About this role
Job summary
The Key Medical Practice is at the heart of the Kidlington community, delivering accessible, high-quality primary care to local patients and families. As part of PML's portfolio of practices, it benefits from the support, governance, and shared expertise of a wider federation while maintaining the continuity and personalised care central to general practice.
The practice provides a full range of primary care services, including routine and urgent appointments, chronic disease management, and preventative healthcare. Working alongside operational managers and senior leaders, the team ensures the effective delivery of patient care, appointment coordination, clinical records management, and service performance, while maintaining compliance with NHS standards and regulatory requirements.
The Service Manager provides strategic leadership across the practice, ensuring services are high performing, resilient, and aligned with organisational priorities. The role is responsible for shaping service strategy, influencing senior decision-making, driving operational excellence, leading service improvement and transformation, and ensuring the delivery of safe, compliant, patient-centred care.
Main duties of the job
Strategic Leadership & Influence
Develops long-term strategies aligned with organisational priorities, advising senior leaders on strategic direction, risks, and opportunities while influencing policy, planning, and investment.
Service Delivery Oversight
Accountable for service performance, quality, resilience, and financial sustainability, leading operational improvement, resource planning, and responses to high-risk incidents.
Policy, Standards & Governance
Develops and implements policies, governance frameworks, and performance measures, ensuring compliance and providing assurance on service integrity and organisational readiness.
Innovation & Continuous Improvement
Leads service transformation, embedding innovation, continuous improvement, and a culture of learning to enhance quality and efficiency.
Stakeholder Management & Communication
Builds effective relationships with senior stakeholders, communicates complex issues clearly, and represents the organisation at strategic forums.
Leadership of People & Teams
Leads and develops managers and teams through workforce planning, succession, change management, and the promotion of an inclusive, high-performing culture.
Risk Management & Assurance
Identifies and manages strategic risks, ensuring effective mitigation, regulatory compliance, business continuity, audit readiness, and organisational resilience.
About us
The Key Medical Practice is owned and operated by Principal Medical Limited (PML), which works in partnership with the NHS to deliver primary care services in GP practices and community settings.
Founded in 2004 as a not-for-profit organisation by local GPs, PML was established to enable healthcare professionals to develop and deliver innovative services at scale. Today, 70% of GP practices in Oxfordshire and 22% in Northamptonshire are associated with the Federation.
PML is the largest GP Federation in Oxfordshire and South Northamptonshire, serving nearly 800,000 patients. We believe local providers are best placed to deliver high-quality, cost-effective care that meets community needs.
With over 20 years of experience, PML has a strong track record of delivering NHS, ICB and Public Health services. Our work is guided by five core values: being Compassionate, Competent, Courteous, Collaborative and Committed. We welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds and those with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.
Job description Job responsibilities
Role Accountabilities
Strategic Leadership & Influence
Leads the development of long-term service strategies, ensuring alignment with organisationalvision, priorities, and wider corporate plans.
Acts as a trusted adviser to directors, executives, and senior stakeholders, providing expertinsight, risk intelligence, and high-level interpretation of complex operational and sectordevelopments.
Anticipates future challenges and opportunities, shaping the strategic direction of services toensure they remain modern, sustainable, and customer-centric.
Influences company-wide policy, planning, and investment decisions through evidence-basedrecommendations and authoritative guidance.
Service Delivery Oversight
Holds end-to-end accountability for the performance, quality, and resilience of services withintheir service area, ensuring they meet agreed standards and regulatory obligations.
Provides leadership and direction during high-risk or high-impact incidents, applying advancedproblem-solving, judgement, and decision-making.
Oversees and optimises operational processes, ensuring they are efficient, well-governed,measurable, and continuously improved.
Ensures services are financially sustainable, delivering value for money and supportingeffective budgeting, forecasting, and resource planning.
Policy, Standards & Governance
Leads the development, implementation, and ongoing refinement of service policies,standards, governance frameworks, and performance measures.
Ensures consistent organisational compliance with policies and standards, taking ownershipof corrective actions and driving continuous adherence.
Provides assurance to senior leaders on service integrity, governance maturity, andorganisational readiness.
Innovation & Continuous Improvement
Leads innovative ways of working, identifying and implementing new approaches, tools, technologies, and methodologies to improve service quality and efficiency.
