Compliance Officer

NHS; Stoke-on-Trent; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare trust in the UK is seeking a Compliance Officer to ensure compliance with statutory and regulatory obligations within Estates services. The ideal candidate will provide compliance advice, monitor performance, and implement effective compliance systems. This role requires proven experience in compliance, strong organizational skills, and the ability to communicate effectively across teams. Join a forward-thinking organization committed to high-quality care and sustainability.

Benefits

Flexible working opportunities

Commitment to sustainability

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a compliance, audit, or risk management role.
• Understanding of health and safety policies, procedures and systems in an Estates setting.
• Experienced in designing and implementing compliance systems and plans.

Responsibilities

• Ensure compliance with statutory obligations across Estates activities.
• Monitor performance against compliance requirements and report outcomes.
• Provide compliance advice and training to team members.

Skills

Compliance knowledge

Audit skills

Risk management

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Education

Degree or equivalent experience

Professional compliance or risk certification

Job description

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust

Compliance Officer

The closing date is 14 December 2025

The Compliance Officer contributes to the delivery of an outstanding Estates service by taking the lead on ensuring that Estates activity is compliant with the Trust's statutory and regulatory obligations. As compliance specialist, you will develop and implement systems and processes to ensure that all works are carried out in accordance with relevant regulations and meet statutory and health and safety requirements across the full range of Estates activity.

This vacancy is only open at this stage to the following organisations within the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care System:

• North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust
• Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
• University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, inclusive of Black Country Procurement Group and North Midlands and Cheshire Pathology Service.
• Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board

Main duties of the job

Operational Planning

• In conjunction with the Associate Director and Head of Estates, use specialist professional knowledge to detail how compliance will be delivered through the Estates strategy and operational plans.
• Work closely with the Estates Managers to ensure all compliance maintenance works and checks delivered in a joined‑up plan including EMT and contractor delivery, to make best use of resources, meet targets and deliver to the highest possible standards.

Leadership

• Specialist for all aspects of Estates compliance. Through a proactive approach, be responsible for ensuring that the Trust meets requirements effectively.
• Provide complex compliance advice and information to clinical leads, project teams, and other operational staff. Ensure that information on compliance legislation is cascaded to team members and ensure they understand their compliance responsibilities.
• Represent the Trust at events and meetings involving Estates compliance related issues.

Service Delivery

• Take the lead on monitoring performance against statutory obligations including all mandatory testing of equipment and plant for which Estates have responsibility.
• Work closely with the Estates Manager (EMT) and Estates Manager (Contracts) to ensure that all compliance requirements are included in work planning and delivery.
• Utilise professional knowledge and expertise to provide Estates team members with compliance guidance and training.
• Utilise Estates systems including Micad to check on completion and timeliness of compliance by EMT and contractors.
• Develop statutory compliance systems and carry out performance monitoring and quality checks against agreed programmes of work.
• Conduct specialist compliance audits of procedures, performance and quality. Report the results to the Associate Director of Estates and Capital and ensure that all required follow up action is taken.
• Monitor any issues of non‑compliance, ensure that the Associate Director is kept informed, and that immediate action is taken to rectify them.
• Work proactively and co‑operatively with the Head of Estates, Estates Managers, Fire Safety and Security Officer and other team members to ensure effective delivery on all statutory, mandatory and legal compliance matters.
• Review and develop policies, procedures and standards relating to Compliance. Ensure that they are effectively implemented and that all team members are aware of their requirements.
• Regularly identify and implement compliance KPI targets, monitor outcomes and report on them.
• Advise on and be involved in the compliance aspects of capital project delivery, ensuring that standards of compliance are maintained and that any issues are rectified at the earliest opportunity.
• Monitor health and safety compliance practice across all Estates activities, in conjunction with the Trust's health and safety advisors.
• Ensure compliance systems are in place for all relevant Statutory Standards, Codes of Practice, Health and Safety requirements, Health Technical Memoranda, COSHH, Building Regulations and NHS Estates services.
• Ensure that Safe Working Practice procedures, Planned Preventative Maintenance procedures, Standard Operating Procedures, Risk Assessments, Method Statements, COSHH documentation etc are all in place to the correct standard and kept up to date.
• Assist the Head of Estates with implementing the relevant elements of change programmes to ensure achievable service delivery timescales, giving guidance on compliance issues, when working to tight deadlines and budgets.
• When required, act as Appointed Person and be involved in dealing with compliance related emergencies outside of normal working hours.
• Ensure that the safety and compliance of the department is of paramount importance in all aspects.
• Assist internal and external professionals with their requests for information such as downloading and handover of CCTV recordings.

