding to inform better operational decisions and the planning and prioritisation of change.
• Form and drive a coherent strategy and change agenda to achieve the quality and finance expectations set out in the Clinical Services Strategy and Trust business plans. To achieve this, the DCOO will secure effective support from corporate functions and make best use of resource and outputs from the Clinical Quality and Service Transformation and Efficiency Programmes.
• Work closely with Wolverhampton Place colleagues and across the Group Structure to further develop and refine services.
• Lead bids for services and contract negotiations within the Trusts corporate framework, collaborating as needed with Trust colleagues and other health care providers to promote innovation and the development of services.
• Ensure the line management of Divisional staff is undertaken professionally and that each member of staff has a development and training plan consistent with Division and Trust objectives.

See attached job description for full details including:

• Operational Management
• Management of Services
• Corporate and Clinical Governance
• Financial and physical resources
• Performance Management
• Strategic, Service and Change Planning and Delivery
• Human Resource Management
• Development of the Culture within the Division

Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential

• Degree level or equivalent education, ideally with relevant post-graduate management qualifications
• Educated to Masters level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience
• Evidence of recent professional and personal development
• Significant evidence of continued professional development towards Board level in a specialist area.

Experience
Essential

• Evidence of successful working across whole organisational teams
• Proven and significant leadership experience
• Significant track record of senior level management experience gained in a complex acute hospital setting
• Experience in liaison and negotiation at organisational level internally as well as externally, with a range of stakeholders
• In-depth professional knowledge in a number of disciplines including e.g. financial management, performance management, information systems, staff management acquired through training and experience over extended period
• Experience in leading, managing and developing a multidisciplinary team, including objective setting and performance management

Desirable

• Worked at Deputy Director level or equivalent

Skills and Knowledge
Essential

• Dynamic personality with the ability to build trusted stakeholder relationships and wide support networks
• Strong external communication skills, with experience of handling media
• Exceptional communicator, able to create impact and demonstrate proactive customer relationship awareness
• Ability to influence the design and delivery of commissioned resources so as to provide customers with high quality services

Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential

• Degree level or equivalent education, ideally with relevant post-graduate management qualifications
• Educated to Masters level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience
• Evidence of recent professional and personal development
• Significant evidence of continued professional development towards Board level in a specialist area.

Experience
Essential

• Evidence of successful working across whole organisational teams
• Proven and significant leadership experience
• Significant track record of senior level management experience gained in a complex acute hospital setting
• Experience in liaison and negotiation at organisational level internally as well as externally, with a range of stakeholders
• In-depth professional knowledge in a number of disciplines including e.g. financial management, performance management, information systems, staff management acquired through training and experience over extended period
• Experience in leading, managing and developing a multidisciplinary team, including objective setting and performance management

Desirable

• Worked at Deputy Director level or equivalent

Skills and Knowledge
Essential

• Dynamic personality with the ability to build trusted stakeholder relationships and wide support networks
• Strong external communication skills, with experience of handling media
• Exceptional communicator, able to create impact and demonstrate proactive customer relationship awareness
• Ability to influence the design and delivery of commissioned resources so as to provide customers with high quality services

Skills Required