Head of Improvement Programmes

Transformation Unit; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 88,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation up to £8000

Job summary

East London NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Head of Improvement Programmes to lead design, delivery and evaluation of large-scale quality improvement initiatives in London. The role oversees QI projects and faculty, and acts as a senior member of the QI leadership team.

You will work across clinical and non-clinical areas, supervise improvement advisers, and deputise for the Associate Director of Quality Improvement. Interviews will be held in London.

Qualifications

• Masters degree in a relevant field or equivalent.
• Extensive teaching, facilitation, mentoring and coaching experience.
• Experience using data and measurement for improvement.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, delivery and evaluation of large-scale QI programmes.
• Oversee quality improvement data and measurement.
• Support senior leaders and coordinate faculty for programmes.
• Represent the QI programme at internal and external events.

Skills

Presentation skills

Data interpretation

Curriculum development

Teaching & training

Leadership

Education

Masters degree

Job description

Employer East London NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site East London NHS Foundation Trust Headquarters Town London Salary £88,250 - £100,355 Per Annum, Inc HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 15/11/2026 23:59 Interview date 26/11/2026

Head of Improvement Programmes

NHS AfC: Band 8c

ELFT has long been recognised as a centre of excellence for mental and health care, innovation and improvement. So it is a very exciting time for you to come and work for us. Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Job overview

The Trust embraces quality as the overarching principle for the organisation and has set a mission to improve the quality of life for those we serve.

The primary purpose of the Quality Improvement (QI) Team is to nurture an improvement culture that involves everyone to achieve this mission. The team engages, encourages and inspires people inside and outside the organisation, helps people build and use improvement skills, ensures support for those undertaking improvement and oversees continuous improvement through QI projects and QI tools.

The post-holder will be a quality improvement expert overseeing the design, delivery and evaluation of large-scale quality improvement programmes in support of the Trust's mission. This is one of the highest profile areas of output from the central QI department, bringing together teams from across the organisation on shared themes.

The post holder will lead all aspects of QI programmes in and outside the organisation, including design of new programmes, evaluation, scale‑up and spread of innovations, and oversight of QI projects within programmes.

The Head of Improvement Programmes will also oversee improvement work by Senior Improvement Advisors and Improvement Advisors, be a member of the QI leadership team and deliver core parts of the QI department annual objectives. They will act up for the Associate Director in their absence and be a member of faculty for teaching quality improvement.

The interview date for this role is 26th November. All interviews will be held in person at 9 Alie Street, London, E1 8DE.

Main duties of the job

• To provide specialist experience of leading and teaching QI at a variety of levels within an organisation and partner organisations.
• Post holder can be from either a clinical or non-clinical background.
• To be responsible for leading the design, delivery and evaluation of all large-scale QI programmes at ELFT
• To act as an internal organisational expert on the use of data and measurement
• To act as a member of the QI senior leadership team
• To oversee, manage and support projects, that fall within the Trust’s portfolio of high priority QI areas
• To provide leadership and improvement expertise for QI projects occurring within high priority areas within the Trust
• To represent the Trust QI programme at internal and external events
• To lead on publication of outputs and learning from the ELFT quality improvement work
• To supervise improvement advisors and senior improvement advisors within the QI department
• To deputise for the Associate Directors of Quality Improvement

