Director of Quality Governance & Compliance

SATOS Jobs; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

On-site leisure facilities

Bus travel discounts

Park and Ride access

Staff parking subsidy

24/7 hot food on site

Staff break space and café

Job summary

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a senior leader to drive quality governance, patient safety and risk management across the organisation. You will provide expert advice, challenge and assurance to the Executive and Board, leading major inspections and sustaining improvements.

The role requires a Master's level qualification and extensive NHS governance experience, with a track record of cross-system collaboration and embedding a culture of safety and learning.

Qualifications

• Master's degree level in a relevant subject or equivalent senior leadership experience.
• Postgraduate qualification in quality governance, patient safety, risk management, healthcare leadership or related field.
• Evidence of continuing professional development at an advanced level.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior leadership for quality governance, patient safety and clinical risk across the Trust.
• Lead regulatory preparation, external reviews and assurance activities to Board level.
• Develop multidisciplinary teams and drive sustainable quality improvements.

Skills

Senior leadership

Quality governance

Risk management

Board liaison

Regulatory compliance

Education

Master's degree

Job description

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This vacancy will close at midnight on 13th December 2026.

Interviews are due to be held on 06th January 2026.

All appointments with a start date on or after 1 October 2026 will be subject to a 12-week probationary period. This provides a structured and supportive period to help you settle into your role, with regular reviews and feedback.

Due to Home Office immigration rules, a full-time permanent vacancy cannot be filled by individuals on a student visa. Therefore, please be advised that if you are a student visa holder, we will not be able to offer you a full-time permanent contract unless you have:

• applied for a Graduate visa
• or you will have successfully completed your course and have applied for a Graduate visa before the anticipated start date of your employment

Benefits to you

• At Cambridge University Hospitals, we want to do all we can to support good working days.
• We offer development opportunities and a wide range of benefits, including on-site leisure facilities, shopping concourse and day nurseries.
• Our good work programme currently includes providing reduced cost Stagecoach bus travel to and from Cambridge University Hospital site.
• Park and Ride bus journeys between Babraham Road and Trumpington sites are free, as is the route to and from Cambridge train station and our hospitals.
• We also subsidise the cost of parking on site for eligible staff.
• On CUH campus, hot food is available 24/7 and at a reduced cost for colleagues.
• Recently we launched the first of our staff pod break spaces. Located in the Deakin Centre, we have a purpose-created colleague-only café, with free tea and coffee, a break space and private outside area for colleagues to rest, refuel and recharge.
• Just one of the ways we are working hard to support good working days at CUH.
• CUH is committed to assisting employees in achieving a good work-life balance irrespective of role or personal circumstances. Flexible arrangements may include, but are not limited to, part-time working, job-share, term-time working and flexible start and finish times.
• Please note if you would like to discuss the required hours of this role further, you should approach the contact given. In some cases, alternative working hours will be considered.
• We welcome applications from the Armed Forces.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to Master's degree level in a relevant subject, or able to demonstrate equivalent senior leadership experience and expertise.
• Relevant postgraduate qualification in quality governance, patient safety, risk management, healthcare leadership or a closely related field.
• Evidence of continuing professional development at an advanced level.

Desirable criteria

• Current registration with an appropriate clinical or healthcare professional body.
• Postgraduate management, leadership, improvement or Board-level quality governance qualification.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Substantial senior leadership experience in quality governance, patient safety, clinical risk or regulatory compliance within a large and complex healthcare organisation.
• Demonstrable experience of holding accountability for organisation-wide quality governance, patient safety, clinical risk or regulatory compliance arrangements.
• Significant experience of providing expert advice, constructive challenge and assurance to Executive Directors, Board Committees or a Trust Board.
• Successful leadership of major regulatory inspections, external reviews, accreditation activity or complex organisational responses.
• A demonstrable record of improving quality, strengthening assurance, reducing risk or delivering sustained organisational learning.
• Experience of leading and developing multidisciplinary teams through senior managers and professional leaders.
• Experience of handling highly complex, sensitive and high‑profile quality or safety matters, including engagement with patients, families, regulators or legal processes.
• Experience of managing budgets, workforce and competing priorities at senior level.

Desirable criteria

• Experience across more than one NHS provider, system or regulatory environment.
• Experience of Board or committee development relating to quality, safety, risk or assurance.
• Experience of research, publication, teaching or national policy contribution in a relevant field.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Expert knowledge of NHS quality governance, patient safety, clinical risk and assurance systems.
• Expert understanding of statutory and regulatory frameworks relevant to NHS providers, including Care Quality Commission requirements and national patient safety expectations.
• Advanced understanding of Board assurance, risk management, control effectiveness, assurance mapping and escalation.
• Expert understanding of systems-based learning, human factors, safety culture and organisational learning.
• Strong knowledge of clinical audit, effectiveness, accreditation, complaints intelligence, claims, mortality and inquest processes and how these contribute to quality governance.
• Understanding of NHS strategy, provider oversight, integrated care systems and the wider policy and financial context.
• Knowledge of equality, diversity, inclusion, health inequalities, safeguarding, information governance and duty of candour as they relate to quality and safety.

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of improvement science, implementation methods and evaluation approaches.
• Knowledge of data analytics and methods for identifying variation, weak signals and emerging risk.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Exceptional leadership, influencing and relationship-building skills, with the credibility to work effectively with Board members, executives, clinicians, managers, regulators, patients and external partners.
• Ability to exercise independent expert judgement and provide constructive challenge in complex, politically sensitive or high-risk situations.
• Highly developed analytical skills and the ability to synthesise complex quantitative and qualitative information into clear conclusions and recommendations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including production and presentation of high‑quality Board reports, regulatory submissions and executive briefings.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including production and presentation of high‑quality Board reports, regulatory submissions and executive briefings.
• Ability to lead across organisational and professional boundaries and secure delivery where direct authority may be limited.
• Advanced negotiation, facilitation and conflict‑resolution skills.
• Ability to prioritise, make decisions and maintain effective oversight across a broad and demanding portfolio.
• Ability to lead change, develop organisational capability and embed sustainable improvements.
• High level of digital literacy and ability to use information systems to support governance, analysis and reporting.

Desirable criteria

• Formal training in coaching, mediation, quality improvement, human factors or systems thinking.

Additional Requirements

Essential criteria

• The ability to understand and always behave, towards patients, visitors and colleagues according to the Trust values of safe, kind, excellent.
• Embodies the NHS Constitution and Trust values.
• Visible commitment to patients, families, staff and the delivery of safe, kind and excellent care.
• Open, inclusive and collaborative, while able to challenge and hold others to account.
• Politically astute, resilient and able to remain credible and composed under pressure.
• Curious and improvement-focused, with a commitment to learning and evidence-based practice.
• Able to understand and consistently demonstrate the Trust values and behaviours.