Programme Manager - Cheshire & Merseyside Children and Young People (CYP) Alliance
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Programme Manager to join Beyond, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside's Children and Young People's (CYP) Transformation Programme, to provide dedicated programme management support to the refreshed Cheshire and Merseyside CYP Alliance.
The CYP Alliance is a provider and system collaboration forum for children's health priorities across Cheshire and Merseyside. It will support the wider One Children's Health System approach, including the Paediatric Chain Programme, standards assessment, case for change development, model-of-care work and a portfolio of priority improvement workstreams.
As Programme Manager, you will play a hands-on role in supporting the day-to-day mobilisation and operation of the Alliance. This will include coordinating workstreams, supporting clinical and provider engagement, maintaining clear programme controls, preparing papers and products, tracking actions and decisions, and helping turn complex clinical and service discussions into practical delivery. This will include pathway redesign, service development, improving productivity and system-level coordination to support healthcare for CYP.
The role will require confidence working with senior clinicians, operational leaders, provider organisations and system partners, translating complex clinical and service discussions into clear actions, delivery plans and programme products.
Develop and maintain programme and project plans with clear milestones.
Support the mobilisation and operation of the C&M CYP Alliance and Design Working Group.
Manage programme controls, including plans, actions, decisions, risks, issues, workstreams and performance dashboards.
Review existing Alliance workstreams and recommend continuation, redesign, pause, closure or realignment where appropriate.
Coordinate contributions to standards assessments, cases for change and model-of-care development across partners.
Work with clinical and operational leads to convert discussions into actionable plans, outputs and recommendations.
Build and maintain effective relationships with providers, clinicians, ICB colleagues and wider regional stakeholders.
Foster collaboration across the ICS to improve outcomes for children and young people.
Monitor performance, evaluate delivery and identify opportunities for improvement and transformation.
Apply healthcare management expertise to support service improvement, redesign and strategic planning.
Develop and implement communication and engagement plans for key stakeholders.
Prepare reports, briefings, meeting papers and escalation documentation for governance and programme forums.
Beyond, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside's Children and Young People's Transformation Programme, has reached over 839,736 CYP, families and professionals through 45 projects since its formation in 2021. It is hosted by Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust on behalf of NHS Cheshire and Merseyside. Programme delivery is undertaken in partnership with system colleagues from Local Authorities, Public Health and VCSE and is aligned to the three shifts within the NHS 10 Year Plan and underpinned by the voice of children, young people and families. There is a strong focus on addressing the impact of health inequalities and working towards earlier intervention to support children to reach their potential.
The C&M CYP Alliance is being refreshed as a practical system forum for children’s health collaboration, clinical consensus, priority improvement work and recommendations into agreed governance routes. This role will be central to helping the Alliance operate with pace, discipline and clear delivery focus.
What we are looking for
We are looking for someone who can combine strong programme management discipline with curiosity about clinical services, confidence working across organisational boundaries, and the ability to build trust with busy clinical and operational teams.
- Experience of programme or project management in a complex health, care or public sector environment.
- Ability to organise multiple workstreams, maintain delivery grip and produce high-quality papers, plans and reports.
- Confidence working with clinicians, operational managers, commissioners, providers and wider system partners.
- Ability to listen, synthesise complex discussions and convert them into clear actions, risks, decisions and next steps.
- Understanding of service improvement, pathway redesign, health inequalities and benefits tracking.
- A collaborative, practical and proactive style, with the confidence to follow up actions and unblock delivery.
Key Relationships
- Children, young people and families who access services for support.
- C&M CYP Alliance Chair/SRO, clinical leadership, Senior Nurse Lead, Medical Lead/Co-Chair and Programme Director.
- Beyond Programme team and wider NHS Cheshire and Merseyside CYP transformation colleagues.
- NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB.
- Cheshire and Merseyside Provider Collaborative (CMPC) and relevant governance/alignment groups.
