Service Manager - Planned Pathways

We are recruiting a Service Manager to provide strong operational leadership across our Trauma and Orthopaedic and Rheumatology services at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust. These high-impact roles sit at the heart of a fast-paced, complex clinical environment and play a key part in delivering safe, effective and timely surgical care.

Working closely with Clinical Leads, Matrons, senior clinicians and the General Manager, you will oversee performance, workforce, finance and service development across your allocated portfolio, ensuring high-quality, patient-centred pathways and delivery against key national and local priorities.

As a Service Manager within Planned Pathways division, you will be a visible, credible leader with a strong grip on operational performance. You will work in close partnership with clinical teams, acting as the link between frontline delivery and corporate functions to ensure services are efficient, responsive and safe.

Using data, insight and sound judgement, you will proactively manage performance across elective, emergency and diagnostic pathways, anticipate risk and drive improvement in a demanding environment. You will support and challenge services to deliver against RTT, cancer, access and flow standards, while maintaining a relentless focus on patient experience and clinical quality.

Main duties of the job

You will play a key role in shaping the future of surgical services, leading workforce and medical job planning, supporting service improvement and transformation, and contributing to Trust-wide and system priorities. These roles require confident decision-makers who can manage complexity, lead teams through change and deliver results.

Provide day-to-day operational leadership for surgical services, ensuring safe, effective and patient-focused care

Deliver performance against RTT, cancer, diagnostics, emergency flow and access targets, implementing recovery actions where required

Lead capacity and demand planning across theatres, clinics, diagnostics, wards and SDEC

Coordinate and support consultant and SAS doctor job planning, ensuring compliance and alignment to service demand

Lead and support workforce planning, recruitment, retention and service resilience

Manage service budgets, supporting cost improvement programmes and business case development

Maintain strong clinical governance, including incidents, risks, complaints, audits and national standards compliance

Lead and support service transformation, pathway redesign, elective recovery and system collaboration

About us

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) is proud to care for the communities of West Essex, delivering safe, compassionate, and high-quality services. We are part of the Neighbourhood Wave; a national programme thats changing how care is delivered by focusing on prevention, early support, and more joined-up services across health, social care, and the voluntary sector.

This means were working more closely with local partners to bring care closer to home and support people to live healthier, more independent lives.

Join us and help shape the future of care in West Essex.

Details

Date posted

14 October 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8a

Salary

£57,528 to £64,750 a year

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

9 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

001251

Job locations

The Princess Alexandra Hospital

Harlow

Essex

CM20 1QX

United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

Digestive Services Portfolio

• Operational leadership for Trauma and Orthopaedic and Rheumatology
• Oversight of elective and cancer pathways and diagnostic capacity
• Close working with multidisciplinary teams to improve access, flow and patient outcomes

Surgery Portfolio

• Operational leadership for Surgical Inpatients and outpatients
• Focus on emergency flow, inpatient capacity, surgical pathways and sitewide escalation
• Supporting safe, effective delivery across both elective and emergency surgical services

Job responsibilities

Digestive Services Portfolio

• Operational leadership for Trauma and Orthopaedic and Rheumatology
• Oversight of elective and cancer pathways and diagnostic capacity
• Close working with multidisciplinary teams to improve access, flow and patient outcomes

Surgery Portfolio

• Operational leadership for Surgical Inpatients and outpatients
• Focus on emergency flow, inpatient capacity, surgical pathways and sitewide escalation
• Supporting safe, effective delivery across both elective and emergency surgical services

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to a masters degree level or equivalent qualifications or
• experience
• Recognised post-graduate management qualification or equivalent
• experience

Experience

Essential

• Proven general and operational management experience to include the
• management of a large multi-disciplinary group of staff part of which to
• have been in the NHS
• A proven record of success in managing significant operational / strategic
• change whilst also developing and maintaining the provision of a high
• quality service, within a clinical setting, with multidisciplinary teams
• Experience of team working and building and maintaining effective
• working relationships in a multidisciplinary environment
• Fully developing staff potential through facilitating training, development
• and education initiatives
• Demonstrable ability to lead and influence
• Evidence of sound budgetary management experience
• Experience in service redesign and project management

Desirable

• Experience of working with external organisations (ICB, Primary Care,
• Local Authority, Community Services, Voluntary Sector)
• Experience in managing quality/ clinical audit/ clinical governance/ risk
• management issues

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to a masters degree level or equivalent qualifications or
• experience
• Recognised post-graduate management qualification or equivalent
• experience

Experience

Essential

• Proven general and operational management experience to include the
• management of a large multi-disciplinary group of staff part of which to
• have been in the NHS
• A proven record of success in managing significant operational / strategic
• change whilst also developing and maintaining the provision of a high
• quality service, within a clinical setting, with multidisciplinary teams
• Experience of team working and building and maintaining effective
• working relationships in a multidisciplinary environment
• Fully developing staff potential through facilitating training, development
• and education initiatives
• Demonstrable ability to lead and influence
• Evidence of sound budgetary management experience
• Experience in service redesign and project management

Desirable

• Experience of working with external organisations (ICB, Primary Care,
• Local Authority, Community Services, Voluntary Sector)
• Experience in managing quality/ clinical audit/ clinical governance/ risk
• management issues

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.

Employer details

Employer name

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Address

The Princess Alexandra Hospital

Harlow

Essex

CM20 1QX

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.pah.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

Address

The Princess Alexandra Hospital

Harlow

Essex

CM20 1QX

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.pah.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)

Job responsibilities

Digestive Services Portfolio

• Operational leadership for Trauma and Orthopaedic and Rheumatology
• Oversight of elective and cancer pathways and diagnostic capacity
• Close working with multidisciplinary teams to improve access, flow and patient outcomes

Surgery Portfolio

• Operational leadership for Surgical Inpatients and outpatients
• Focus on emergency flow, inpatient capacity, surgical pathways and sitewide escalation
• Supporting safe, effective delivery across both elective and emergency surgical services

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to a masters degree level or equivalent qualifications or
• experience
• Recognised post-graduate management qualification or equivalent
• experience

Experience

Essential

• Proven general and operational management experience to include the
• management of a large multi-disciplinary group of staff part of which to
• have been in the NHS
• A proven record of success in managing significant operational / strategic
• change whilst also developing and maintaining the provision of a high
• quality service, within a clinical setting, with multidisciplinary teams
• Experience of team working and building and maintaining effective
• working relationships in a multidisciplinary environment
• Fully developing staff potential through facilitating training, development
• and education initiatives
• Demonstrable ability to lead and influence
• Evidence of sound budgetary management experience
• Experience in service redesign and project management

Desirable

• Experience of working with external organisations (ICB, Primary Care,
• Local Authority, Community Services, Voluntary Sector)
• Experience in managing quality/ clinical audit/ clinical governance/ risk
• management issues