Associate Director Acute and Specialised Care

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Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB (104) Associate Director Acute and Specialised Care

The closing date is 15 November 2026

Apply for this job

Job summary

Please note this organisation does not hold a sponsorship licence, we regret to inform you that we are unable to consider applications from individuals who require sponsorship.

NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight is seeking an Associate Director of Acute Care to join our team and lead the strategic commissioning of Specialised, Regional and Supra-regional care.

Working across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the wider Wessex and South East region, the role is responsible for commissioning high-quality, person-centred services and making best use of health budgets to improve health and healthcare, both now and in the future.

If you bring senior level experience of commissioning, strategic planning and cross-organisational change, and highly developed recent specialist knowledge and expertise in commissioning specialised, regional, and supra-regional care, this is an outstanding opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of people across our region.

Main duties of the job

You will lead the design, planning, procurement, monitoring and evaluation of services, ensuring they align with population needs, reduce health inequalities and improve outcomes. This will include leading our commissioning strategy, market-shaping activity and contract management for areas such as delegated specialised commissioning, ambulance and patient transport services, and acute services such as cancer.

You will foster collaborative working within our system and region, strengthen relationships, ensure intelligence-led decision making and a strong focus on quality, innovation and value for money. This is a leadership role where your ideas, insight and influence will help build and shape the services of the future. You will also represent NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight regionally, ensuring our voice is heard, and solutions meet the need of the population we serve.

Along with extensive specialist knowledge and experience, you will have experience of analysing highly complex data, insight and intelligence and managing successful programmes, together with excellent political awareness and wide ranging communication skills, and the ability to negotiate and influence others over difficult and controversial issues.

About us

NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) is one of the largest Integrated Care Boards in England, serving a population of over 2 million people. Working alongside our NHS providers, local authorities, voluntary sector organisations and wider partners, we are committed to improving health outcomes, tackling inequalities and delivering sustainable, high-quality health and care services. We are committed to creating the best place to work, where your contribution is valued, and all our colleagues can reach their full potential. We offer competitive benefits, flexible working, and a positive team atmosphere.

Details

Date posted

04 November 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8c

Salary

£79,504 to £91,609 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

104-ICB-6488TG

Job locations

Omega House

112 Southampton Road

Eastleigh

SO50 5PB

United Kingdom

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see the job description and person specification for more details. If you think this role is for you, please contact Emma Lewis, Deputy Director of Acute and Specialised Care on [email protected]

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please see the job description and person specification for more details. If you think this role is for you, please contact Emma Lewis, Deputy Director of Acute and Specialised Care on [email protected]

Person Specification

Qualifications and experience

Essential

• Educated to Masters level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification or equivalent experience in a specialist commissioning or service management capacity.
• Programme/ project management qualification and/or management qualification, or equivalent level of experience
• Demonstrable senior management experience
• Significant experience of strategic commissioning, and of designing and procuring healthcare services to deliver improved patient outcomes within financial envelopes
• Extensive experience of developing complex budgets and business plans involving a range of separate funding streams, organisations, and policies / processes
• Significant experience of developing and implementing programmes to redesign and improve acute and specialised care services and pathways, deliver new ways of working and strategic priorities, in a complex, multi-agency environment
• Experience of staff management (preferably within a complex, multi funding stream environment)
• Experience of managing and motivating a team and managing performance of individuals
• Experience of policy development and implementation in specialist areas

Skills and abilities

Essential

• Evidence of conceptualising, planning and successfully delivering large programmes, projects, and service changes on time and to budget
• Demonstrated ability to make judgements and decisions on a range of highly complex commissioning and other issues
• Adaptability, flexibility, and ability to cope with uncertainty and change
• Completer / finisher with a high level of attention to detail
• Plans and organises a broad range of complex activities, formulating and adjusting plans to reflect changing circumstances.
• Ability to prioritise own work and those of the team and able to direct activities of others
• Ability to act autonomously running a complex portfolio of programmes on a day-to-day basis, and to make decisions autonomously on difficult issues
• Ability to enthuse and motivate others.
• Attention to detail and accuracy.
• Adaptability, flexibility, and ability to cope with uncertainty and change
• Ability to manage disciplinary procedures as required, to manage poor performance and conduct
• Ability to inform, develop and significantly contribute to the development of corporate policies and strategies and ensure compliance within own area