- NHS Transformation Unit colleagues supporting standards assessment, evidence development and case for change.
- Local authorities, public health, acute secondary care providers, community providers, mental health providers, primary care, VCSE and independent sector organisations.
- Performance, operational, corporate, finance, workforce, estates and clinical governance colleagues.
Communication and Relationship Skills
- Live the organisational values of Compassion, Courage, Commitment and Community and promote them throughout daily work.
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement across the local health and social care system, contributing to the delivery of agreed priorities.
- Build trust with senior clinicians, operational leaders, provider organisations and system partners across organisational boundaries.
- Lead challenging and sensitive communications with staff and partner agencies to drive forward programmes of transformational change, including redesigned pathways of care, staff roles, service models, contracting and performance management.
- Organise and present communication and engagement events and workshops to share improvement across the local health and care economy.
- Ensure consistent clinical engagement and involvement in the transformation programme and specific initiatives, using effective communication, consultation and listening mechanisms.
- Develop opportunities and local knowledge management systems to promote successes and share knowledge within the organisation and externally.
- Ensure that relevant Human Resources, Finance, Estates and Clinical Governance leads are appropriately involved in the programme where required.
- Use a range of communication strategies, some of which may be highly sensitive and highly complex, to ensure staff, partners, stakeholders and the public participate appropriately.
Planning and Organisational Skills
- Develop programmes, design and drive implementation of programme management processes, and apply these across Beyond and the CYP Alliance in the context of NHS requirements, obtaining senior endorsement as necessary.
- Prepare and maintain programme and project plans to execute the strategic direction of the programmes, coordinating service improvement activities in alignment with the defined programme blueprint, available resources and project dependencies.
- Ensure each project is adequately described and documented, including clear statements on what will be delivered.
- Ensure each project is communicated to those who need or wish to know about it.
- Ensure each project has a structure and management approach around it that will support successful delivery.
- Provide programme management support to the CYP Alliance and Design Working Group, including forward planning, agenda development, action tracking, decision logging, risk and issue management and delivery reporting.
- Advise the Programme Director, Senior Programme Manager, SRO/Chair and relevant governance forums on potential issues that may adversely affect the programme, constituent projects, delivery or benefits realisation.
- Monitor and report on progress, quality and benefits through agreed reporting processes, escalating deviations outside agreed tolerances.
- Identify, evaluate and monitor risks and their causes, instigating agreed mitigation plans and actions to remove or minimise impact.
- Monitor guidance from NHS England, partners and other key stakeholders, both internal and external, and ensure programme and project elements are effectively coordinated with each other.
- Contribute to programme and project evaluation reviews and ensure lessons learned are captured and disseminated to appropriate people.
- Take a lead role in resolving issues and conflicts that arise within the programme, constituent projects and between programmes.
- Develop or assist with the development of business cases, benefits realisation plans and supporting documentation where required.
Patient/Client Care
- Plan and manage programmes and projects within the overall Beyond and CYP Alliance portfolio to develop and enhance the range of services and level of care provided to children, young people and families.
- Support the use of children, young people and family voice in programme development, service improvement, pathway redesign and evaluation.
- Advise the Programme Director, Senior Programme Manager, SRO/Chair and relevant governance forums on progress and any potential risks or issues that may adversely affect delivery or benefits realisation.
Responsibilities for Policy and Service Development
- Support the development of and comment on directorate procedures and protocols.
- Work with NHS England, commissioners, providers and other key stakeholders to identify potential areas for improving outcomes, making efficiencies in services and developing new approaches.
- Support policy or service changes for high-impact clinical and service transformation programmes in order to achieve agreed programme benefits and required organisational transformation.
- Ensure that procedures and policies are developed, reviewed and implemented in respect of document control, version control, variation process, project plan development, monitoring and reporting.
Contribute to communications and stakeholder management strategies, risk strategies and benefits realisation plans to meet the needs of a diverse audience