Service and Engagement

• Actively engage with and seek the Trust, to ensure that the Compliance arrangements meet their requirements and that service improvements are jointly identified and acted upon.
• Ensure the cohesive development of Estates statutory compliance services and seek improvements to increase quality and effectiveness of those services.
• Implement and monitor the relevant elements of the KPI framework to monitor compliance performance outcomes against identified targets. Ensure team members are aware of their targets; provide regular feedback on team performance and communicate proactively with them to generate service improvement ideas.
• Identify compliance improvement initiatives and take approved initiatives forward, ensuring outcomes and impact are evaluated.
• Assist with annual NHS returns such as PAM, ERIC etc.

Risk and Compliance

• Take the lead on identifying and assessing Estates compliance risks. Contribute to the upkeep of the risk register and utilise the Trust's risk management system to identify and manage risks on the risk register. Ensure that the Associate Director is kept aware of significant emerging and ongoing compliance risks and how they are being managed.
• Work closely and co‑operatively with the Estates Managers to ensure that all works are carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Trust's health and safety policies and procedures and compliance best practice.
• Lead on the implementation of the Trust's risk management strategies relating to compliance, maintaining co‑operative working relationships with the Health and Safety, Facilities and Infection Prevention and Control teams.
• Address issues of non‑compliance, report back to the Associate Director, and ensure prompt action is taken to address them.
• Ensure statutory planned maintenance systems are in place and working effectively to ensure compliance with relevant standards with records and evidence of compliance.
• Monitor training to ensure that all compliance related training for team members is kept up to date and evidenced.
• Assist with the production of the Estates emergency plan, ensuring that all team members are aware of it, including participating in test exercises when required.

Resource Management

• Wherever possible, identify cost efficiencies through new ways of working and obtaining best value for money in procurement.

Specialist/Technical requirements: Systems and Equipment

• Responsible for ensuring systems, equipment and plant are tested and maintained to meet compliance requirements.
• Partake in trials/testing of new systems or equipment to develop and improve the delivery of the Estates function.
• Carries out site checks and audits to assess compliance with complex statutory requirements.
• Utilises corporate Communications and IT systems effectively.

Judgements

• Makes judgements on a range of complex facts and situations in response to changing priorities and competing demands including: Range of complex compliance requirements across all Estates activity, Resources Building and health and safety regulations, Risk management, Health and safety management, Evaluation of performance against compliance requirements, Analysis of specialist technical information, Interpretation of complex legislation, technical guidance, best practice codes.
• Works autonomously in ensuring compliance targets are met, interpreting and acting upon complex engineering and building statutory requirements.
• Makes judgements across a range of compliance Estates issues, taking the sometimes conflicting demands of legislation, health and safety requirements, healthcare standards and financial constraints.
• Makes judgements consistently within the context of the CARE values and the Trust's commitment to be outstanding in all it does.

Communication

• Provides, receives and analyses complex compliance information and communicates, technical and statutory, non‑technical individuals, and other stakeholders.
• Develops and implements effective channels of communication to ensure complex information is disseminated in a timely and appropriate manner to team members and colleagues from other service areas.
• Proactively communicates with other members of the Estates team, to generate ideas, and continuously improve performance.
• Prepared to challenge appropriately when compliance standards fall short.>
• Adapts personal communication style appropriately to the needs of the audience.

Challenges

• Overcomes barriers to understanding because of the technical and complex nature of information.
• Addresses conflicting perspectives and demands from user Departments.
• Assists with need to adapt and develop the service to meet changing organisational needs.
• Requires concentration and mental effort to resolve complex issues, often in the face of regular interruptions from arising issues.
• Maintains a firm but fair approach with team members to ensure that compliance standards are maintained.

About us

As a Trust we remain bold and ambitious with plans for both service and system collaborative transformation over the coming years to improve the health and wellbeing of our local people through high quality care.

We pride ourselves on their wellbeing put first and as such provide a range of wellness opportunities including flexible working.

We are committed to the Greener NHS national ambition to becoming the world's first 'carbon net zero' national health system by 2045 (Greener NHS (england.nhs.uk). As part of this, sustainability is embedded in our strategy as one of our four key enablers. In order to deliver on this that we need a workforce that is as passionate as we are about achieving these goals, for the benefit of our service users, workforce, local communities and the planet alike. For 2024/2025, we have launched our Proud to be Green engagement campaign which is aligned to the targets set out in our Green Plan. As a Trust, you can be assured that we will commit to supporting you in working towards our net zero ambitions, set out in our Green Plan, through our sustainability programme.

The Trust is committed to ensuring that a diverse workforce is representative and inclusive at all levels. We would very much welcome applications from all under‑represented groups including women, people with disabilities, people from global majority backgrounds, and those from the lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities.

Person Specification

Experience

• Proven experience in a compliance, audit, or risk management role
• Educated to degree level (or equivalent experience)
• Designing and implementing compliance systems and plans
• Excellent organisational and time management skills
• Strong IT, written, and verbal communication skills
• Professional compliance or risk certification
• Understanding of health and safety policies, procedures and systems in an Estates setting
• Experience of utilising KPI frameworks to drive service improvement
• Understanding of UK data protection legislation

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.

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust