Head of Improvement Programmes | East London NHS Foundation Trust

East London NHS Foundation Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 140,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension Scheme

CPD opportunities

Healthcare

Christmas Closure

Volunteer days

Job summary

East London NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Head of Improvement Programmes to lead the design, delivery and evaluation of major quality improvement initiatives across the Trust. The role oversees a team of Improvement Advisors and senior colleagues, guiding data-driven improvement and knowledge dissemination.

You will be a senior figure within the Quality Improvement (QI) Team, responsible for strategy, measurement and impact across QI portfolios, with opportunities to teach, publish learnings

Qualifications

• Experience leading quality improvement initiatives in NHS or healthcare settings.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design, delivery and evaluation of large-scale quality improvement programmes.
• Oversee improvement work by Senior Improvement Advisors and Improvement Advisors.
• Act as internal expert on data and measurement for improvement initiatives.
• Lead the QI leadership team and represent the programme at internal and external events.
• Coordinate publication of QI work and disseminate learnings to stakeholders.
• Deputise for the Associate Director of Quality Improvement when required.
• Manage the QI portfolio budget and related administration.
• Support workforce development through specialist learning events and faculty coordination.

Job description

Head of Improvement Programmes | East London NHS Foundation Trust

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.

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

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.

1. 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 organizing 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.

1. 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.

1. 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:

1. 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.

1. 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:

1. 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

1. 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.

To responsible for the procurement of supplies for the service, as and when required.

Manage the budget for all QI programmes and related expenses.

This advert closes on Sunday 15 Nov 2026

£140,000 - £150,000 Actual pay determined in line with the terms and conditions

-Pension Scheme -3 volunteer days -Christmas Closure -CPD opportunities -Healthcare

British Universities and Colleges Sports