Pathway Improvement Project Manager | The Christie NHS Foundation Trust


Company:	The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
Salary:	£49,387 - £56,515 Pro rata, per annum
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Manchester, M20 4BX
Job type:	Contract
Posting date:	18 Sept 2026
Closing date:	18 Oct 2026

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Summary

The Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance is looking for an enthusiastic and committed Project Manager to scope, develop and deliver a programme of work which looks to improve the rate of early detection and diagnosis for patients with cancer in Greater Manchester.

The Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance wants more people than ever to reduce their risk of developing cancer. For those diagnosed, we want to improve survival outcomes and experiences through earlier diagnosis, better treatment and supporting people to live well with and beyond cancer.

The NHS Long Term Plan includes an ambition to diagnose 75% of cancers at stage 1 or 2. We have an ambitious programme of work in place working across the GM system to achieve this. The Pathway Improvement Project Manager post is key to achievement of this ambition.

Our Alliance brings together clinical and managerial leaders from health and social care organisations across the region, alongside patient representatives, and other partners, including VCSFE (voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise) organisations.

This is an exciting time for applicants with experience in a similar project management role to join our team. The successful candidate will work alongside 2 well-established pathway improvement project managers as well as with the wider team.

The post is full-time although flexible working will be considered. The contract will be up until 31st March 2026. Secondment requests will be considered.

The Pathway Improvement Project Manager will work with the Greater Manchester Cancer Pathway Boards and the Cancer Alliance Early Diagnosis Team to scope and develop a programme of work which looks to improve the proportion of patients diagnosed at an early stage.

The role will require extensive project management skills and close working with external and internal partners including provider organisations, clinicians, commissioners, patients, and carers to deliver the programme objectives. This requires a level of political awareness, personal influence, and skill.

The post holder will represent the Cancer Alliance in various GM wide forums. The post holder will collaborate with colleagues at all levels including senior clinicians, project managers and teams across Greater Manchester and act in an autonomous capacity.

You must be proficient with MS Word, Outlook, Power Point and Excel and have excellent multitasking and prioritising skills. In addition, you must have good attention to detail and work with regard to the need for diplomacy and confidentiality.

We are looking for a motivated and enthusiastic individual to join the team at the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance, hosted by, and based at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust but working on behalf of all Greater Manchester stakeholders in this programme.

It is important that when required, the post holder is able to travel across Greater Manchester.

The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, looking after more than 64,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 25% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country.

We are the largest radiotherapy provider in the NHS with one in 20 treatments delivered at The Christie. We have up to 15 linear accelerators operating across our network of sites. We operate the largest chemotherapy unit in the UK on our main site and treatments are also provided at 13 other networked sites, and in patients homes. And as a specialist tertiary surgical centre, we focus on rare cancers, complex procedures, and multidisciplinary approaches to cancer surgery, specialising in colorectal, peritoneal, gynaecological, urological and plastic surgery.

We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We have been named by the UK’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), as one of the best hospitals providing opportunities for patients to participate in clinical research studies, with more than 800 studies open at any time, caring for over 3,000 patients.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Project Manager will support the GM Cancer Early Diagnosis team in the scoping, developments, and delivery of a range of projects to deliver improvements to the rate of early diagnosis of cancer.

The Project Manager will function as a conduit between the Greater Manchester Cancer Alliance team and the GM system in issues relating to Early Diagnosis, in particular new and innovative projects.

The roles and responsibilities are as follows:

Set-up and organisation

• Project Manage specific pieces of work in response to local requirements, ensuring full representation from all key partners (including patients) in the programmes of work

• Develop and manage the delivery of work plans for the above groups in line with the long-term plan for cancer and the national cancer programme guidance / national planning guidance

• Co-ordinate, facilitate and administrate the above meetings, providing support to the meeting Chairs

• Prepare agendas, forward plans, papers, and minutes for the above meetings and manage the follow-up agreed actions with responsible group members, holding them to account for progress

• Arrange educational / engagement events where required for a wider group of stakeholders and interested parties, to allow new developments and learning from the projects to be disseminated across the system

• Facilitate full and active patient participation in the projects and any subgroups which may be established to support this work

• Build relationships across and beyond the groups referred to above, including, for example, public health, GM teams (e.g., elective reform) and primary care leads

• Work closely with clinical leads as required

• Identify and mitigate/escalate any issues/risks to the boards’ programmes of work.

Communication and support

• Be the first point of contact for cancer commissioning manager and Early Diagnosis Programme Board members seeking advice or support in relation to the specific projects led by the postholder

• Function as a conduit between GM Cancer colleagues, localities, and the Greater Manchester Cancer Senior Management team in relation to the specific projects and objectives

• Work with the relevant pathway board manager and Clinical Lead on the development of innovative proposals for service change and improvement

• With reference to the point above, engage with relevant clinical leads and members of the pathway boards and managerial colleagues to ensure that the work programme objectives are achieved

• Function as a main point of contact and link to expertise and resources regarding specific improvements to deliver Early Cancer Diagnosis

• Routinely communicate project updates and developments with GM Cancer colleagues

• Create reports and papers to update the Greater Manchester Cancer Board and to seek approval for recommended action / any required funding

Data and information

• Research general and tumour-specific background data and literature from national and international sources relating to the programmes of work referred to in this job description

• Collate data and literature into concise reports and tools and present to the relevant groups

• Develop measurable outcomes for each element of the work programmes and track and report progress

• Analyse data and intelligence to identify trends, key messages, and opportunities to improve patient outcomes and experience

• Support the collation and presentation of local system-wide audit data

Planning and reporting

• Support the Pathway Clinical Leads and their Pathway Boards in managing their response to the GM long term plan for cancer where there are links with Early Diagnosis deliverables

• Develop and manage the annual work programmes that will contribute to the delivery of the GM cancer plan and Early Diagnosis Long Term Plan ambitions in relation to the project work allocated. Ensuring that these contain clear objectives, tasks and identified leads

• Ensure that the Early Diagnosis Steering Group work plan reflects, and contributes towards the achievement of the Greater Manchester Cancer delivery of the Long-Term Plan and national planning guidance response

• Support the definition of outcome measures so that achievement can be monitored during the year

• Track progress against the outcome measures referred to above

• Develop and maintain a risk register for the project and report into the Early Diagnosis Steering Group annual work plan, reporting risks and issues to the Early Diagnosis Clinical Lead and Director of Commissioning

• Work with the Early Diagnosis Clinical Lead and Director of Commissioning to report on progress in achieving the year’s objectives, the challenges faced during the year, and the priorities for the next year

Quality and peer review

• Work with providers, commissioners, and others to ensure adherence to all required quality assurance programmes, such as the national quality surveillance programme

• Provide project management support to the groups referred to above to develop and sustain services and projects that meet local and national specifications and NICE guidance

This advert closes on Friday 25 Sep 2026

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