Assistant Service Manager

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Line management of staff within immediate areas of responsibility.
2. Lead, support and manage the performance of team. This includes ensuring every team member is fully supported to be competent to perform their duties, or where identified support training needs and individual objective setting.
3. Work with teams in immediate area of responsibility and the division, to ensure maximum utilisation of resources to support performance against local and national objectives and indicators e.g. RTT waiting times, 24 Day Internal Target etc.
4. Support the management team to implement innovation, technology, and new ways of working, contributing to policy and process development. These policy and process changes will impact outside the immediate work area and impact on other teams/departments.
5. Contribute to assurance reports / papers, and if required attend relevant meetings and committees in relation to performance and delivery within areas of responsibility. Demonstrating analytical skills.
6. Document and implement standard operating procedures within areas of responsibility, ensuring review on a regular basis to reflect current practice.
7. Responsible for the effective planning of the departmental workload and ensuring effective service provision. This will require complex short and mid-term plans to be drawn up but they will be subject to review and change as service requirements change.
8. Display effective analytical skills when making service related decisions. There will often be a range of options and the post holder will be required to effective analyse situations and make judgements on the appropriate course of action.
9. Provide guidance and support to ensure waiting times and booking targets are met by the administration team by monitoring Access and performance reports to ensure that no patients breach the targets i.e. RTT compliance, 24 day target etc. Any risks or issues must be investigated and escalated accordingly.
10. Contribute to investigate complaints, concerns, or incidents raised within areas of responsibility, ensuring appropriate review and propose changes to practice to mitigate or reduce further occurrence. Support team learning from incidents and complaints.
11. Oversee training requirements of staff within areas of responsibility, proactively looking for opportunities to enhance the team's knowledge and skill base. Ensure all new starters are inducted accordingly and supported to meet required levels of competence and confidence.
12. Ensure adequate staffing levels and skill mix within areas of responsibility to ensure no impact on service delivery.
13. Sound knowledge and understanding of local and national standards, policies, and legislation within areas of remit.
14. Work with information teams to collate statistics and data to present to management team and Trust meetings, in order to demonstrate compliance of KPI's within immediate teams, or to highlight risks or issues that need to be addressed.
15. Work collaboratively with all teams in the immediate function to ensure administrative processes support wider organisational objectives.
16. Undertake regular audit of team processes to provide evidence of performance and quality, including feedback of outcomes to team to maintain engagement and drive improvement.
17. Attendance at relevant internal and external meetings and working groups etc. Engage and participate as required on behalf of the administration function to support collaborative working and knowledge share.
18. Key role in supporting team engagement and motivation. In particular regular feedback and engagement sessions with staff in area of responsibility.
19. Completion of Team PDR's, ensuring accuracy and scrutiny of entries.
20. Be proactive in seeking to identify operational inefficiencies, making recommendations for efficiency and cost improvement.
21. Be aware of and contribute to relevant service or technological developments within the Trust which may impact on patient administration services or opportunities for collaborative working between existing teams.
22. Ensure appropriate application of Human Resource Policies within areas of responsibility e.g. annual leave, special leave, managing attendance, grievance, disciplinary, capability and performance (list is not exhaustive).
23. Oversee effective recruitment, induction and training for all staff within the function, ensuring that all staff have robust personal development plans and compliance with mandatory training requirements.
24. Work with levels of independence and contribute to decision making processes in areas of immediate responsibility, seeking advice where necessary prior to application of decision or process change.
25. Support new ways of working, ensuring a proactive and engaged approach to change is embedded within the teams.
26. Champion data quality within the function, ensuring standard operating procedures reflect the most effective way to maintain high levels of data quality.
27. Support and lead on introduction of innovation and technology within areas of responsibility to enhance operational processes and efficiencies.
28. Knowledge of trust business case procedure