Working for our organisation

Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To be responsible for leading the design, delivery and evaluation of all large‑scale QI programmes inside and outside ELFT
• To be responsible for designing and delivering improvement programmes in support of the Trust's mission to improve the quality of life for all we serve.
• To co‑design the strategic and operational plan for all QI programmes for the Trust
• To be responsible for the design and delivery of all improvement programmes at ELFT including organising specialist capability building on programme topics.
• To work closely with Clinical Directors, Service Directors, Directorate Management Team members, Professional Leads and QI forums to ensure that high priority programmes are identified, resourced and supported adequately and that they align with their quality annual plans.
• To ensure that high priority programmes are continuously updated to ensure they align with the needs of the organisation and align with strategic priorities for the organisation.
• To ensure that high priority programmes are continuously evaluated using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods to ensure that they meet the requirements of the organisation.
• To oversee, supervise and manage the senior improvement advisors and improvement advisors that input into each of these offerings.
• To oversee and coordinate faculty on the high priority programmes. Faculty members will include members of the QI team, Executive Directors and other staff and service users from within and outside the organisation. The post holder will act as a principal member of the faculty for all improvement programmes.
• To lead and support the delivery of QI programme offerings outside the organisation. These offerings are variable in their size and delivery but may include population health programmes, Integrated Care System programmes, regional and national collaboratives.
• To manage and support projects, or groups of projects, that fall within the Trust's portfolio of high priority QI activities.
• To provide high level improvement expertise, leadership and coaching as required to project teams, QI sponsors and any other stakeholders involved in high priority improvement work.
• To work with senior leaders in sponsorship roles, including Executive and Senior Sponsors, Clinical Directors, Service Directors, Profession Leads and Experts by Experience, to shape programme strategy, resolve barriers and secure the support needed to deliver and sustain QI programmes.
• To assist senior management to design and embed a structure to allow high priority improvement projects to be supported and thrive within existing directorate infrastructure.
• To advise and design any specialist learning events that may be required to facilitate the progress of the high priority QI projects.
• To attend project team or any other meetings relevant to the delivery of the project's aims.
• To monitor progress of high priority projects and collaborate with relevant internal and external stakeholders to ensure progress in improvement work is maintained.
• To collate and present information relating to the progress of these projects at numerous internal and external forums and meetings.
• To work in partnership with other Trust departments, including Population Health, Data and Analytics, Digital, Finance and People Participation, to align improvement programmes with wider Trust strategies and to make sure teams have the data, systems and specialist support they need.
• To act as a subject matter expert in planned experimentation methodology and teach and lead on the use of multi‑factorial designs to quantitatively measure the impact of different change ideas being tested.
• To coordinate the publication of QI work in relevant healthcare journals.
• To act as an internal organisational expert on the use of data and measurement for improvement
• To provide expert advice and where necessary leadership, to staff at all levels in the organisation on using data and measurement for improvement (from Executive to front line services level).
• To coach QI sponsors, clinical and service directors, and other directorate staff on analysing and interpreting data for improvement. This will involve reviewing complex macro, meso and micro data sets and formulating and amending strategies where there may be more than one course of action.
• To act as a subject matter expert in Quality Improvement. To provide leadership and direction where there is highly complex or conflicting information or where expert opinion differs.
• To promote and support the publication of Trust QI work using data for improvement.
• To teach on using data for improvement at a variety of forums in the Trust.
• To work with the finance team to evaluate the financial impact of QI Programmes and projects, quantifying cost savings, cost avoidance and income benefits, and use this evidence to inform programme design, prioritisation and reporting to the Executive and board.

Management:

• To act as a member of the QI Leadership/Management Team
• To act as a member of the QI leadership team, identifying and leading on strategic, managerial, and operational issues that impact the central QI team and the entire organisation
• To chair and oversee QI leadership operational and QI programmes strategic and workstream meetings on a rotational basis in line with the department's 7-step meeting process.
• To support the development of strategic objectives on an annual basis in the QI department and to hold responsibility for overseeing and delivering on some of these.
• To engage with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders to shape the QI strategy.
• This role may involve presenting highly sensitive or complex information to groups of staff where there may be barriers to understanding.
• To deputise for the Associate Director of QI or Director of Quality as required.
• To represent the Trust QI Programme at internal and external events
• To coordinate, create and present material on the QI programme or any of its constituent parts at internal or external training events, conferences or awards as required.
• To collaborate with local QI project team members as required to prepare and present any of this content.
• To help shape longer term strategic planning across the wider health economy, particularly through the Trust's strategic partnership with the IHI.