Knowledge

Essential

• Extensive specialist knowledge of NHS services including acute and specialised care services
• Extensive understanding of current health service policy and national initiatives for strategic commissioning and service development
• Expert level knowledge and experience of a wide range of complex funding streams across both health and social care economies
• Highly developed specialist knowledge of commissioning and acute and specialised care services, with strong working knowledge of related disciplines including procurement, service redesign, performance management and workforce management.
• Deep knowledge of issues affecting diversity, inclusion and health inequalities in healthcare

Communication and interpersonal skills

Essential

• Highly developed, wide ranging communication skills, developed through significant experience
• Excellent presentational skills, able to convey complex concepts, often required to prepare executive level briefs at short notice
• Significant evidence of being able to develop strong and constructive relationships with clinical leads, Executives or equivalent stakeholders
• Ability to use informed persuasion to influence others including board and senior managers of the respective merits of different options, innovation, and market opportunities
• Extensive experience of negotiating over difficult and controversial issues including performance, strategic change, and complex integration
• Ability to provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive and highly contentious information, and presenting this to large and influential groups, often in a highly emotive atmosphere
• Ability to communicate effectively in a sometimes hostile and antagonistic atmosphere where there may be opposing views and motivations
• Ability to manage direct/ indirect exposure to distressing or emotional circumstances
• Ability to sensitively impart unwelcome news to stakeholders, which may be challenged, and respond positively to those challenges
• Confident in dealing with leading opinions that may conflict
• Assertive in dealing with antagonistic or aggressive behaviour
• Ability to act as subject matter expert and provide specialist, accurate and insightful advice, information and guidance on acute and specialised care
• Significant experience of writing and presenting high quality, concise and insightful reports, briefings and other materials, tailoring content to a wide range of audiences including public, patients, clinicians, staff and senior managers/ Boards

Analytical and problem solving skills

Essential

• Experience of segmenting, stratifying and interrogating highly complex data, intelligence and insight from multiple sources
• Enhanced ability to identify risks, anticipate issues and create solutions and to resolve problems autonomously, knowing when to escalate
• Ability to comprehensively understand a broad range of complex information quickly and making decisions where opinions differ / no obvious solution exists
• Strong analytical skills and ability to apply sound judgement
• 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 multiple courses of action
• Experience of delivering expert analysis and interpretation of data and situations to identify risk and opportunity, make decisions and direct resources
• Experience of leading reviews of services including performance, quality and productivity/ cost across a range of healthcare providers

Person Specification

Qualifications and experience

Essential

• Educated to Masters level in relevant subject or equivalent level qualification or equivalent experience in a specialist commissioning or service management capacity.
• Programme/ project management qualification and/or management qualification, or equivalent level of experience
• Demonstrable senior management experience
• Significant experience of strategic commissioning, and of designing and procuring healthcare services to deliver improved patient outcomes within financial envelopes
• Extensive experience of developing complex budgets and business plans involving a range of separate funding streams, organisations, and policies / processes
• Significant experience of developing and implementing programmes to redesign and improve acute and specialised care services and pathways, deliver new ways of working and strategic priorities, in a complex, multi-agency environment
• Experience of staff management (preferably within a complex, multi funding stream environment)
• Experience of managing and motivating a team and managing performance of individuals
• Experience of policy development and implementation in specialist areas

