Service Director

Come and join one of the UK’s largest providers in complex care. 

Lead the transformation. Shape the future. Build something exceptional.

An exceptional leadership opportunity for an experienced private hospital CEO, COO, Registered Manager or Nominated Individual.

Are you an accomplished healthcare leader who has successfully led within the private acute hospital sector and is ready for your next major challenge?

Would you relish the opportunity to take an established specialist service on an ambitious transformation journey, helping shape its future as a registered hospital, while playing a pivotal role in the design and development of an exciting new purpose-built extension?

If so, this could be a genuinely once-in-a-career opportunity.

About Woodlands

Woodlands Neurological Rehabilitation Centre is a 27-bed specialist service providing complex neurorehabilitation, including specialist spinal care, alongside inpatient and outpatient services.

We are now embarking on an exciting period of transformation.

Our vision is to build on the strengths of the existing service and take Woodlands to the next level, strengthening our governance, developing our clinical pathways, expanding our private healthcare offering and progressing towards hospital registration with the CQC.

Alongside this, we have an exciting opportunity to co-design and develop a new purpose-built extension to the existing site, incorporating facilities such as a new rehabilitation gym, swimming pool and residential accommodation.

This is not simply a role overseeing an established service. It is an opportunity to shape what comes next.

The opportunity

As Service Director, you will provide the strategic and operational leadership required to take Woodlands through this next chapter. As part of this journey you yourself will transition from service director to hospital director while in role.

You will work closely with clinical, operational, commercial and estates colleagues to develop a compelling vision for the service and turn that vision into reality.

A key part of your role will be preparing the organisation for the journey towards CQC hospital registration, ensuring that governance, quality, operational systems, workforce, patient pathways and the physical environment are all designed to meet the standards expected of an outstanding modern healthcare provider.

You will also have the opportunity to influence the design and development of our future estate, helping to shape a purpose-built extension that could include:

• A new state-of-the-art rehabilitation gym
• A swimming pool and enhanced rehabilitation facilities
• Purpose-built step down flats
• Expanded therapy and clinical spaces
• A modern environment designed around patient experience, rehabilitation and independence

You will therefore be joining at a pivotal moment with the opportunity to take an existing service with strong foundations and lead its evolution into something genuinely exceptional.

Where you'll be working:

Location: Woodlands Neurological Rehabilitation Centre

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Contract: Permanent, including on-call duties

What you'll be doing:

As Service Director, you will:

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for Woodlands Neurological Rehabilitation Centre.
• Lead the service through its transformation and development journey towards CQC hospital registration.
• Ensure the highest standards of clinical quality, patient safety, governance and regulatory compliance.
• Develop and embed robust quality assurance and outcome measurement frameworks.
• Lead continuous improvement across clinical pathways, operational processes and patient experience.
• Oversee complex neurorehabilitation pathways, including specialist spinal care and tracheostomy services.
• Build strong relationships with clinicians, commissioners, ICBs, insurers, case managers, solicitors and other key stakeholders.
• Develop and grow Woodlands' private inpatient and outpatient proposition.
• Strengthen referral pathways and build new commercial and professional relationships.
• Lead, inspire and develop a highly skilled multidisciplinary team.
• Work collaboratively with clinical and business leadership to create a culture of accountability, innovation and excellence.
• Help shape the future estate strategy, including the design and development of the proposed purpose-built extension.
• Ensure that the physical environment supports modern rehabilitation, patient independence and an outstanding patient experience.
• Champion innovation, digital technology and assistive technology to improve patient outcomes.
• Create a culture where people are proud to work, patients feel empowered and excellence is the expectation.

Why this opportunity is different

There are very few opportunities where an experienced private hospital leader can combine operational leadership, regulatory transformation, service development and capital development within one role.

At Woodlands, you will have the opportunity to:

• Take an existing service and transform it.
• Help lead its journey towards hospital registration.
• Shape the future clinical and commercial strategy.
• Influence the design of a new purpose-built healthcare environment.
• Build and develop a high-performing leadership culture.

And ultimately, leave a lasting legacy in a service that will make a difference to patients and their families for years to come.

What we would like from you:

This is a senior leadership appointment and we are looking for someone who has operated at CEO, COO, Registered Manager or Nominated Individual level within a private hospital environment.

You will bring a strong understanding of the demands of leading a regulated healthcare organisation, together with the commercial, operational and strategic capability required to grow and transform a service.

We are particularly interested in hearing from individuals who have:

• Held a senior executive leadership role within a private acute hospital, ideally as a COO, CEO or equivalent.
• Experience as a CQC Registered Manager and/or Nominated Individual.
• A strong track record of leading complex healthcare operations and delivering measurable improvements in quality, safety and performance.
• Experience of working within, or leading towards, CQC registration or significant regulatory change.
• A sophisticated understanding of clinical governance, quality assurance, risk management and patient safety.
• Successfully led multidisciplinary teams in complex healthcare environments.
• Experience of developing and growing private healthcare services, including relationships with insurers, case managers, solicitors and other referrers.
• Strong commercial awareness, with the ability to balance exceptional patient outcomes with sustainable service growth.
• Experience of working collaboratively with estates, capital development and other stakeholders to improve or develop healthcare environments.
• The vision, credibility and leadership presence to inspire clinicians, operational teams and external stakeholders around a shared ambition.

Most importantly, you will be a transformational leader.

Someone who sees possibility rather than simply maintaining the status quo.

Someone who can walk into an established service, understand what makes it special, identify what needs to change and then bring people with them on the journey.

What to look forward to:

• 25 days plus bank holidays
• Birthday off
• Join the Benefits Hub and benefit from a wide range of e learning and face to face training and development opportunities
• Active Reward App giving discounts and savings on your weekly shop
• Free 24 hour confidential Employee Assistance Programme Helpline & App to support with legal, health, wellbeing, relationship and consumer advice
• A Nest Personal Pension account
• Access to join a Medicash Health Plan for you and your family to save money on everyday health essentials – like going to the dentist or opticians
• We recognise outstanding Active Behaviours via the Active Awards programme
• Enhanced Sick & Maternity Pay benefits
• Refer a Friend Scheme and earn yourself up to £1500 by recommending someone you know
• ……and, of course, the support and guidance of our qualified clinical and business leadership teams so that you can really develop your career with Active Care Group

Take a look around the company https://activecaregroup.co.uk/