Job Title

Head of Long Term Services West The closing date is 04 January 2026 Are you an experienced NHS leader ready to shape the future of adult community nursing services? Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a dynamic Head of Service to lead our Adults Long Term Services across ten Primary Care Network areas in West Kent. This pivotal role offers the opportunity to drive strategic service development, ensure highquality care delivery, and champion clinical excellence. You'll work closely with the Assistant Director to define service strategy, oversee performance, and empower teams to deliver transformative care. As part of our senior leadership team, you'll collaborate with partners across health and social care, including Primary Care, Acute Trusts, Hospices, and Social Services. If you're passionate about improving patient outcomes, fostering innovation, and leading with compassion, we'd love to hear from you. Main duties of the job As Head of Service, you'll be responsible for the operational and strategic leadership of Community Nursing Services. You'll manage performance, quality, workforce planning, and financial control, ensuring services meet national standards. Key responsibilities include leading service transformation, managing Operational Managers, overseeing clinical governance, and driving quality improvement. You'll analyse complex data, develop strategic plans, and represent the locality at quality and performance meetings. The role also involves contributing to policy development, managing budgets, and supporting staff development. You'll deputise for the Assistant Director and play a key role in shaping the future of community care in Kent. Additional Working Pattern: 30 hours per week over 4 days Monday to Friday, plus requirement to be part of the On Call manager rota which would involve weekends and out of hours. About us Rated outstanding by the CQC, were passionate about delivering high standards of patient care and excellent services to improve the health of our communities. We value being compassionate, aspirational, responsive and excellent. We are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, which leads to better patient care and a happier workforce. We pride ourselves in being diverse and welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. As part of our commitment, we ask for information about your protected characteristics on our application forms. This information is not disclosed to anyone involved with shortlisting or interviewing you, except where you choose to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme due to disability. Shortlisters will see two ticks alongside your application to ensure the principles of the scheme are applied to your submission. The data we collect helps us ensure we are attracting diversity in our applicants, that all our colleagues have equitable access to career opportunities and supports us on our journey to being a Great Place to Work. As a flexibleworking friendly organisation, we want you to be able to work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Talk to us about a flexible working arrangement that suits us both. Well support you to work flexibly in a way that will suit us both. See where you can go with KCHFT career pathways. Job responsibilities As a community Trust, many of our roles require individuals to drive to perform their duties. Therefore you will be asked to confirm you have a full UK driving licence where driving is a requirement of the role, to proceed with your application. We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities into employment. If you are unable to drive due to a disability, please contact the Recruitment Team via [email protected] quoting the vacancy reference number so we can support you further. The job description and person specification give you all the information you need about this role. Please review the criteria in the person specification and describe what you have done that shows you meet these in your application. If you need an application form in an alternative format, please let our recruitment team know. All information supplied on your application should, to the best of your knowledge, be true and accurate. Still have questions? The recruiting manager would love to hear from you; their contact details can be found in the job advert. We receive many applications for some roles, so to give yourself the best chance of being shortlisted, please apply as soon as possible. A vacancy may close early if there is a lot of interest in the job. At KCHFT we strongly encourage colleagues in clinical and nonclinical roles who have direct or social contact with patients to be fully vaccinated. This helps ensure your safety, and that of your colleagues and the patients we serve. Find out more about the community difference here. Good luck! We cant wait to meet you and welcome you to #teamKCHFT, #cometocommunity. It is important to us that all our staff are aligned to our Values and, in particular, the behaviours we expect from KCHFT managers. As part of the selection process for this position, you will be asked to complete two additional activities in addition to the competencybased interview. You will be invited to participate if successfully shortlisted. The provisional date of the selection event is 26th November 2025, though this may be subject to change. Person Specification Qualifications - Registered Healthcare Professional; Registered nurse - Evidence of Management Qualification or relevant experience - Full UK/EU driving licence - Masters degree level qualification or equivalent experience relevant to management and leadership Experience - Leading and implementing change management and expertise - Experience at Senior Management level within the NHS - Management of budgetsSuccessfully leading and motivating staff - Extensive clinical governance, patient safety and quality improvement experience - Evidence of applying national policy locally and involvement in effective strategic planning and development - Strong understanding of health services infrastructure and its relationship to partner organisations - Experience of effective partnership working across the health and social care platform - Experience of remodelling and restructuring services within the NHS Knowledge - Knowledge of how to effectively lead and motivate people particularly in relation to change and improving the patient experience. - Broad knowledge of the complex key local, regional and national policy - Context and strategies relating to patient safety, quality improvement and clinical governance - Knowledge of the principles of citizen engagement in clinical governance and improving the quality of clinical services - Knowledge of current drivers for quality and clinical governance Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975. A submission for Disclosure to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly CRB) is required to check for any previous criminal convictions. Employer name Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust 64,455 to 74,896 a year pro rata per annum #J-18808-Ljbffr