About the Role
The Senior Business Manager will provide strategic and operational leadership across two DMC Primary Care GP practices, supporting service growth, strong governance, financial performance, and patient-centred care. This role requires a commercially minded primary care leader with strong NHS relationships, current market knowledge, and the ability to deliver rapid improvements through effective people leadership, technology, AI, and data-led decision-making.
Responsibilities
- Provide senior oversight of day-to-day operations across both GP practices, ensuring efficient, responsive, and safe service delivery.
- Develop and implement business plans that support growth, performance improvement, and long-term sustainability.
- Strengthen relationships across the local and wider NHS, including PCNs, commissioners, ICBs, and other healthcare stakeholders.
- Improve reputation, governance, and CQC readiness, with a focus on achieving outstanding patient care and service quality.
- Use data, digital tools, and AI-enabled approaches to support quick decision-making, performance improvement, and cost-effective service delivery.
- Identify and maximise income opportunities, including capital and revenue funding, enhanced services, and appropriate contractual opportunities.
Requirements
- Proven senior leadership or management experience within NHS Primary Care, general practice, PCNs, or a comparable healthcare environment.
- Strong and current understanding of the Primary Care marketplace, NHS policy direction, government strategy, and local healthcare priorities.
- Demonstrable experience managing practice operations, staff, budgets, performance, and service improvement.
- Established relationships or proven ability to build effective working relationships across the local and wider NHS.
- Experience supporting CQC compliance, governance, quality improvement, and inspection readiness.
- Strong financial acumen, with experience in budgeting, income maximisation, contract management, and cost control.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and stakeholder management skills.
- Strong IT capability and confidence using data to monitor performance, identify issues, and drive improvement.
- Management, HR, leadership, business, or healthcare management qualification (desirable).
- Experience managing more than one GP practice or working within a group primary care structure (desirable).
- Experience working collaboratively with Primary Care Networks and wider system partners (desirable).
- Experience securing or supporting NHS funding, service development, capital investment, or new revenue streams (desirable).
- Experience improving CQC outcomes or leading preparation for CQC inspection (desirable).
- Working knowledge of EMIS Web, SystmOne, or equivalent clinical systems (desirable).
- Confident user of clinical, operational, and reporting systems, ideally including EMIS Web, SystmOne, or similar primary care platforms (desirable).
- Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office and the ability to interpret performance, workforce, finance, and patient access data (desirable).
- Understanding of how AI, automation, and data-led reporting can support rapid decisions, operational improvements, and efficiency (desirable).
- Current knowledge of NHS Primary Care, GP practice operations, PCNs, commissioning, and the wider healthcare landscape (desirable).
- Understanding of CQC standards, registration requirements, governance, safeguarding, health and safety, SHEF, and data security (desirable).
- Knowledge of NHS contractual requirements, performance targets, enhanced services, and funding opportunities (desirable).
- Ability to assess complex operational issues quickly and make clear, evidence-based decisions.
- Ability to lead teams through change, difficult situations, and competing priorities.
- Strong commercial judgement, balanced with a clear commitment to patient-centred care and service quality.
- Ability to map and improve patient journeys, reduce friction, and improve access, communication, and experience.
- Significant experience in NHS Primary Care, general practice, PCNs, or a similar healthcare environment.
- Experience working with NHS stakeholders, commissioners, ICBs, PCNs, or equivalent partners.
- Operational management of GP practice services, including appointment systems, patient access, workforce planning, rotas, and service performance.
- Financial and commercial management, including budgets, payroll oversight, income generation, contract management, and cost improvement.
- Governance, compliance, patient feedback, complaints, risk management, and service improvement.
- Experience leading clinical, administrative, and operational teams.
- Experience managing recruitment, onboarding, training, performance management, and staff development.
- Experience leading change, restructuring, or service transformation in a complex healthcare setting.
Skills
- Strategic judgement
- Hands-on operational delivery
- Resilience
- Organisation
- Commercial awareness
- Change leadership
- Patient care focus
- Service quality focus
- Communication
- Negotiation
- Problem-solving
- Stakeholder management
- IT capability
- Data analysis
- Financial acumen
- Budget management
- Income maximisation
- Contract management
- Cost control
- NHS relationships
- Market knowledge
- People leadership
- Technology adoption
- AI adoption
- Data-led decision-making
- CQC compliance
- Governance
- Quality improvement
- Inspection readiness
- Microsoft Office proficiency
Location
- DMC Chadwick Road Surgery, SE15 4PU
Work Type
- Permanent
- Full Time
Experience Level
- Senior
Education Level
- Management, HR, leadership, business or healthcare management qualification (desirable)
Salary/Compensations
- £60,000 - £65,000 / year
Benefits
- 25 days of annual leave, in addition to bank holidays (increasing with length of service)
- Access to NHS Discount Scheme
- A collaborative and inclusive team culture across clinical and technical functions
