Deputy Chief Operating Officer: Sponsorship Available

West London NHS Trust

Job summary

“If you’re the sort of operational leader who enjoys creating grip, empowering clinical leaders and quietly getting things done, this is a role where you’ll thrive.”

West London NHS Trust is one of the country’s leading integrated providers of mental health, community and specialist services. Following significant investment and sustained organisational improvement, the Trust has established itself as one of the NHS’s strongest performing organisations, achieving four consecutive quarters in Segment 1 of the National Oversight Framework and being selected to progress towards Advanced Foundation Trust status.

As the Trust continues to expand its community services, neighbourhood models and place-based partnerships across Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, an exciting opportunity has arisen for a newly created Deputy Chief Operating Officer (Local Services).

The Recruitment Process

Applications Close: 13th September 2026

Pre-Shortlisting interviews: w/c 14th September 2026

Stakeholder Virtual Panel: Friday 2nd October 2026

Final On-Site Interviews: Monday 5th October 2026

Main duties of the job

The opportunity

Reporting directly to Dr Christopher Hilton, Chief Operating Officer, this newly established VSM role has been created to provide greater operational leadership across the Trust’s Local Services portfolio.

Unlike many Deputy COO roles, this position carries direct accountability for the Clinical Directors leading six major service lines, creating clear operational leadership and strengthening delivery across the organisation. The role has been deliberately redesigned to provide greater operational grip, performance oversight and leadership capacity.

What we are looking for

We are looking for an experienced NHS provider leader who enjoys operational management and takes pride in delivering excellent services through strong leadership, clear accountability and meaningful relationships.

You will bring:

  • significant senior operational leadership experience within an NHS provider organisation
  • a proven track record of improving operational performance, quality, productivity and patient flow
  • experience leading complex community and/or mental health services
  • confidence managing senior clinical leaders while building trust and credibility
  • the ability to balance supportive leadership with robust performance management
  • outstanding communication skills and the emotional intelligence to influence across complex systems

Most importantly, you will be someone who is comfortable being given responsibility, trusted to lead and expected to deliver.

Person Specification

Personal attributes and other Requirements

Essential

  • Compassionate, collaborative and inclusive leadership style.
  • Commitment to service users, carers and communities, with a strong focus on dignity, respect and multicultural sensitivity.
  • Commitment to staff engagement, co-production and continuous improvement.
  • Positive, resilient and solutions-focused, with a constructive can-do approach.
  • Flexible and adaptable, able to work effectively in ambiguity and complexity.
  • High levels of integrity, discretion and professional judgement.
  • Commitment to NHS values and the Trust’s values, including equality, diversity and inclusion.

Qualifications

Essential

  • Educated to Master’s level, or equivalent senior leadership experience and learning.
  • Evidence of continuous professional development.

Desirable

  • Additional postgraduate management qualification.
  • Professional clinical, operational, managerial or relevant specialist qualifications.

Experience

Essential

  • Proven track record of senior operational delivery in a complex health or social care setting.
  • Experience of managing healthcare services at senior level in a provider organisation across mental health, community health, urgent care, access, flow or place-based services and delivering high standards of service performance, including national and local targets, access standards, productivity and quality objectives.
  • Experience of leading complex organisational change, service redesign and clinical service development.
  • Experience of business planning, demand and capacity planning, and development of business cases in complex organisations.
  • Experience of financial management, including efficiency and productivity programmes.
  • Experience of working effectively with parters e.g. primary care, local authorities, ? A/I Page | 17 VCSE partners etc.
  • Evidence of tackling inequalities in access, experience or outcomes.

Desirable

  • Experience of leading patient flow, access, bed management, urgent care or productivity programmes.
  • Experience of working within a provider collaborative, place-based partnership or integrated care system.

Knowledge

Essential

  • Strong understanding of NHS policy, contracting, finance and performance systems.
  • Understanding of mental health and community health provision, integrated care, inequalities, co-production and population health.

Skills

Essential

  • Strategic and operational leadership skills, with the ability to translate strategy into delivery.
  • Highly developed operational management and performance improvement skills.
  • Ability to work in partnership with clinical and operational leaders and external partners.
  • Ability to negotiate, influence and build consensus across a wide range of senior stakeholders.
  • Strong analytical, numeracy and problem-solving skills, including use of data to support delivery
  • Business and service planning skills.
  • Ability to communicate complex or contentious information clearly, sensitively and persuasively to a range of audiences.
  • Ability to write clear reports, business cases and Board-level papers.
  • Ability to motivate and engage staff at all levels, improving confidence and supporting teams through change.
  • Ability to build personal credibility with peers, partners and Executive Team members.
  • Ability to manage a wide range of responsibilities, prioritise effectively and deliver to deadlines.
  • Digitally confident and able to use information systems to support operational grip

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

Closing Date: 13 September 2026

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.