Chief Operating Officer: Sponsorship Available

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Job summary

As Chief Operating Officer, you will lead the delivery of operational services across Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, ensuring patients receive timely, safe and effective care while maintaining a relentless focus on performance, productivity and service excellence. Reporting directly to the Chief Executive, you will be responsible for the day to day operational management of the Trust, driving delivery of national standards, improving patient flow and ensuring services remain efficient, sustainable and responsive to demand. This is an outstanding opportunity for an accomplished operational leader to influence the future direction of one of the region’s largest healthcare organisations. You will lead ambitious programmes of transformation and service improvement, build a high performing culture founded on accountability and continuous improvement, and work in partnership with clinical, corporate and system colleagues to develop innovative models of care that improve outcomes and experience for the communities we serve.

Download the Recruitment Pack for further information.

You will be contacted regarding next steps.

The interview process will take place week commencing 21st September 2026.

Main duties of the job

Key Functions and Responsibilities

The Chief Operating Officer will provide executive leadership for operational performance across the Trust, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and patient-focused services while maintaining a strong focus on quality, productivity and financial sustainability. As a member of the Executive Team, you will contribute fully to the strategic leadership of the organisation, supporting the delivery of the Trust’s objectives and providing leadership across a broad range of operational, transformational and corporate priorities.

A key responsibility is ensuring operational services achieve national and local performance standards, while developing a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and high performance. You will lead the development and delivery of operational plans, oversee patient flow and service delivery, support the achievement of financial and productivity targets, and ensure effective business intelligence and performance management systems are in place to support decision-making and operational excellence. You will lead major service transformation programmes, supporting the redesign of services and pathways to improve access, efficiency and patient experience.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • oDegree level education or equivalent
  • oEvidence of continued personal and professional development

Experience

Essential

  • oComprehensive knowledge and understanding of the dynamics and complexities of a changing NHS environment
  • oSound political judgement and astuteness in understanding and working with complex policy, and diverse interest groups
  • oRecent experience of working at Board level as a Director in a complex, challenging environment
  • oExtensive experience as a senior operational manager in a large, complex acute hospital environment, including track record of staff management, financial management, performance management and change management
  • oDemonstrable success in delivering large scale strategic and service change and performance improvement with and through management and clinical teams within an NHS organisation
  • oDemonstrable ability to contribute and provide credible input across Board’s corporate agenda

Other

Essential

  • oWillingness to take on challenges and comfortable with constructive challenge
  • oSeeks out and takes opportunities for improving the service offered
  • oA strong sense of personal and team accountability coupled with a clear understanding of the boundaries around delegated authority, responsibility and accountability
  • oA commitment to improving patient services through an ability to sustain a clear performance focus and achieving demanding goals

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: 30 August 2026

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