Human Resources:

• To support human resource issues and function as part of the leadership team
• To lead and supervise Improvement Advisors and fellows
• To assist the leadership in the recruitment of staff members as required
• To conduct supervision, support workplan objectives and appraisals for supervisees

Administration and financial

• General Responsibilities
• To act as an authorised signatory for the sign off of QI related expenses in the Trust in addition to the QI department
• To plan and prioritise own work to ensure effective support to all areas and delivery of key objectives.
• To ensure that, where necessary, regular reports are provided to the leadership team, Associate Director for QI, Director of Quality and the Board on specific QI related issues.
• To attend and contribute to the planning of the QI team high priority area meetings, full QI team meetings, trust wide QI forums as well as other task and any other relevant meetings as required.
• Responsible for the procurement of supplies for the service, as and when required.
• Manage the budget for all QI programmes and related expenses.

Person specification

Education

• Educated to Masters degree level
• IHI trained and certified Improvement Advisor
• Coaching related qualification
• Other improvement related qualifications (e.g. Lean, Six-Sigma)

Experience

• Seven years’ experience in a professional environment.
• Experience of applying continuous improvement methodology at multiple levels within an organisation.
• Experience of developing a skill needs assessment at organisational level.
• Experience of developing QI programmes using programme development frameworks
• Experience of presenting and facilitating complex improvement subjects.
• Experience of leading and participating in change.
• Previous experience of bringing innovation and new ideas to practice.
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Extensive teaching, facilitation, mentoring and coaching experience.
• Experience of using and teaching data and measurement for improvement
• Experience of working in a fast paced, adaptable environment
• Previous experience of working with senior staff
• Previous experience of programme evaluation through research
• Research skills and evidence of publishing

Knowledge and Skills

• Ability to working to regular, tight deadlines
• Excellent verbal and written presentation skills
• Problem recognition and problem‑solving skills, including conflict resolution
• Ability to provide training and guidance to colleagues on design and development of curriculum in addition to presentation and facilitation skills
• Ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with staff from a variety of backgrounds
• Ability to work autonomously and prioritise own workload
• Ability to work collaboratively and in teams
• Ability to understand, evaluate and present complex data
• Ability to challenge orthodoxies and established work patterns in a positive engaging way
• Excellent motivational skills
• Flexible approach
• Principles of audit and evaluation, with evidence of previous experience leading audits
• Knowledge of adult education principles and curriculum development frameworks
• Management of change
• Principles of continuous improvement

Other

• Able to move around the organisation and other locations within the geographical area served by the Trust
• Able to concentrate for long periods
• Able to cope with demanding and unpredictable work pattern
• Able to cope with emotional circumstances relating to personal histories of service users, carers, and staff
• Able to use computer technology for sustained periods

Making Things Better

Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don’t stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.

We have launched our new Five Year Strategy 2026-2031. This strategy sets out how we will build on our strengths, focus on what matters most, and work with our communities to improve outcomes, reduce inequalities and deliver high-quality care now and in the future.

Our Community

We provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London. We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.

Staff and Service Users United

We strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician‑led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services. We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.

We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.

Diversity

ELFT Is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve. Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.

Other reasons to apply

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s job share, part time or another flexible pattern.

As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £8,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.

AI in applications

If you use AI or other tools to assist in writing your job application, make sure you add your own personal touch especially in the supporting information section. AI can make writing easier, but it doesn’t fully understand the position you’re applying for and might generate false or misleading information. Applications written only by AI often sound generic and may not show your real skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s important to write your supporting statement in your own words. East London NHS Foundation Trust does not recommend relying only on AI, as it could negatively impact on your chance of success in the application process.

We carefully check applications to make sure no one has an unfair advantage, and we verify all references. At the interview, you’ll be asked about your experience, so be honest and ensure everything in your application is accurate. Please remember that using AI during the interview is not allowed.

What Next?

As part of our recruitment process we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS. We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same..

If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.

Find us online at www.elft.nhs.uk | Find us on Facebook | Follow us on @NHS_ELFT

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Name Marco Aurelio Job title Associate Director of Quality Improvement Email address [e-mail] Telephone number 02076554000 Additional information

Please email [e-mail] with any queries pertaining to this post.