Chief Operating Officer

As Chief Operating Officer for the NIHR London Applied Research Collaboration (ARC), you will provide strategic and operational leadership to a £22m pan-London programme spanning more than 20 partner organisations. Working at the interface of research, policy and practice, you will ensure the ARC delivers measurable improvements in population health, tackles inequalities, strengthens health and care systems, and drive innovation across London.

Central to the role is translating research into real-world impact. You will lead the development and delivery of a multi-year strategy, ensuring alignment with regional and national priorities including prevention, neighbourhood health, economic growth and data-driven innovation. You will oversee programme direction, resource allocation and partnership development across a complex multi-organisational environment.

Operating at the most senior levels across the NHS, academia, local government and national bodies, you will influence policy, shape investment priorities and strengthen London's position as a leader in applied health research. As a key member of the ARC Executive, you will act as a trusted advisor to the ARC Directors and Board, ensuring strong governance, performance and accountability.

This is an exceptional opportunity to lead at system scale, bringing together world-class organisations to deliver innovation and measurable benefits for more than nine million people across London, with national and international influence., The Chief Operating Officer will lead the strategic and operational delivery of the NIHR London ARC, ensuring the programme delivers maximum impact across health, care and research systems.

You will provide executive leadership for strategy and delivery, co-developing and implementing a multi-year vision aligned with regional and national priorities, including population health improvement, reducing inequalities, innovation and economic growth. You will oversee a diverse portfolio of research and improvement programmes, ensuring strong performance, effective prioritisation and measurable outcomes.

A key part of the role is system leadership. You will build and maintain influential relationships across the NHS, Integrated Care Systems, local authorities, universities, voluntary sector organisations and national bodies. As a senior ambassador for the ARC, you will represent the partnership in high-level forums, influencing policy, shaping investment priorities and working across organisational boundaries.

You will ensure robust governance, risk management and financial stewardship, including delegated responsibility for a £22m budget.

Leading a distributed multidisciplinary team, you will foster a high-performing, collaborative culture and drive organisational development. You will accelerate the translation of research into practice and policy, delivering tangible improvements in health outcomes and system performance across London.

The ARC Director team comprises Director, Co-Director, and Deputy Director: Professors Laura Shallcross (UCL), Ingrid Wolfe (KCL), and Dr Ana Luisa Neves (Imperial), respectively. The ARC is hosted by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust; we provide specialist care for patients including heart and lung, cancer and renal services and local community services for people in Lambeth and Southwark. We have a long tradition of clinical and scientific achievement and - as part of King's Health Partners - we are one of England's eight academic health sciences centres.Our organisational values--Caring, Ambitious and Inclusive--underpin everything we do, shaping how we work with patients, partners and each other.

NIHR London ARC is a flagship pan-London initiative, bringing together universities, NHS organisations, local authorities and partners from across the voluntary and industry sectors. ARC represents a unique platform for delivering system-wide change at scale.

You will work as part of a highly collaborative executive leadership team, operating across organisational boundaries and engaging with regional and national leaders. The environment is intellectually stimulating, fast-paced and strategically focused, offering the opportunity to work at the forefront of applied research and system leadership. You will play a central role in shaping the future of applied health research in London, developing partnerships with lasting impact across health and care systems.