Director, Infrastructure

Job summary

This is a role which will be key to the Trust’s role as leader and influencer in South East London and to achieving Essentia’s strategic ambitions. The role is highly autonomous and accountable for interpretations of legal and national policies and interpreting this into a deliverable strategy and operational practice that ensures GSTT sites are compliant.

This is a pivotal leadership position responsible and accountable for leading the planning, delivery, and performance of infrastructure services across Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. The role will be responsible for leading infrastructure strategy, development and integrated operational delivery of infrastructure management, engineering and maintenance services to ensure the estate and associated infrastructure is fit for purpose, legally compliant, whilst the teams provide high levels of customer service and meeting other institutional priorities and initiatives. The role will also play a crucial role in delivering GSTT’s sustainability strategy and carbon reduction targets.

The role requires an executive-level people centric leader, who delivers operational transformation whilst championing the Trust values prioritising our commitments to EDI and culture transformation.

The role carries ultimate accountability for the safe operation, statutory compliance

Main duties of the job

Lead the implementation of GSTT’s strategy for re-active and PPM maintenance of the estate across all estate infrastructure having regard to agreed institutional and clinical priorities.

Drive a safety culture with the team and with all suppliers to ensure the delivery of a safe, healthy and secure environment for patients, staff and visitors.

Lead a team of over 300 professional, technical, trade staff and a range of service and specialist contractors.

Establish, develop and regularly review strategy, policy, business plans and forecasts relating to all aspects of the role.

Establish and deliver operational performance (financial and non-financial) targets

against agreed service standards, including compliance with Financial & Procurement Regulations.

Continuously monitor and review services; identify and implement service, operational and financial improvements to deliver within allocated budgets, improving value for money, including being responsive to changing business needs.

Ensure the team has appropriate technical and professional skills and the necessary management competencies to undertake duties in line with the Trust values and behaviour.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Education to PhD/Masters degree level, in an engineering discipline alongside additional in-depth professional training and specialist knowledge in a relevant discipline to doctorate or equivalent level, acquired through training and experience over an extended period.
• Evidence of continued professional and managerial development.
• Chartered Engineer (CEng).

Desirable

• Effective listening skills and the ability to build excellent interpersonal relationships

Previous experience

Essential

• Extensive, successful track record of leading engineering functions within an Estates environment.
• Experience of organisation-wide policy development, interpreting legislative and other requirements.
• Detailed understanding of the engineering requirements within a complex NHS environment.
• Experience of: oLeading infrastructure services across large, complex, multi-site organisations oDelivering major estates transformation and service redesign programmes oOperating at Board or equivalent senior level, influencing organisational
• Extensive expertise in Estates leadership.

Knowledge

Essential

• Excellent understanding and specialist knowledge of NHS Estates departments.
• Highly developed communication skills, with ability to communicate highly complex information where exceptional influencing skills are required.
• Highly developed leadership skills with the ability to enthuse, motivate and involve individuals and teams, and have them understand the Trust-wide and local performance expectations.
• Expert level theoretical and practical knowledge of engineering and infrastructure systems, equivalent to doctoral level, applied across a large and complex healthcare estate.

Skills

Essential

• Extensive track record of effective partnership working with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to analyse, synthesise and interpret highly complex data, filtering and interpreting information to identify and focus on issues to be addressed at board level
• Intellectual flexibility with the ability to cut through ambiguity and complexity and to shape and implement a vision that looks beyond existing structures, ways of working, boundaries and organisations to produce more effective and innovative service delivery models.
• Strong drive for performance and improvement.
• Proven strong written communication skills, in particular for complex drafting, and ability to produce & present effective business cases
• Sound political judgment and sensitivity when dealing with stakeholders at all levels.

Additional

Essential

• Commitment to the Essentia Way – working together, doing it well and looking after each other
• Commitment to Equality and Diversity for all and with a demonstrable leadership capacity in inclusion.

Closing Date: 2 August 2026