Leads service transformation programmes, ensuring successful delivery, stakeholderadoption, and long-term embedding of change.
Foster a culture of learning, excellence, and continuous improvement across teams.
Stakeholder Management & Communication
Develops influential relationships with directors, executives, senior stakeholders, customers,and cross-functional teams to support effective decision-making and collaboration.
Communicates complex operational or technical concepts in a clear, strategic, andmeaningful way tailored to senior audiences.
Represents the service area at internal and external boards, committees, and strategicforums, promoting organisational priorities and service excellence.
Leadership of People & Teams
Provides inspirational leadership to managers, team leads, and specialist professionals,setting high expectations and enabling delivery of quality outcomes.
Leads workforce planning, talent development, and succession planning to build futurecapability and organisational resilience.
Models and embeds a positive, inclusive, high-performance culture aligned withorganisational values and behaviours.
Oversees change management and supports teams through transformation.
Risk Management & Assurance
Leads the identification, assessment, and strategic management of complex, high-level risksacross the service area.
Ensures robust risk mitigation, incident response, and escalation frameworks are in place andconsistently applied.
Provides assurance on regulatory compliance, service resilience, business continuity, andaudit readiness.
Proactively identifies systemic risks and implements preventative measures.
Primary Care Service Performance
Ensure primary care services consistently achieve contractual, clinical, operational, and quality performance standards across all managed locations.
Workforce and Resource Management
Lead the effective deployment of staffing, premises, and operational resources to maintain safe, efficient, and patient-focused service delivery.
Service Improvement and Transformation
Drive operational improvement initiatives and support the implementation of new models of care, ensuring sustainable service transformation and measurable benefits for patients and stakeholders.
External Partnership Management
Develop and maintain effective working relationships with commissioners, Primary Care Networks, NHS partners, and external stakeholders to support integrated service delivery and organisational objectives.
Quality, Governance and Compliance
Provide oversight of governance, risk, regulatory compliance, and patient safety processes, ensuring lessons learned are embedded and continuous improvement is maintained across services.
Person Specification
Experience Essential
Experience managing healthcare or primary care operations Experience leading multidisciplinary teams Experience delivering operational and performance targets Experience managing budgets, resources, and workforce planning Experience leading service improvement and change initiatives Deep understanding of governance, compliance, risk management, and assurance frameworks. Proven experience in leading teams through change, transformation, and continuous improvement. Experience managing senior stakeholders, building strategic relationships, and influencing executive-level decisions Strong track record of delivering high-quality services, driving performance improvement, and embedding best practice Demonstrated ability to develop and execute service strategies aligned with organisational priorities
Skills and knowledge Essential
Strong understanding of primary care operations and service delivery Excellent leadership and people management skills Knowledge of quality, governance, risk, and regulatory requirements Strong communication, stakeholder engagement, and influencing skills Ability to analyse performance data and drive continuous improvement Exceptional leadership skills with the ability to motivate, inspire, and develop diverse teams. Excellent communication and influencing skills, able to distil complex information for senior audiences and drive decision-making Strong analytical, problem-solving, and judgement capabilities, particularly in high-pressure or high-impact scenarios. Skilled in process optimisation, continuous improvement methodologies, and driving organisational change. Ability to manage competing priorities and operate effectively in ambiguity.
Desirable
Strategic thinker with the ability to interpret complex information, forecast future demand, and shape long-term service direction.
Qualifications Essential
Degree level qualification in Healthcare Management, Business Management, Leadership, or equivalent professional experience Evidence of continuing professional development Knowledge of NHS Primary Care and healthcare governance
Desirable
Management or leadership qualification (e.g. ILM Level 5, CMI, Diploma in Management, or equivalent) Project or change management qualification
Behaviours and Attributes Essential
Strategic thinker able to influence at executive level Acts with integrity, professionalism, and sound judgement Proactive, resilient, and adaptable to change Customer-focused mindset with a commitment to service excellence. Collaborative and inclusive, building trust and engagement across teams.
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 The Key Medical Practice
Address The KEY Medical Practice
Exeter Close
Kidlington
Oxfordshire
OX5 1AP
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://keymedicalpractice.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)