Assistant Director Adult Acute Services

Navigo Health and Social Care CIC; Grimsby; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A mental health service provider in Grimsby is seeking an Assistant Director to oversee acute mental health services. This role requires a strong leader with experience in managing clinical teams and improving service quality. Key responsibilities include driving innovation, ensuring regulatory compliance, and fostering a culture of care. Ideal candidates will have a background in health or social care management, excellent communication skills, and commitment to enhancing patient experiences. This position offers a dynamic work environment aimed at delivering top-quality services.

Benefits

Opportunities for professional development

Qualifications

• Registered health or social care professional with current registration.
• Postgraduate leadership studies or equivalent experience.
• Experience managing clinical or operational teams in mental health.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and delivery of an integrated adult acute pathway.
• Ensure services meet regulatory standards and quality benchmarks.
• Manage bed capacity and oversee admissions and discharge processes.

Skills

Strong leadership

Communication

Organizational skills

Knowledge of mental health legislation

Ability to work collaboratively

Education

Registered health or social care professional

Postgraduate leadership or management training

Accredited training in quality improvement methodologies

Job description

We are seeking a dynamic and compassionate Assistant Director to supportthe leadership and delivery of high-quality adult acute mental health services. The role will work closely with senior teamsto ensure safe, effective and recovery-focused care, leading on serviceimprovement, staff development and operational oversight. It will suit someone with strong clinical andmanagerial experience in mental health, excellent communication and organisationalskills and a commitment to partnership working with service users, families andmulti-disciplinary professionals. The rolewill help drive innovation, maintain high standards and ensure services remainresponsive person-centred and aligned with organisational and regulatoryrequirements.

Main duties of the job

The role will be responsible for ensuring high-quality, compassionateand person-centred care, while fostering a culture of innovation,collaboration, and continuous improvement across our adult acute teams. Therole will oversee service performance, workforce management, budget control andcompliance with regulatory standards, while driving service improvement andsupporting a positive recovery-focussed culture. Essential skills include strong leadershipand communication abilities, proven experience in managing clinical oroperational teams in mental health services, sound knowledge of mental healthlegislation and CQC standards, and the ability to work collaboratively acrossmultidisciplinary teams. Ideally youwill be highly organised, resilient and committed to empowering staff,improving patient experience and achieving excellence in mental health servicedelivery .

About us

Hello!

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

Thewhole basis of our work is to deliver services that we would be happy for ourown family to use.

Weoffer a range of mental health services, including acute and communityfacilities as well as specialist support such as outstanding older adultsinpatient services, rehabilitation and recovery community mental health and anoutstanding specialist eating disorder facility.

Rankedas one of the top UK companies to work for, we feature in the Best Companiestop 100 large company list.

Asa social enterprise, we do things a little bit differently and have alsodeveloped income-generating commercially viable businesses that providetraining, education and employment opportunities including Grimsby GardenCentre.

Workingat Navigo is not like working anywhere else. Lots of places say that, but wereally mean it.

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

Comeand Join us !

Pleasenote: Whilst we value all applications, if we believe an application to be AIgenerated, we will use a checking tool and may reject any application that hasbeen automatically generated.

Shouldyou require any assistance in completing this application due to a disabilityor other needs please contact [e-mail]

Job responsibilities

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

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

2) Quality, Safety &Culture

Embed Culture of CareStandards (trauma informed, autism informed, culturally competent care) acrossall wards; champion reduction in restrictive practices with measurableimprovements

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

Assure compliance with theMental Health Act Code of Practice and CQC expectations for learning fromrestrictive practices.

3) Operational Performance& Flow

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

Ensure CRHT gatekeeping ofadmissions, timely crisis assessment, and intensive home treatment as a safealternative to admission.

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

Deliver safe staffing models,skills mix, training compliance and supervision; implement proactive sicknessabsence 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; usenational datasets (e.g., MHSDS restrictive practice dashboard) forbenchmarking.

Deliver agreedbudgets, 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)
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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.