Deputy Chief Operating Officer

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to join The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust as our Deputy Chief Operating Officer, a pivotal senior leadership role at the heart of delivering outstanding patient care, operational excellence, and transformational change.

Working directly with the Chief Operating Officer, you will play a critical role in leading operational performance, shaping strategic priorities and ensuring the delivery of high-quality, patient-centred services across the Trust. With a strong focus on operational performance, patient flow, elective recovery, and service transformation, you will influence change at scale and help shape the future of healthcare delivery for our local communities.

While the role will have a significant site-focused responsibility within The Dudley Group, it also provides a unique opportunity to work as part of a wider acute provider group alongside Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust. This partnership creates exciting opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and the development of shared approaches to service improvement, operational excellence, and workforce development across a larger healthcare system.

We are seeking an ambitious and experienced operational leader with a proven track record of delivering sustained performance improvement within a complex acute healthcare environment. You will bring strategic vision, resilience, and credibility, alongside the ability to inspire teams, build strong relationships and lead through change.

This is an exceptional opportunity for an established senior operational leader, or an aspiring executive-level leader, to gain broader system leadership experience while making a significant impact on patient care, staff experience, and organisational performance.

Join us and play a leading role in shaping the future of healthcare across Dudley and the wider Black Country, improving outcomes for patients locally while contributing to transformation across a larger acute provider group.

Working for our organisation

At the Dudley Group our patients and staff are at the heart of all that we do and that is to provide a world class service that aligns with our vision of “excellent health care, improved health for all”. We are seeking to recruit staff who share our vision and values of making Dudley Group an incredible workplace.

As part of the NHS People Promise, your wellbeing is our priority, and we are committed to ensuring our employees achieve a healthy work-life balance supported by our flexible working options and by making reasonable adjustments where possible. We believe no-one should have to sacrifice family, friends, or their personal interests for work. We are a modern employer able to attract and retain high quality staff through our commitment to the NHS People Promise.

As an employer, we foster an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered to contribute their best. We want to ensure that our workforce is representative of the population we serve. More information - inclusive practice people promise.

Dudley Group offer many opportunities for our staff to develop and grow within their roles through our Learning & OD Team. These include topics such as communication, wellbeing, team development, cultural competency, and values.

Please click below to view our EDI page: Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion - The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust (dgft.nhs.uk)

Please refer to the attached job description for full details of the main duties and responsibilities that the post holder is required to undertake.

Whilst we encourage the use of technology to help manage time and support innovation. However, it is your responsibility to ensure your application is personalised and clearly reflects your own skills and experiences. While AI can assist with drafting, it should only be used as a support tool. The content must be your own work and accurately represent your knowledge, abilities, and values. Over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in your application being rejected. A common issue arises when we receive multiple applications with identical or overly generic language.

The use of AI during assessments, including interviews, is not permitted unless it has been pre-approved as part of a reasonable adjustment. For digital interviews, you may be asked to provide a 360-degree view of your surroundings on camera and confirm that no additional devices are present. If we suspect AI is being used during an interview, we may pause the process to clarify or adjust our approach to questioning.

Caring for patients demands integrity, honesty, and accountability. We expect your application and participation to be authentic and a genuine reflection of your own experiences and values.

In line with UK Home Office rules, Band 2 clinical and non‑clinical roles, and Band 3 non‑clinical roles, are not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Please note that most non‑clinical roles at Agenda for Change Bands 3–6 will not meet the minimum skill or salary requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration for sponsorship, except for those listed here: Skilled Worker visa: immigration salary list - GOV.UK.

Non‑clinical roles at Agenda for Change Bands 7–9 that meet the required skill level (RQF 6) and salary threshold are eligible for sponsorship.

The Trust will also accept applications from candidates who can evidence their existing right to work in the UK or who hold an alternative eligible visa.

We are committed to equal opportunities and want to ensure our workforce is representative of the population we serve. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and diverse groups. It is essential we understand our demographics, in order that we can monitor our performance as an equal opportunity employer, as well as continuing to embed a culture of inclusivity across the organisation, which supports the active participation and contribution of our diverse staff groups in the Trusts decision making processes . On application the shortlisting manager will not see this criterion and therefore it cannot be part of their decision making. Please ensure you complete your equal opportunities questions for us and help us to make sure everyone is welcome.

The Trust is committed to employing and supporting people with disabilities. It is the Trust’s policy to interview all candidates with a disability who meet the minimum ‘essential’ criteria as identified on the person specification. To ensure we know you have a disability, please inform us under the appropriate section on the application form. We welcome applications from the LGBTQ+ community and openly encourage people with different sexual orientation, gender identity and expression to apply to join our team. We promise to respect and encourage the use of all pronouns and will not purposefully mis-gender anyone.

We are governed by the public sector equality duties and by our values of Care, Respect and Responsibility to ensure we eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other behaviour that is unlawful, undermines our core values and/or falls short of our Behaviour Framework. We want all of our staff to ‘call out’ any behaviour from colleagues, patients or visitors that constitutes the above and appropriate action be taken.

We will, at every opportunity, advance equality and inclusivity for all staff, at all levels within the organisation, by removing or minimising disadvantage, encouraging participation and taking all relevant steps to meet the needs of anyone who shares a protected characteristic. We will also foster good relations between persons who share a protected characteristic by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding at every opportunity.

We have staff Networks in place to help support staff experience of diverse staff groups and inform us on the actions, interventions and support what we need to put in place to improve the working lives and daily experiences of all colleagues and all teams. Anyone can join the networks and we take pride in having Allies as part of every network within the organisation.

By submitting an application for a position with this organisation, you are declaring that the information given is true and complete, any deliberate omission, falsification or misrepresentation will be grounds for rejecting the application or subsequent dismissal, and where applicable, for positions that requires registration with a professional body, you authorise us to make the required employer checks on your professional registration status.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Please note, preference will be given to at risk employees.

Applicants MUST ensure that they provide details of their referees and their referee email addresses on their application form otherwise their application may not be considered.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in your application to its preferred applicant management system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Record system.

Apply for this job