Assistant Director Adult Acute Services

NHS; Grimsby; On-site; GBP 64,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

A mental health service organization in Grimsby is seeking an Assistant Director to improve adult acute mental health services. The successful candidate will manage service performance, oversee teams, and ensure compliance with health care standards. A proven leadership background in mental health is essential. This full-time position offers a salary range of £64,455 to £74,869, and the company is known for its commitment to innovative, person-centered care.

Qualifications

• Registered health or social care professional with current registration.
• Demonstrable experience in healthcare senior leadership.
• Evidence of postgraduate leadership or management training.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and delivery of integrated adult acute pathway.
• Manage bed capacity and oversee service performance.
• Ensure compliance with mental health legislation and CQC standards.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Organisational skills

Mental health legislation knowledge

Team management

Education

Registered health or social care professional

Masters level study in leadership

Job description

Job summary

We are seeking a dynamic and compassionate Assistant Director to support the leadership and delivery of high-quality adult acute mental health services. The role will work closely with senior teams to ensure safe, effective and recovery-focused care, leading on service improvement, staff development and operational oversight. It will suit someone with strong clinical and managerial experience in mental health, excellent communication and organisational skills and a commitment to partnership working with service users, families and multi-disciplinary professionals. The role will help drive innovation, maintain high standards and ensure services remain responsive person-centred and aligned with organisational and regulatory requirements.

Main duties of the job

The role will be responsible for ensuring high-quality, compassionate and person-centred care, while fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement across our adult acute teams. The role will oversee service performance, workforce management, budget control and compliance with regulatory standards, while driving service improvement and supporting a positive recovery-focussed culture. Essential skills include strong leadership and communication abilities, proven experience in managing clinical or operational teams in mental health services, sound knowledge of mental health legislation and CQC standards, and the ability to work collaboratively across multidisciplinary teams. Ideally you will be highly organised, resilient and committed to empowering staff, improving patient experience and achieving excellence in mental health service delivery.

About us

Hello!

We are Navigo. We look after North East Lincolnshire's mental health and well-being, an award-winning social enterprise that provides mental health services to the NHS and beyond.

The whole basis of our work is to deliver services that we would be happy for our own family to use.

We offer a range of mental health services, including acute and community facilities as well as specialist support such as outstanding older adults inpatient services, rehabilitation and recovery community mental health and an outstanding specialist eating disorder facility.

Ranked as one of the top UK companies to work for, we feature in the Best Companies top 100 large company list.

As a social enterprise, we do things a little bit differently and have also developed income-generating commercially viable businesses that provide training, education and employment opportunities including Grimsby Garden Centre.

Working at Navigo is not like working anywhere else. Lots of places say that, but we really mean it.

We like to work with forward-thinking people who want to make a difference.

Come and Join us!

Details

Date posted: 17 December 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8b

Salary

£64,455 to £74,869 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

B9816-563

Job locations

Harrison House

Peaks Lane

Grimsby

DN32 9RP

Job responsibilities

Strategy & Service Model

Lead the design and delivery of an integrated adult acute pathway (inpatient CRHT liaison psychiatry), aligned to the NHS England vision for timely, therapeutic, least restrictive inpatient care and comprehensive crisis alternatives.

Ensure liaison psychiatry services meet CORE24 principles (all age, 24/7, ED & wards coverage; responsive timescales) and embed collaborative working with acute hospital partners.

2) Quality, Safety & Culture

Embed Culture of Care Standards (trauma informed, autism informed, culturally competent care) across all wards; champion reduction in restrictive practices with measurable improvements.

Implement PSIRF across acute services, ensuring compassionate involvement of patients/families, proportionate learning responses, and robust improvement cycles.

Assure compliance with the Mental Health Act Code of Practice and CQC expectations for learning from restrictive practices.

3) Operational Performance & Flow

Manage bed capacity, occupancy, out of area placements, delayed transfers and length of stay; lead discharge improvement work as per NHS England inpatient flow guidance.

Ensure CRHT gatekeeping of admissions, timely crisis assessment, and intensive home treatment as a safe alternative to admission.

Oversee liaison psychiatry's rapid response in ED/wards and joint escalation with acute trusts to prevent breaches and unnecessary admissions.

4) Workforce, Health & Wellbeing

Deliver safe staffing models, skills mix, training compliance and supervision; implement proactive sickness absence support using NHS Employers toolkit and national analytics trends.

5) Patient Experience & Engagement

Ensure routine use of Friends & Family Test (FFT) and local experience measures across inpatient, crisis, and liaison services, with you said we did improvements.

6) Governance, Data & Finance

Maintain robust governance: risk registers, incident oversight, audit and improvement programmes; use national datasets (e.g., MHSDS restrictive practice dashboard) for benchmarking.

Deliver agreed budgets, cost improvement plans that protect quality, and business cases (e.g., liaison expansion to CORE24).

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Registered health or social care professional (NMC, HCPC, BPS, SWE) with current registration and/or Masters level study in leadership with demonstrable experience in healthcare senior leadership.
• Evidence of postgraduate leadership or management training (or willingness to undertake).

Desirable

• Quality improvement qualification.
• Accredited training in quality improvement methodologies (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, Model for Improvement).

Knowledge

• In-depth understanding of adult acute inpatient care standards, CRHT fidelity, liaison psychiatry (CORE24), and national policy.
• Knowledge of restrictive practice reduction strategies and trauma-informed care.
• Understanding of patient safety frameworks (PSIRF) and incident learning processes.

Desirable

• Familiarity with workforce planning and wellbeing strategies.
• Understanding of research and innovation in mental health care.

Experience

• Significant senior leadership experience in adult acute mental health services.
• Proven track record of managing inpatient wards and crisis/home treatment services.
• Experience of implementing quality improvement initiatives and delivering measurable outcomes.

Desirable

• Experience of working across integrated care systems and multi-agency partnerships.
• Previous involvement in service accreditation (e.g., AIMS, PLAN).

Additional Requirements

• Strategic planning and service redesign skills.
• Ability to interpret and use data for performance management and improvement.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.

Desirable

• Advanced negotiation and influencing skills across organisational boundaries.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name: Navigo Health and Social Care CIC

Address:

Harrison House

Peaks Lane

Grimsby

DN32 9RP

Employer's website: https://navigocare.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)