About KSS AHSN

Kent Surrey Sussex AHSN (KSS AHSN) is one of 15 AHSNs set up by NHS England in 2013 and relicensed from April 2018 to operate as the key innovation arm of the NHS.    

Our work is all about “transforming lives through innovation”.  We aim to improve the health and wellbeing of all citizens within our communities and contribute to a vibrant local economy.

Covering an area with a population of 4.8 million people, and a health and social care workforce of over 200,000 people, we seek to understand the needs of our health system and be well placed to broker innovative solutions. We develop projects, programmes and initiatives that reflect the diversity of our region and healthcare challenges. 

KSS AHSN is commissioned by the Office for Life Sciences (OLS), NHS England and NHS Improvement to deliver a programme of work which underpins the acceleration, creation and adoption of health innovations. Our aim; to deliver improved outcomes for the population and generating economic growth, regionally and nationally with helping to enable companies/innovators to scale and create new jobs and investment.

About you and the role

We are seeking to appoint a dynamic Programme Manager, to support the work we deliver within both our Workforce and Wound Care programmes.

The role is offered on a full-time (37.5 hrs per week, basis). Initially, the appointment will be made on a Fixed Term Contract, for a period of 18 months, on KSS AHSN Terms. We will, however, consider applications for AfC secondments, at Band 8a. To be clear, KSS AHSN is not an AfC employer.

You will have excellent and proven project management skills and our ideal candidate will have a background of clinical experience, or significant interaction with clinicians and health and social care systems.

You may be seeking an opportunity to utilise your clinical expertise to guide and manage regional projects, which will make an impact, but more at a systems level.

More about the programmes of work....

Wound Care

The National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP), which is hosted by the AHSN Network, is an outcome-led programme commissioned by the nursing directorate of NHS England and Improvement in 2018. The NWCSP is addressing the unwarranted variation in wound care services to improve healing rates and reduce patient suffering, expenditure on ineffective treatments and the amount of clinical time spent on wound care.

Workforce

The Workforce programme was commissioned by NHSE in 2020/21 with a focus on productivity in projects centred on one or both of:

• Pathway redesign

• Innovation including digital, technology or AI

 The aim is that “As an AHSN Network we will work collaboratively to address the national workforce challenge by delivering evidence-based innovations that realise transformational benefits for the health and care workforce, both now and for the future".

Here’s a taste of what you’ll do:

• Create great working relationships with teams in organisations participating in the Wound Care and Workforce programmes. Building expertise, trust and commitment to the goals of the programmes.

• Map the local geographical footprint of ICSs (Integrated Care Systems) and provider organisation to identify potential Lower Limb Test and Evaluation Sites (LL TES(s)).

• Recruit one or more initial LL TES(s) per implementation/service footprint (e.g. ICS) and provide them with dedicated project management and facilitation support.

• Provide robust and pragmatic programme management to the KSS AHSN Workforce programme.

• Work closely with diverse teams across the KSS AHSN Programme Delivery Professional Group, to identify workforce metrics and outcomes and develop case studies that demonstrate the impact of innovation on the workforce.

• Identify, develop and deliver a range of impactful workforce-themed programmes, including those defined and initiated by KSS AHSN as well as those identified as priorities by ICSs and organisations across KSS.

• Work closely with our Technology Navigation and Industry engagement teams, to articulate system needs that can be addressed by available products or interventions.

• Make the most of links between clinical teams, industry and academia wherever it aides the delivery of project and programme goals.

• Contribute to the production of and input to informal (monthly) and formal (quarterly) performance reports.

• Maintain oversight of programme budgets and where appropriate, processing expenditure and liaising between the programme team and management teams.

• Build strong relationships with other AHSNs across England and contribute to the success of the national AHSN Network.

• Represent KSS AHSN at the appropriate local, regional, and national Wound Care and Workforce programme forums.

• Work closely with commissioners of our programmes to underpin the implementation of AHSN objectives.

• Make a contribution to sales and the sales pipeline through projects and programmes to generate income for KSS AHSN to ensure long-term sustainability.

** It is strongly advised that you review the substantive Programme Manager JDPS, which includes a summary of the specific responsibilities and duties of the vacant role (at Appendix A) **

Your skills and expertise

You'll be the right person for this job if:

• You're passionate about solving problems, no matter if they're big or small; and have a strong mindset of getting things done.

• You actively identify opportunities, deliver improvements, and proactively implement and follow project/programme management methodologies and processes.

• You are great at managing expectations, ensuring delivery of the highest quality service, and soliciting and acting on stakeholder feedback.

• You have great communication skills (verbal and written), especially when it comes to communicating and documenting programme statuses and recommendations to stakeholders and team members.

Key terms and benefits

You'll benefit from:

• A competitive salary, with full-time hours of work at 37.5 hrs per week, excluding lunch breaks.

• A starting rate of 33 days annual leave (pro-rata ), rising to 35 days after five years.

• We offer flexible working and flexible working hours.

• The company currently offers a tax-efficient salary sacrifice scheme with any registered pension scheme, as specified by the employee.

• A workplace pension scheme is also offered to AHSN staff and if you meet the criteria, you will be automatically enrolled into the AHSN pension scheme when you join the organisation at month 1. 

• KSS AHSN values the health and wellbeing of its staff.   We pride ourselves in maintaining this organisational value and encourage a healthy work/life balance for our entire workforce. 

Further details can be found in our key terms of employment.

Next steps

All you need to do is start the process by clicking on the blue button on the top right.

You’ll answer some questions that are related to your day-to-day job. After the job closes, your answers will go through our sift process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers.

If you are shortlisted, we’ll invite you to the next step, which will be a first formal interview, conducted remotely, via Teams. Again, if shortlisted, there will be a second interview stage, which we hope to conduct at our offices in Gatwick/Crawley.

We love giving feedback, so at the end of the application process we will share how well you performed.

The closing date of this recruitment is Monday 11th April 2022 (at 23:59 hrs).

We expect to be inviting successfully shortlisted applicants to first stage (remote) interviews in late April / early May.

Values and behaviours

Our values and behaviours are important to us.  We have developed a clear vision for the direction of the company.  In conjunction with our staff, we have developed a values and behaviours framework, in order to underpin our vision, applicants and employees will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to these values and behaviours, which will be assessed through the recruitment, selection and appraisal processes.

Diversity and Equal Opportunities

We are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.

Along with all 15 AHSN’s in the AHSN Network, we are signed up to a series of pledges to further underpin our diversity and innovation agenda.

** STRICTLY NO AGENCIES.  THANK YOU **

For further information on how we treat your personal data, we strongly urge you to review our General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Privacy notice for job applicants which can also be found at the KSS AHSN website.