Guy’s and St Thomas’ is among the UK’s busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services. Guy’s is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas’ has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children’s Hospital. Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions. Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients. In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research. We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King’s Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King’s College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit. Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of ‘good’. Our adult community services achieved a rating of ‘outstanding’. The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients. We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS. Job overview The Chief of Staff (CoS) supports the Cancer & Surgery Clinical Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the oversight and portfolio of the Cancer & Surgery Executive team and delivering across the full breadth of the CEO’s executive agenda. The post-holder is a member of the Cancer & Surgery Clinical Group Executive Committee, manages a small team, and has responsibility for: Programme Management of the CEO’s strategic agenda Overseeing the corporate affairs & communications function of the group Managing key external collaborative relationships Corporate and integrated governance The CoS will ensure that the CG CEO’s time is optimally used to support the determination and achievement, agreed plans and priorities, effective communication within and beyond the Clinical Group including the external system; that the CEO has access to information and high-quality briefing to support appropriately informed decision-making, and that the functioning of the Clinical Group Executive Team is efficient and effective. The CoS will ensure that Cancer & Surgery is appropriately represented, that our participation and contribution helps deliver our strategic objectives. The CoS will be responsible for establishing and leading cross-functional and cross-organisational projects or initiatives. The role will ensure that the Clinical Group plans and programmes of activity are appropriately connected and integrated to manage interdependencies. Main duties of the job The Chief of Staff is a key advisor to the Clinical Group Chief Executive and will work closely with the Clinical Group Executives. The role is highly autonomous, requiring interpretation of national policy and strategies. It involves the expert analysis, synthesis and regular providing and receiving of highly complex and sensitive information, where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome using the highest level of interpersonal and communication skills, such as would be required when communicating in a highly emotive atmosphere, both within the Trust and with external stakeholders. The role is a member of the Clinical Group Executive Committee and will also manage a small team. For more information on the role please refer to the job description and person specification. Working for our organisation Cancer & Surgery Clinical Group The Cancer & Surgery Clinical Group was formed in 2021 and consists of 7 Directorates with a budget of c.£500 million: Oncology Surgical Oncology Haematology, Cellular Pathology and supporting services Gastrointestinal Medicine and Surgery Surgery Theatres, Anaesthesia and Perioperative Transplant, Renal and Urology We are focused on delivery of services to the local population of South East London but also provide a large number of specialist services across the South East of England. We currently have the largest robotic surgery programme in the UK and are committed to developing our robotic centre of excellence. We are one of the largest cancer centres in the UK, hosting diagnostic pathways, as well as delivering chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical treatments across our two cancer centres at Guys and Queen Mary Sidcup sites. The Cancer & Surgery Clinical Group leads the delivery of the surgical and cancer strategies Trust-wide working across the organisation in conjunction with the other three Clinical Groups to support the delivery of our ambitions. We are heavily focused on elective recovery with a strong focus on increasing our throughput and productivity through both improvement initiatives and new innovations such as the development of our HVLC site, and establishing the “high intensity theatre (HIT) list” concept which has been showcased across the NHS and national media. Detailed job description and main responsibilities For more information on the role please refer to the job description and person specification. Person specification Qualificiations / Experience Essential criteria Advanced theoretical & practical knowledge, including extensive knowledge of regulatory frameworks and requirements. Extensively developed communication and influencing skills, developed within challenging environments that can be hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive. Evidence of delivering successful strategic and operational performance management and clearly demonstrating improvement in the quality of service delivery at a strategic level; including business case preparation, service initiation, and the development and monitoring of outcome and output measures. Service Delivery Essential criteria Extensive experience of delivering change and performance with and through management teams, by engaging them in the strategic direction and delivery plans, establishing clear work priorities with them, delegating effectively, ensuring a capability to deliver, monitoring performance and giving feedback. A strong track record of managing complexity and risk whilst maintaining high standards of service delivery An in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the changing NHS environment and the challenges it faces. Policy Development Essential criteria Experience of organisation-wide policy development, interpreting complex legislative and other requirements. Extensive experience of NHS regulatory processes, governance and strategic programme reporting. Ability to analyse, synthesise and interpret highly complex data, filtering and interpreting often conflicting information, to develop Trust-wide policy. Skills Essential criteria Strong leadership, interpersonal skills and authority; able to successfully foster and manage inter-relationships across the Clinical Group and with the Trust Corporate Affairs team. A proven track record of creating a common purpose and instilling organisational values and behaviours that promotes a corporate vision. Experience of working with a diverse range of stakeholders and a successful track record of influence and engagement. Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership. Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy. As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends. Flexible working We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual’s personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process. Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis. Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now." Further details / informal visits contact Name Laura Dartnell Job title Business Manager Email address [email protected] Additional information For an informal conversation with Sarah Clarke, CEO, please contact Laura Dartnell - [email protected]