Clinical Operations Manager

Important: You do not need to have a clinical background for this role.

Time commitment: Full-time    

Location: Hybrid working, 3 days per week in our London office, 2 days from home.

Reporting to: Mark Jenkins, CEO.

About Paloma

Paloma’s mission is to make children’s autism and ADHD assessments and care available on the NHS within 4 weeks of GP referral. We believe the NHS can offer quick access to these services, and Paloma is achieving this by redesigning care pathways, building new software & AI tools, and investing in the learning & development of clinicians.

Mark and Darshak founded Paloma as they were frustrated that families are waiting 2-10 years for NHS children’s autism and ADHD assessments. This crisis in NHS children’s neurodevelopmental services has recently been highlighted by the Children’s Commissioner for England here: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/blog/childrens-commissioner-warns-of-invisible-crisis-as-delays-and-inequalities-laid-bare-among-children-with-neurodevelopmental-conditions/

We are growing our team purposefully to meet the need for NHS autism and ADHD care, and since launching we have:

• Grown our fantastic team to 90 people, and are hiring ~100 more over the next 12 months
• Raised £5m pre-seed funding from leading healthcare investors (Triple Point Ventures and Heal Capital) helping us to invest in our technology and our team

• Achieved financial sustainability

How is Paloma Health different from other Neurodevelopmental providers?

• We are clinically-led, Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered, and continuously improve our outcomes and family experiences.
• Our in-house product & engineering team ensures we can:
• Give families a more consumer-like experience of healthcare
• Free our clinicians from documentation to focus on supporting families
• Our strong culture, including transparency, a sense of community, and supporting staff career development
• The experience of our founders (Dr Mark Jenkins & Darshak Shah), who have previously built tech-enabled NHS obesity and ophthalmology services. Combined, their previous companies have treated over 1 million NHS patients in the last 15 years!
• Being backed by leading healthcare investors allows us to move fast

The Opportunity

Are you a organised and skilled operations manager with experience of line management, passionate about improving access to NHS care? We are seeking a Clinical Operations Manager to lead our Clinical Quality Team. This Team includes our senior clinicians responsible for:

• Clinical governance: keeping our familes, team and organisation safe
• Learning & development: Supporting experienced clinicians to understand the Paloma autism assessment process and continue to advance their skills
• Academy: Training clinicians new to autism assessment to be high quality assessors
• Care Quality: Ensuring all families receive care that we are proud of

Your role is to be the operational engine of this Team, supporting these clinicians to set and achieve critical organisational objectives. You will lead on innovation within the team, e.g. how we can improve processes or implement software tools.

Importantly, you do NOT need to have a clinical background. 

With strong performance in the role, there are clear development opportunities including progressing to a ‘Senior Manager’ and ‘Head of’ role with time.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Clinical Quality Team: 
• Line manage, support, and develop these senior clinicians.
• Define, communicate, and monitor team priorities to ensure objectives are agreed and achieved
• Positively challenge and negotiate timelines, ensuring work is delivered efficiently and to the highest standards.

Ensure Clinical Governance processes are central to everything we do:

• Implement robust tracking of adherence to clinical governance requirements. Identify trends and implement process improvements.
• Act as the internal operational leader to ensure compliance with organisational policies and regulatory (including CQC) standards, and lead preparation for CQC inspections and compliance activities.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the whole Paloma clinical team.
• Partner with our Product, Delivery, and People Teams to ensure all of our clinicians complete required activities.

What qualities will you bring to the role?

• Exceptional organisational skills and a relentless drive for improvement.
• Strong leadership and people management abilities, with a focus on team development.
• Confident communicator, able to challenge constructively and negotiate effectively.
• Proactive problem-solver who thrives in a fast-paced environment.
• Results-oriented, with a keen eye for detail and a commitment to high standards.
• Collaborative, positive, and resilient under pressure.

Ideally, you have a passion for healthcare and/or health tech.

Qualifications and experience

Required:

• At least 2 years of operational experience, and at least 1 year of line management experience in a commercial, high growth environment
• Demonstrable track record of using your skills of process improvement and innovation to deliver results against deadlines in a commercial environment.

Desirable:

• Experience working alongside clinicians.
• Knowledge of regulatory compliance in a healthcare or similar environment.
• Experience with project management software tools.
• Project management qualification or training.

Why join Paloma?

You will be part of a mission-driven organisation that’s transforming access to autism and ADHD care in England. For all employees, we offer:

• A strong and positive culture that prioritises staff well-being, transparency, and career development.
• Protected time and budget for team connection, learning, and community-building.
• Competitive compensation including:
• Salary of £65,000 per year, with some flexibility based on experience. 
• Annual salary reviews, ensuring they are competitive
• 5% employer pension contribution
• Private medical insurance and Employee Assistance Programme (from early 2026)
• Home Office Equipment Allowance
• A unique annual leave benefits package which includes:
• 34 days of annual leave. This includes eight bank holidays and your birthday off.
• Option to buy an additional 5 days per year
• An additional 10 days of paid sabbatical leave every three completed years of service (which means 44 days of leave in year four at Paloma!)
• Additional benefits including:
• A premium performance company laptop
• Equity compensation through Share Options in Paloma Health for employees working at least 32 hours per week with Paloma. 
• NHS discounts, including the Blue Light Card (as we are an NHS provider).

Equality & Diversity

Paloma Health is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and throughout the application process. We do not discriminate based on any protected characteristic.

Accommodations

We’re glad to accommodate candidates who need adjustments throughout the hiring process. We encourage you to be open about the adjustments you need, so we can adapt our interview process accordingly.

Safer Recruitment & Pre-Employment Checks

Paloma Health ensures that supporting people to be safe is at the heart of our work and a key priority across all areas of the organisation. As part of our pre-employment checks, you will be asked to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Depending on your role within the business, this will be at either an Enhanced, Standard, or Basic level. We are committed to safer recruitment practices and expect all applicants to share our dedication to safeguarding. Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure we appoint individuals who are aligned with our values and who will contribute to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for everyone we work with.

Application process

Please apply via our website. We understand that applying for a new job requires a significant amount of effort, and we appreciate your time. We look forward to reviewing your application.

Join us and be part of our journey to revolutionise access to NHS autism and ADHD care!