MANAGERIAL/LEADERSHIP

1. Support the Service Managers, deputising for them during absence.
2. Support strong, supportive, engaging and visible leadership within the surgical administrative teams
3. Ensure changes to policies and procedures are clearly communicated and implemented with all relevant teams in a confident and consistent manner.
4. Support a culture where individuals feel able to report incidents, concerns or opportunities for improvement, and ensure learning takes place from all incidents and complaints.
5. Ability to act with autonomy and as a specialist for the work area. Will be guided by broad occupational policies and using own initiative.
6. Ensure within the function that data quality, risk management and information governance forms responsibility within all roles and teams.
7. Provide confident management, leadership and advice to all staff within areas of responsibility.
8. Ensure all teams have objectives and key performance indicators in place, and mechanisms to provide evidence of compliance and performance.
9. Responsibility for human resource management, recruitment, application of human resource policies as required.
10. Work with Operations Manager to review operational processes, seeking input from relevant stakeholders and project management teams to deliver improvement in operational and cost efficiency.
11. Financial signatory for approvals up to agreed financial limit, ensuring accuracy and scrutiny of approval to support cost effective delivery of services.
12. Provide management and support the development of staff within responsible functions to ensure sufficient knowledge, skills and expertise are available to deliver operational objectives with high levels of competence and confidence.
13. Demonstrate and encourage leadership in everyday practice to support innovation, development, delegation, organisation and prioritisation to support safe and effective delivery of services, including excellent patient and service user experience.
14. Support the Operations Manager to ensure risks, issues and complaints are investigated and managed in accordance with Trust policy, ensuring feedback and learning is promoted to constructively manage improvements.
15. Ensure team objectives are clearly defined with appropriate levels of responsibility assigned within the structure.
16. Act professionally and calmly, using tact and diplomacy, to a range of difficult or emotional situations with staff and service users.
17. Communicate complex information effectively using negotiating skills to facilitate resolution of issues
18. Ability to influence change within team structures and, providing motivation to individuals.
19. Undertake process mapping with teams to map current state processes and desired future state processes to support strategic vision, or where deficiencies in process are identified.
20. Responsible for undertaking monthly team meetings with administration teams to ensure information is discussed and captured

ORGANISATIONAL

1. Present information and updates about projects, initiatives, systems and processes to relevant stakeholders.
2. Support collaborative working across internal functions within the Trust and external organisations.

PROFESSIONAL

1. Undertake required professional certification / accreditation and continued professional development to maintain knowledge and understanding within areas of responsibility and maintain working knowledge of standards required to be implemented.
2. Provides and receives complex information and assists in all aspects of patient care

Additional Requirements

• Follow risk management procedures at all times including the identification, assessment and management of risk within the Division.
• To abide by all Trust policies and Procedures.
• To be responsible for own professional/personal development, including participating in ongoing appraisal and personal development planning.

This job description is not intended to be exhaustive but reflects the main responsibilities of the post holder. Other duties may be required from time to time, which are commensurate with the grade of the post. This job description is subject to regular review and appropriate modification.

Person specification

Qualifications & Education

Essential criteria

• Educated to degree level or equivalent level of knowledge and experience working in a senior team lead or management level with strong background in patient access, administration services and patient pathways.
• Evidence of professional development and knowledge of leadership and management techniques.

Desirable criteria

• Formal Leadership certification or evidence of professional development

Knowledge & Experience

Essential criteria

• Knowledge in one or more specialist areas acquired through demonstrable experience supported by continued professional development.
• Previous experience working at an operational management level within area of responsibility.
• Detailed understanding of referral management, national patient access standards, including RTT, cancer targets and pathway management i.e. waiting lists and PTL management
• Management of staff and leadership.
• Awareness of Governance procedures.

Desirable criteria

• Involvement in change processes or system implementations, including change management and process mapping.
• Previous experience of delivering assurance and reports to meetings or committees.
• Involvement with external third parties supporting delivery of services.
• Involvement in budget management and authority for significant financial budget.

Skills & Abilities

Essential criteria

• Ability to drive change within immediate teams and influencing skills.
• Ability to make decisions when required with confidence and commitment.
• Ability to work as part of a team and also display autonomy in the workplace
• Ability to analyse present data and information in an intelligible format for teams.
• Excellent communication skills adaptive to complexity and sensitivity of issue.
• Facilitation and presentation skills.
• Innovative and committed to service improvement.
• Excellent IT skills when using a range of packages such as Microsoft word, excel and powerpoint
• Requirement for concentration where the work pattern is unpredictable.

Desirable criteria

• Risk management techniques and investigation of risks.

Values & Behaviours

Essential criteria

• Demonstrate honesty and integrity and promotes organisational values and behaviours.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and trust.

The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants.

We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect. The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels. In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.

We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy

All positions within the Christie are subject to the receipt of satisfactory written references, medical clearance and evidence of your Right to Work in the UK. Some roles will require a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. Please note if you are successfully appointed to a post with this Trust, you will be required to pay for your own DBS Disclosure.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.

The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

Overseas candidates wishing to apply for this position and who would require immigration sponsorship, may wish to self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for the post on the UKVI website.

You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

• Job Description and Person Specification (PDF, 218.2KB)
• The Christie Values and Behaviours (PDF, 919.5KB)
• Strategy Brochure (PDF, 1.0MB)
• Travel to The Christie (PDF, 3.8MB)