Assistant Director

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; Peterborough; Remote; GBP 80,000 - 92,000; Full time

Job summary

Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) seeks an Assistant Director Nursing, AHPs and Quality for secured services in Peterborough. You will provide senior professional leadership for nursing and AHPs, and drive quality governance and patient safety across secured services.

You will report to the Group Chief Nurse, work with clinical and corporate colleagues to ensure safe, compassionate care, strengthen learning, and readiness for inspection while managing workforce development

Qualifications

• Provide an example that demonstrates your senior clinical, operational or professional leadership experience within a complex healthcare organisation.
• Describe your experience of working within secure, forensic, mental health, learning disability, neurodevelopmental or other specialist services.
• Provide an example of compassionate, inclusive and professional leadership in line with organisational values.

Responsibilities

• Provide inclusive leadership across secure services, ensuring safe, high-quality care through strong governance, an open learning culture and an effective nursing and Allied Health Professionals workforce.
• Lead the delivery and continuous improvement of safe, high-quality, patient-centred care, ensuring effective patient safety, risk management and quality governance.
• Deliver nursing, Allied Health Professionals, quality and patient safety priorities in line with Trust strategy, national policy, regulation and secure care requirements.
• Promote an open learning culture, using insight from incidents, complaints, safeguarding, audits, inspections and feedback to improve practice.
• Provide assurance through quality metrics, risk review, regulatory and CQC readiness, clear escalation and reporting to senior and Board-level forums.
• Develop a safe, skilled and sustainable nursing and Allied Health Professionals workforce through effective recruitment, retention, development, establishments, rosters and skill mix.
• Champion patient and carer involvement, complaints and PALS learning, ensuring experience and co-production shape service improvement.
• Work with clinical, corporate, commissioner, regulatory and system partners; use data to identify priorities; manage budgets and resources effectively; and deputise for senior leaders as required.
• The post holder may undertake other duties appropriate to the grade, hours and scope of the role.

Skills

Senior leadership

NHS experience

Governance

Patient safety

Job description

Site Brightfield Business Hub, Bakewell Road Orton Southgate, Peterborough, Town Peterborough Salary £79,504 - £91,609 Per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 22/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 04/12/2026

Job overview

The Assistant Director Nursing, Allied Health Professionals and Quality for secured services provides senior professional, operational and strategic leadership for nursing, Allied Health Professionals, quality governance, patient safety and learning across NHFT’s secured services. Reporting to the Group Chief Nurse, Executive Director Nursing, Allied Health Professionals and Quality, the post holder will be a key member of the senior leadership team and will work collaboratively with operational, medical, nursing, Allied Health Professionals, quality, safety and corporate colleagues to ensure services are safe, effective, compassionate and continuously improving. The role combines professional leadership for the nursing and Allied Health Professionals workforce with responsibility for strengthening quality assurance, patient safety systems, patient and carer experience, infection prevention and control, complaints learning, safeguarding interfaces and regulatory preparedness within a secured care environment. The post holder will provide visible leadership, promote a just and learning culture, ensure robust ward-to-board governance, and support the delivery of high-quality care that reflects NHFT’s vision, values and commitment to outstanding, compassionate care.

Main duties of the job

The main duties and responsibilities:

Provide inclusive leadership across secure services, ensuring safe, high-quality care through strong governance, an open learning culture and an effective nursing and Allied Health Professionals workforce.

Lead the delivery and continuous improvement of safe, high-quality, patient-centred care, ensuring effective patient safety, risk management and quality governance.

Deliver nursing, Allied Health Professionals, quality and patient safety priorities in line with Trust strategy, national policy, regulation and secure care requirements.

Promote an open learning culture, using insight from incidents, complaints, safeguarding, audits, inspections and feedback to improve practice.

Provide assurance through quality metrics, risk review, regulatory and CQC readiness, clear escalation and reporting to senior and Board-level forums.

Develop a safe, skilled and sustainable nursing and Allied Health Professionals workforce through effective recruitment, retention, development, establishments, rosters and skill mix.

Champion patient and carer involvement, complaints and PALS learning, ensuring experience and co-production shape service improvement.

Work with clinical, corporate, commissioner, regulatory and system partners; use data to identify priorities; manage budgets and resources effectively; and deputise for senior leaders as required.

The post holder may undertake other duties appropriate to the grade, hours and scope of the role.

Working for our organisation

NHFT is an NHS Community and Mental Health Foundation Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in hospital settings and in the community. We provide over 200 services across the county - as well as some specialist services in bordering and nearby counties. We work together with our partners to ensure that everyone who comes through our doors receives compassionate, person-centred care, regardless of their background or circumstances.

NHFT promotes a culture of learning, to improve the care and safety of our patients and colleagues. We have achieved our ‘outstanding’ rating by encouraging opportunity, innovation, development and growth across our workforce.

At NHFT we believe that work should be rewarded in every sense which is why we are proud to an accredited living wage employer.

We aim to support financial wellbeing and create an environment where are people feel valued and able to thrive.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached job description for a full detailed description of the role and responsibilities

Knowledge and experience

• Provide an example that demonstrates your senior clinical, operational or professional leadership experience within a complex healthcare organisation. Describe your role, the challenges you faced, the actions you took and the outcomes achieved.

Knowledge and experience

• Describe your experience of working within secure, forensic, mental health, learning disability, neurodevelopmental or other specialist services. Explain the setting, your responsibilities and how your experience is relevant to this role.

Behaviours and values

• Provide an example of how you have demonstrated compassionate, inclusive and professional leadership in line with organisational values. Describe what you did and the impact this had on patients, carers, staff or services.

Behaviours and values

• Provide an example of how you have involved patients, carers or families in co-production or service improvement. Describe their involvement, your contribution and the difference it made.

Skills and abilities

• Provide an example of a complex change, service improvement or transformation programme you have led within a healthcare environment. Describe your approach, how you managed challenges and the measurable outcomes achieved.

Skills and abilities

• Provide an example of a dashboard, quality metric or assurance report you have designed or developed. Explain how you used data, how the information was presented and how it supported governance, assurance or improvement.

We are an equal opportunities employer, which aims to employ a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we serve. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons from all backgrounds.

All roles are subject to the home office immigration rules and therefore eligibility must meet certain requirements for any sponsorship to be considered. Please visit the government website for more information regarding eligibility,

At NHFT we support many of our colleagues to work flexibly and we will consider requests for flexible working from day one. For this role, we are open to discussing a range of options including flexible hours, agile/home working, compressed hours and part time hours. Please have a conversation with the recruiting manager about the flexibility you need and we will promise to explore what is possible with you.

Applicants who have a disability and meet the essential criteria for the job will be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme. If you require a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process please make the recruitment services team aware as soon as possible.

All posts that are engaged in a regulated activity will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and a DBS re-check on a three yearly basis whilst employed in such a role. Staff employed in these posts will therefore be asked to register with the DBS Automatic Update Service upon receipt of their DBS certificate and must update yearly , the annual fee will be reimbursed subject to Trust policy. For further information please visit: DBS Update Service: applicant guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Please note if a DBS is applicable for the position then a charge will be deducted from your first salary.

Please note that all new starters to the trustare subject to a probationary period.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Richard Amponsah Job title Deputy Director Nursing, AHPs and Quality Email address [e-mail]