Service Group Director of Operations (Mental Health, LD and Autism

Job summary

Are you a visionary leader ready to drive transformative change in Mental Health and Learning Disability and Autism services?

Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Trust is seeking a dynamic Service Group Director of Operations.

The Service Group Director of Operations is a senior leadership role responsible for shaping the strategic direction and operational delivery of the Service Group. As the senior accountable officer, the postholder will lead with clarity and confidence, making balanced decisions across quality, safety, workforce, performance and finance.

This role calls for a dynamic, values-driven leader who inspires collaboration, champions compassionate leadership and places quality at the heart of everything the Service Group delivers.

Working in partnership with clinical and corporate colleagues, the postholder will help create high-performing, sustainable services that make a meaningful difference to patients, staff and communities.

Main duties of the job

This role will be responsible for the Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Service Group. This Service Group is circa 1340 staff with a budget of c.£76 million.This Service Group includes the following services:

• Mental Health Inpatient Services - Acute, PICU, LSU, Rehabilitation, Later Life
• Mental Health Crisis Service
• Health Based Place of Safety
• Let's Talk (NHS Talking Therapies)
• Integrated Community Teams
• Assertive Outreach
• Gloucestershire Recovery in Psychosis
• Individual Placement Support
• Community Mental Health (Later Life)
• Memory Service
• Learning Disability Intensive Support Service
• Community Learning Disability Team
• ADHD Service
• Autism Service

The Service Group is divided into 3 delivery units:

• Urgent and Inpatient
• Planned and Preventative
• LD, Autism and Specialist

Each delivery unit is led by a Head of Operations working in partnership with colleagues in relation to Quality and Effectiveness.

The Service Group is supported by a Business and Performance Lead

About us

We have a skilled and dedicated workforce of over 5000 colleagues working in a diverse range of services over 55 sites and within people's homes. We strive to enable a welcoming workplace culture that builds and celebrates civility, inclusivity and diversity, while providing a sense of belonging and trust.

Annual staff surveys, regular Pulse surveys and other engagement opportunities provide our people with lots of opportunity to tell us about their experiences of working with us. In the latest staff survey, 61% of colleagues gave us their views. It was great to hear that:

• 72% of colleagues would recommend the Trust as a place to work, ranking us 1st for Provider Trusts in the South West region on this question.
• 76% would recommend the standard of care provided in our services if a friend or relative needed treatment, also ranking us 1st in the South West region.
• 81% said that care of patients and service users is the Trust's priority, compared with an average in comparable NHS Trusts in England of 64%.

This high-level overview shows we are in a healthy position, with higher scores than average for comparable organisations, alongside a great response rate, indicating good staff engagement. However, we also know we have plenty of room for improvement in many areas. To that end, we continue to prioritise and invest in our commitment to genuinely becoming a Great Place to Work with consistent top-quartile performance in the annual staff survey and Pulse surveys.

Details

Date posted

29 April 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8d

Salary

£94,356 to £108,814 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

327-26-309

Job locations

Edward Jenner Court

1010 Brockworth Business Park

Brockworth, Gloucester

GL3 4AW

For further information and to apply, click on the APPLY BUTTON at the bottom of this advert to view the supporting documents or apply online