COO – Digital Health & Multi-Site Transformation, Leicester

A rare COO opportunity in one of the UK\'s most forward-thinking primary care organisations.

Willows Health is appointing its next Chief Operating Officer. We\'re 12 GP practices, 75,000+ patients, and one of the largest providers of NHS primary care in the East Midlands - with a digital-first patient access model, AI-enabled triage through SystmConnect, a growing Urgent Care Service, and our own training academy.

This isn\'t a caretaker role. It\'s a builder\'s role.

• A 12-month handover with our outgoing COO before they retire - a genuine induction, not a sink-or-swim
• Direct seat on the Executive Board, reporting to the Chair
• Full operational accountability across all 12 sites
• A digitally fluent executive team that thinks in dashboards, AI tools, and operating models
• "Good" CQC rating, growing organisation, strong board support

• End-to-end operational leadership across 12 practice sites
• CQC compliance and integrated operational governance
• Senior management and site leadership team development
• Digital transformation programmes - telephony, patient access, AI-enabled triage (SystmConnect), patient communication
• Workforce planning, including ARRS and multi-disciplinary teams
• Board-level reporting, risk management, and operational assurance
• Stakeholder relationships with the ICB, PCNs, NHSE, and CQC

You\'ll bring substantial senior operational leadership experience from a complex, regulated, multi-site environment. Primary care experience is welcome but not essential - we\'re equally interested in exceptional operators from NHS provider settings, regulated public services, or comparably complex service organisations who can bring fresh thinking.

• Digitally fluent and confident across modern primary care platforms, BI dashboards, and AI-supported productivity tools
• Forward-thinking and energised by transformation, not just maintenance
• Decisive and accountable, able to operate with high autonomy
• Collaborative and enabling - leading through others, not around them
• Genuinely values-aligned - patient-first, evidence-led, kind, and people-centred

• Very competitive executive salary, dependent on experience
• Full-time, permanent
• Multi-site Leicestershire base (regular travel between sites)
• EAP, Pension

Closing date: 31st May 2026