Service Group Director - Mental Health and Learning Disabilities inTaunton inTaunton PUBLISHED WED 22 JAN 2025

Location: Somerset, UK

Salary: Band 9 (£105,385 to £121,271 per annum)

Contract: Full-time, Permanent

Do you have the vision and drive to lead a dedicated service in delivering exceptional care to patients requiring Mental Health and Learning Disabilities support across the county of Somerset?

If so, we invite you to join Somerset NHS Foundation Trust as our new Service Group Director for Mental Health and Learning Disabilities.

The Role

As the Service Group Director, you will play a pivotal role in leading the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities service group. You will be responsible for ensuring high standards of clinical and non-clinical performance, governance, quality, and financial management. Your leadership will drive the strategic and operational goals of the service group, promoting a culture that reflects our trust's values.

Our population in Somerset is changing, as are we as an organisation. We are proud to be an increasingly diverse, international, and outward-looking trust with a strong commitment to equalities, diversity, and inclusion. In line with this, we welcome applications from candidates who have experience of managing diverse teams within diverse communities.

If you're passionate about making a difference and have the skills and experience we're looking for, we'd love to hear from you.

This is a hybrid role however there will be an expectation for you to work across the County.

Main Duties of the Role

• Leadership and Strategy: Develop and implement long-term strategic plans and establish clear goals for the service group.
• Management and Accountability: Oversee clinical/non-clinical performance, governance, quality, financial management, and human resources.
• Culture and Transformation: Promote a culture of care aligned with trust values and lead significant transformation efforts with system partners.
• Patient and Stakeholder Engagement: Ensure the voices of patients and their families are incorporated into service delivery and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders.
• Financial Management: Manage the budget, ensuring financial accountability and sustainability, and lead cost improvement plans.
• Team Development: Recruit, support, and develop colleagues to meet service needs and promote a culture of inclusiveness and collaboration.

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is a former HSJ Mental Health Trust of the Year, recognised for the quality of our services and our ground-breaking work in partnership with the voluntary sector through our Open Mental Health programme.

We have a relocation package available if you're looking to make the move to Somerset, and we'll support you with advice on location/area.

About us

About You

We're looking for an experienced leader with a track record of success in a similar role. You'll have:

• A master's level education or equivalent experience with a postgraduate qualification in health service management or equivalent.
• Senior operational management experience in a complex organisation.
• In-depth knowledge of current legislation for mental health and learning disabilities.
• Proven strategic planning and execution skills.
• Strong financial management abilities.
• Demonstrable experience of managing challenging and high-risk operational situations in NHS mental health services, with a strong understanding of the importance of multi-disciplinary working and care planning processes.
• Previous experience of transforming services whilst maintaining strong financial control.
• Previous experience of working with Experts by Experience and a robust understanding of the application of co-production.
• Demonstrated success in quality and safety improvement initiatives.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
• Exceptional leadership and team development capabilities.

Desirable:

• Experience of leading diverse teams to effectively serve diverse communities within the context of improving health inequalities and access to mental healthcare.

Interview Process

The recruitment process will involve a two-stage interview process:

1.Pre-Screen Interview: Conducted by the recruitment team to assess applicants' suitability and ensure alignment of expectations. This will be combined with a Situational Judgement Test. Both activities will take place on Monday 24th February 2025, at your choice of two locations: Taunton or Bristol.

2.Formal Interview Day: For shortlisted applicants, a formal interview day will be held in Taunton on Monday 24th March 2025.

Contact Information

If you would like more information about the role, please contact Emma Eggbeer, Talent Acquisition Specialist via email at to set up a call.

The recruitment process for this role is supported by Artificial Intelligence (AI). If you would like more information, please contact