Skills and abilities

Essential

• Evidence of conceptualising, planning and successfully delivering large programmes, projects, and service changes on time and to budget
• Demonstrated ability to make judgements and decisions on a range of highly complex commissioning and other issues
• Adaptability, flexibility, and ability to cope with uncertainty and change
• Completer / finisher with a high level of attention to detail
• Plans and organises a broad range of complex activities, formulating and adjusting plans to reflect changing circumstances.
• Ability to prioritise own work and those of the team and able to direct activities of others
• Ability to act autonomously running a complex portfolio of programmes on a day-to-day basis, and to make decisions autonomously on difficult issues
• Ability to enthuse and motivate others.
• Attention to detail and accuracy.
• Adaptability, flexibility, and ability to cope with uncertainty and change
• Ability to manage disciplinary procedures as required, to manage poor performance and conduct
• Ability to inform, develop and significantly contribute to the development of corporate policies and strategies and ensure compliance within own area

Knowledge

Essential

• Extensive specialist knowledge of NHS services including acute and specialised care services
• Extensive understanding of current health service policy and national initiatives for strategic commissioning and service development
• Expert level knowledge and experience of a wide range of complex funding streams across both health and social care economies
• Highly developed specialist knowledge of commissioning and acute and specialised care services, with strong working knowledge of related disciplines including procurement, service redesign, performance management and workforce management.
• Deep knowledge of issues affecting diversity, inclusion and health inequalities in healthcare

Communication and interpersonal skills

Essential

• Highly developed, wide ranging communication skills, developed through significant experience
• Excellent presentational skills, able to convey complex concepts, often required to prepare executive level briefs at short notice
• Significant evidence of being able to develop strong and constructive relationships with clinical leads, Executives or equivalent stakeholders
• Ability to use informed persuasion to influence others including board and senior managers of the respective merits of different options, innovation, and market opportunities
• Extensive experience of negotiating over difficult and controversial issues including performance, strategic change, and complex integration
• Ability to provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive and highly contentious information, and presenting this to large and influential groups, often in a highly emotive atmosphere
• Ability to communicate effectively in a sometimes hostile and antagonistic atmosphere where there may be opposing views and motivations
• Ability to manage direct/ indirect exposure to distressing or emotional circumstances
• Ability to sensitively impart unwelcome news to stakeholders, which may be challenged, and respond positively to those challenges
• Confident in dealing with leading opinions that may conflict
• Assertive in dealing with antagonistic or aggressive behaviour
• Ability to act as subject matter expert and provide specialist, accurate and insightful advice, information and guidance on acute and specialised care
• Significant experience of writing and presenting high quality, concise and insightful reports, briefings and other materials, tailoring content to a wide range of audiences including public, patients, clinicians, staff and senior managers/ Boards

Analytical and problem solving skills

Essential

• Experience of segmenting, stratifying and interrogating highly complex data, intelligence and insight from multiple sources
• Enhanced ability to identify risks, anticipate issues and create solutions and to resolve problems autonomously, knowing when to escalate
• Ability to comprehensively understand a broad range of complex information quickly and making decisions where opinions differ / no obvious solution exists
• Strong analytical skills and ability to apply sound judgement
• 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 multiple courses of action
• Experience of delivering expert analysis and interpretation of data and situations to identify risk and opportunity, make decisions and direct resources
• Experience of leading reviews of services including performance, quality and productivity/ cost across a range of healthcare providers

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

Employer details

Employer name

Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB (104)

Address

Omega House

112 Southampton Road

Eastleigh

SO50 5PB

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.hantsiowhealthandcare.org.uk/icb (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB (104)

Address

Omega House

112 Southampton Road

Eastleigh

SO50 5PB

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.hantsiowhealthandcare.org.uk/icb (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Deputy Director of Acute & Specialised Care

Emma Lewis

[email protected]

Details

Date posted

04 November 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8c

Salary

£79,504 to £91,609 a year per annum

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

104-ICB-6488TG

Job locations

Omega House

112 Southampton Road

Eastleigh

SO50 5PB

United Kingdom

Supporting documents

Privacy notice

Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB (104)'s privacy notice (opens in a new tab)

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