Project Improvement Manager

Job description

Job overview

An opportunity has arisen in the West Midlands Cancer Alliance for a Project Improvement Manager to join this dynamic, high profile and busy team on a permanent basis to provide professional expertise to lead and enable delivery of the West Midlands Cancer Alliance Delivery Plan; overseeing projects that contribute to operational performance and quality improvement that result in improved outcomes for patients.

We are seeking individuals with a strong operational and quality improvement background in the NHS and preferably cancer services.

Main duties of the job

Key responsibilities include:

- Managing projects aligned to the Cancer Alliance Delivery Plan, providing leadership to ensure delivery.

- Monitoring progress and reporting within agreed timescales.

- Managing effective relationships with a range of stakeholders, with a particular focus on Providers.

- Engaging with clinical and operational teams to understand the case for change, supporting the development and delivery of action plans.

Working for our organisation

There are approximately 2 million people in the UK living with or affected by cancer, and there are over 360,000 new diagnoses every year. Are you a Project Improvement Manager focussed on improving operational performance and quality on cancer pathways? Do you want to engage with teams working in Providers across the Midlands to improve outcomes and the lives of people with cancer? Working as part of the national NHS Cancer Programme, that's exactly what you'll do.

The West Midlands Cancer Alliance (WMCA) serves a population of 6.5 million, incorporates 15 Providers Trusts across a varied geography who work in partnership to achieve improve early and faster diagnosis and overall outcomes for those diagnosed and living with and beyond cancer, ensuring that we address inequalities, reduce variation and enhance patient access and experience.

This is a really exciting time to be joining an exceptional team with the ambition to be the best in the country. We are looking for applicants with passion, enthusiasm and drive to improve services for all of our population.

The West Midlands Cancer Alliance team is hosted at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust whilst working across the wider West Midlands footprint. This role requires regular travel visiting provider organisations across the Midlands and attending team corporate days in central Birmingham. Ability to travel across the West Midlands is a key requirement of this job.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Key Functional Responsibilities
Project Management

• Project management and day to day running of one or more large projects, applying a standard methodology consistent across the WMCA transformation programme.
• To monitor progress of the projects against agreed plans, facilitating the production of monthly reporting.
• Contribute to performance improvement, taking a lead for identified areas.
• Provide coordination of and participate in relevant working groups and provide project advice, expertise and support where requested.
• Provide relevant and timely specialist advice and guidance on own portfolio.
• Work with members of the Team to investigate the causes of any variance from plan and proactively contribute to the implementation of solutions.
• Management of a risk and issues tracking mechanism and the resolution and escalation processes.

Financial and Physical Resources

• Provide regular reporting on the targeting of resources and monitoring their implementation from a value for money perspective.
• Provide oversight and monitoring of all aspects of Team budgets.
• Ensure project expenditure is monitored accordingly

People Management

• Participate in the coordination of training, development and recruitment activity across the Team.
• Manage staff, undertaking appraisal

Information Management

• Devise and provide improvements to current management information, analysing, reporting and suggesting procedures to enhance decision making processes.
• Ensure timely and accurate information analysis and reporting to management on agreed areas of work.

Research and Development

• Contribute to the development of key performance indicators.
• Delegate aspects of research and development activities, collating information, analysing and reporting findings.

Planning and Organisation

• Contribute to the strategic planning of team projects, identifying interdependencies, and potential impacts on wider organisation, resource requirements and building in contingency and adjustments
  as necessary.
• Contribute to short, medium and long term business plans.
  Policy and Service Development
• Develop policies and procedures in own work function with an impact on the wider organisation, as required.
• Contribute to the development of an integrated approach to service management.

Key Working Relationships

• The post holder will be required to maintain constructive relationships with a broad range of stakeholders.
• Participate in relevant working groups/projects, services and initiatives to provide, information and analytical advice and expertise.
• Develop and implement data collection systems that will provide accurate and timely data.
• Present information and issues, explaining highly complex issues, to a wide range of stakeholders.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to post-graduate degree level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification or significant experience of working at a similar level in specialist area.
• Further training or significant experience in project management, financial management or supporting change management processes.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience in NHS operational services
• Must have a demonstrable understanding of the National Cancer Programme and the NHS Long Term Plan• Must have a demonstrable understanding of the National Cancer Programme and the NHS Long Term Plan
• Demonstrated experience of co-ordinating projects in complex and challenging environments
• Ability to facilitate and encourage collaborative working to improve services where there may be resistance to change
• Ability to analyse complex data and drawn from multiple sources
• Clear communicator with excellent written and presentation skills; capable of constructing and delivering clear ideas and concepts concisely and accurately to a diverse and varied range of audiences consisting of internal and external stakeholders

Flexible Working - As a major employer in the Black Country and West Birmingham region we are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance. We want the Black Country and West Birmingham region to be the best place to work and as such will consider all requests to work flexibly taking into account personal and individual circumstances alongside 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.

Qualifications - Please be advised that if the post that you are applying for requires any level of qualification (e.g. A-Levels, Degree etc) or Professional Registration (e.g. Nursing and Midwifery Council, General Medical Council etc) you will be required to provide proof as part of the pre-employment process. By submitting your application you are giving the Trust permission to check the qualification certificates provided back to the source provider. Please note that a sample of all applicant's qualifications will be checked with the educational institution or provider. Furthermore, a sample of all applicants' qualifications will be checked back to the educational institution or provider to interview letters to further deter fraud.

Visa/Sponsorship Information

In line with UKVI requirements, the Trust is unable to sponsor any applicants for Skilled Woker Visas who do not meet the minimum eligibility requirements including applicable salary thresholds and concessions. Before applying, please ensure that you have the right to work in the UK, or that the role is eligible for sponsorship. For more information, please visit: