Head of Locality Commissioning

Job overview

Join Our Team as Head of Locality - Band 8C, 1 WTE, 12 month secondment

Are you ready to make a meaningful impact in the NHS and lead a dynamic team towards achieving transformative healthcare goals? We are seeking an enthusiastic and dedicated Head of Locality to join our friendly and supportive team. As a pivotal member of our leadership, you will work closely with the Locality Director ensuring the delivery of our four core purposes within the Integrated Care System (ICS): improving population health outcomes, tackling inequalities, enhancing productivity and value for money, and supporting broader social and economic development.

Your efforts will ensure that services across the Devon system are cost-effective and provide the best value for money.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for someone who can navigate a complex environment with competing priorities. Your ability to develop and promote strong relationships with key stakeholders will be crucial in achieving our shared goals.

Join us in shaping the future of healthcare for our population.

Working for our organisation

NHS Devon Integrated Care System

It aims to transform health and care services so they are clinically, socially and financially sustainable.

Our vision is simple: equal chances for everyone in Devon to lead long, happy and healthy lives. To achieve this, we have set out six ambitions for the next five years that will help us transform services including: Effective and efficient care, embedding the Integrated Care Model, the Devon deal (a citizen-led approach to health and care), Children and young people, Digital Devon and ensuring Equality.

About NHS Devon

As part of the Devon ICS, NHS Devon Integrated Care Board is responsible for the majority of county's NHS budget, and develops a plan to improve peoples health, deliver high-quality care and better value for money. The organisation is led by a diverse board, with an aim to improve peoples lives in Devon wherever they live, to reduce health inequalities and make sure we can deliver these services for the long term.

• Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job description and person specification for full details of the role and responsibilities.

Person specification

Experience, Knowledge and Qualifications

• Educated to masters’ level or equivalent level of experience of working at a senior level in specialist area.
• Extensive knowledge of specialist areas, acquired through a post graduate qualification or equivalent experience or training.
• Ability to oversee and be responsible for the budget setting for a number of teams/services across a directorate and understand the interdependencies.
• Must have a strong understanding of the background to and aims of current healthcare policy and how these impact on the overall strategic objectives; implementing and adapting as required.
• Ability to support the budget setting for a number of teams/services across a directorate.
• A very strong understanding of and the ability to navigate the relationships between NHS organisations and wider system, regional and national organisations.
• Significant experience of successfully operating in a highly politically sensitive environment.
• Significant experience of co-ordinating strategies in complex and challenging environments.
• Experience of holding overall responsibility for identifying and managing high level risks.
• Experience of leading the development of briefing papers and correspondence at chief officer and board level.
• Experience of monitoring budgets and business planning processes.
• Evidence of continued professional development.
• Previous senior commissioning experience.
• Previous experience of working successfully with multiple agencies.
• Proven track-record of managing conflict and challenging relationship dynamics.
• Insight into personal resilience and ability to manage high-stress situations.
• Strong leadership and influencing skills with the ability to develop credibility as a senior professional in the relevant area with other senior system leaders.
• Ability to guide and facilitate both experienced and inexperienced very senior colleagues.
• A good level of political astuteness with a natural ability to thrive in complex political environments whilst always acting in a manner consistent with their values.
• Strong critical thinking and strategic problem solving; the ability to contribute to a joint strategic plan and undertake problem resolution and action.
• Demonstrate independence of thought, emotional intelligence, the ability to work through conflict and the ability to demonstrate a range of leadership styles to secure results.

• Significant demonstrated experience in a Healthcare environment
• Very strong understanding of the public sector

Communication Skills

• Highly developed communication skills with the ability to communicate on highly complex matters and difficult situations.
• Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive and contentious information, negotiate with senior stakeholders on difficult and controversial issues, and present complex and sensitive information to large and influential groups where there may difference of opinion, incomplete information, competing priorities and barriers to understanding.
• Persuade board and senior managers of the respective merits of different options, innovation and strategic opportunities.
• Use informed persuasion and negotiate on difficult and very complex/controversial and detailed issues including performance and change
• Ability to produce and present concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to a broad range of stakeholders, including senior and board level, as required.
• Adept at nurturing key relationships and maintaining networks.
• Employ effective communication, negotiation and influencing skills with staff and stakeholders at all levels (including senior management) who may hold differing and contentious views.
• Strong oral and written communication skills with the ability to assimilate, analyse and disseminate highly complex, sensitive and/or contentious information and issues effectively with a range of stakeholders where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome.
• Devise, manage and execute highly sensitive or complex communications, in sometimes agnostic/hostile situations, in relation to leading organisation/transformation change.

Analytical Skills

• Problem solving skills and ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands.
• Ability to analyse complex facts and situations and develop a range of options.
• Takes decisions on difficult and contentious issues where there may be a number of courses of action.
• Strategic thinking – ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.
• Ability to carry out procurements for highly detailed, high value contracts that require analysis, comparison and assessment.
• Demonstrates sound judgement in the absence of clear guidelines or precedent, seeking advice as necessary from more senior management when appropriate.
• Experience of identifying, interpreting and locally implementing National policy.
• Significant experience of researching best practice (globally, private and public sector), interpreting its relevance and how effective implementation of processes/ practices could successfully improve performance to achieve strategic objectives

Planning Skills

• Plans and organises a broad range of complex activities, formulating and adjusting plans to reflect changing circumstances.
• Works with Stakeholders to develop performance improvement plans and to develop plans for innovation in order to meet strategic objectives.
• Strong use of available information sources to enable efficient and effective planning.
• Strong ability to work under pressure and to tight and often changing deadlines.
• Evidence of planning and delivering programmes and projects and services on time.
• Comprehensive experience of project principles techniques and managing successful projects.
• Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly.
• Comprehensive experience of project principles techniques and managing successful projects.
• Leads on the formulation of strategic plans within own area of responsibility which may involve uncertainty and may impact across the whole organisation.

Management Skills

• Skills for delivering results through managing through others and using a range of levers in the absence of direct line management responsibility.
• Strong skills for managing relationships with a range of different stakeholders.
• Strong ability to manage financial and staff resources.
• Must be able to prioritise own work effectively and be able to direct activities of others, which may be across a number of workstreams.
• Experience of managing often very complex situations and effectively motivating a team and reviewing performance against strategic objectives.

Autonomy / Freedom to Act

• Must be able to use initiative to decide relevant actions and make recommendation across area of responsibility with the aim of improving deliverables and/or compliance to policies, allocating work as necessary.
• Ability to make decisions autonomously, on difficult and very complex issues, working to tight and often changing timescales and ensuring strategic plans are met.
• Experience of identifying and interpreting National policy and leading implementation
• Experience of researching best practice (globally, private and public sector), interpreting its relevance and processes/ practices which could be implemented successfully to achieve improved performance (advising on policy implementation, where applicable).

Equality & Diversity

• Will consider the most effective way to promote equality of opportunity and good working relationships in employment and service delivery and has the ability to take actions which support and promote this agenda.

Physical Skills

• Standard keyboard skills, with the ability to learn/use a range of software.

Other

• Operate effectively in a highly demanding environment.
• Adept at dealing with high uncertainty and frequent change, showing exceptional adaptability and flexibility.
• Determination, perseverance, and resilience.
• Strong ability to engage with, learn from and depart knowledge and experience to peers, other professionals and colleagues in the desire to provide or support the most appropriate interventions.
• Strong ability to develop and maintain confidentiality and trust.
• Highly professional calm and efficient manner.
• Strongly effective organiser, influencer and networker.
• Demonstrates a strong desire to improve performance and make a difference by focusing on goals.