Job summary
The Service Manager is responsible for the effective day-to-day management, coordination and delivery of an assigned portfolio of services on behalf of the Federation and its members.

The post holder will be a member of the organisations Senior Leadership Team providing operational leadership across the service portfolio, ensuring that services are well coordinated, responsive and delivered in line with agreed objectives, quality standards, contractual requirements and organisational priorities.

The postholder will work closely with clinical leads, practices, Primary Care Networks, internal teams, commissioners and other key stakeholders to support effective service delivery and positive outcomes.

The postholder will also contribute to effective governance, risk management, quality improvement and service development, supporting the implementation of service plans and identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency and the experience of patients, practices and other stakeholders.

Main duties of the job

• Day-to-day delivery and performance of assigned services.
• Monitoring performance, quality, risk and compliance.
• Effective communication with key stakeholders.
• Managing resources, including workforce and budgets.
• Supporting service improvement and development.
• Maintaining effective governance arrangements.
• Escalating and managing operational issues.
• Working closely with clinical and operational leads.

About us
Bolton GP Federation is committed to improving the health of people in Bolton. We deliver accessible services, support the primary care workforce, and champion health equity so that all residents receive the care they deserve.

Our vision is health equity and excellence in Bolton.

Our mission is to:

• Improve access to NHS services for the people of Bolton
• Support, develop and grow the primary care workforce
• Reduce health inequalities

Our values shape how we work every day:

• Fair we appreciate individual circumstances and act to reduce inequity
• Integrity we act in a way that builds trust and confidence
• Bold we embrace positive change
• Supportive we enable each other to give the best of our skills and talents

All roles at Bolton GP Federation contribute to this purpose, regardless of job title or level.

Job responsibilities
This role has an organisational accountability level 3.
The Service Manager is accountable for:

• Service delivery and performance.
• Quality, compliance and risk.
• Team and resource management.
• Budgets and operational planning.
• Stakeholder engagement.
• Service improvement.
• Governance and reporting.

Key responsibilities:

• Day-to-day delivery and performance of assigned services.
• Monitoring performance, quality, risk and compliance.
• Effective communication with key stakeholders.
• Managing resources, including workforce and budgets.
• Supporting service improvement and development.
• Maintaining effective governance arrangements.
• Escalating and managing operational issues.
• Working closely with clinical and operational leads.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead junior team responsible for service operations
• Model collaborative leadership and matrix working across the organisation
• Work closely with the COO and other managers to ensure alignment and integration
• Support system partnership working in line with the principle of subsidiarity (local where possible, at scale where necessary)

Corporate & Statutory Accountabilities
All staff are accountable for:

• Safeguarding understanding and fulfilling safeguarding responsibilities
• Confidentiality & Information Governance maintaining confidentiality in line with legislation and policy
• Health, Safety & Wellbeing taking reasonable care for own and others safety
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion promoting fairness and inclusion
• Training & Development completing mandatory training and ongoing development

Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential

• Project/service management related qualification

Skills and Abilities
Essential

• Understanding of NHS commissioning arrangements
• Ability to maintain risk registers, identify contractual/operational risks and escalate appropriately
• Ability to interpret primary care/service data and turn it into meaningful performance reports
• Understanding of GDPR, confidentiality and NHS information governance
• Understanding of patient experience, access, inequalities and outcomes

Desirable

• Understanding of the GP contract, PCN DES, enhanced services, local incentive schemes and relevant primary care requirements
• Understanding of business continuity, resilience and operational contingency planning

Personal Attributes
Essential

• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work effectively with GP practices, PCNs, ICBs, clinicians and wider system partners
• Ability to work collaboratively across multiple practices and organisations
• Ability to identify issues, take appropriate action and escalate risks when required
• Willingness to work flexibly when required
• Patient/service-user focused, with an understanding of the importance of access, experience, health inequalities and outcomes
• Meets DBS requirements
• Access to transport and ability to travel across the locality

Experience
Essential

• Experience of managing NHS/primary care contracts, including service specifications, KPIs, milestones and contractual deliverables
• Experience of monitoring KPIs, trajectories and dashboards, and taking action where performance is off target
• Experience of managing budgets, income/expenditure, forecasting and financial reporting
• Experience of clinical/service governance, incident management, complaints, audit and quality improvement
• Experience of working with GP practices, PCNs, ICBs, clinicians and wider system partners
• Experience of implementing new services/processes across multiple practices or organisations

Desirable

• Experience of workforce planning, recruitment/retention, capacity and utilisation

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.