Senior Improvement Advisor

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Worthing; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Senior Improvement Lead to drive quality improvement across hospital and frontline teams, developing and implementing the Trust's quality management system.

The role focuses on embedding practical improvement routines, coaching teams, using data effectively, and delivering measurable benefits for patients and staff.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering improvement programmes in challenging environments.
• Ability to lead projects and drive change.
• Experience training large groups.
• Strong coaching and facilitation skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate agreed improvement priorities across the Trust.
• Plan, deliver and assure improvement activity with governance.
• Coach hospital management and frontline teams.
• Embed routines like huddles, leader standard work, and visual management.
• Develop improvement practitioners and modelling compassionate leadership.

Skills

Coaching

Facilitation

Leadership

Change management

Improvement tools

Education

Operational Excellence Yellow Belt

Degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Job overview The Senior Improvement Lead will play a key role in supporting Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust's continuous quality improvement journey, including the development and implementation of the Trust's quality management system. The role will provide senior improvement leadership across multiple workstreams, with a particular focus on hospital management, frontline support and embedding practical improvement routines within everyday work. The post holder will work with clinical, operational, corporate and frontline teams to translate improvement ambition into visible practice, measurable improvement and sustainable change. They will support teams to strengthen problem solving, use data and learning effectively, and apply improvement methods consistently to deliver measurable benefits for patients, staff and services.

Main duties of the job

Job overview The post holder will lead and coordinate agreed improvement priorities across Sussex Partnership, including quality management system implementation, improvement infrastructure, capability building and priority improvement projects. They will support the planning, delivery and assurance of improvement activity, including readiness assessment, maturity tracking, sustainability planning, benefits realisation and clear escalation of risks and issues. A key part of the role will be providing visible, practical support to hospital management and frontline teams through coaching, facilitation, constructive challenge and observation of work. The post holder will help teams embed routines such as huddles, leader standard work, visual management, status sheets and measurement for improvement. They will also contribute to improvement training, collaborative learning, governance reporting and the development of consistent improvement practice across the Trust. The role includes line management and development of improvement practitioners or advisors, supporting delivery against agreed priorities and modelling compassionate leadership, reflective learning and high standards of improvement practice.

About us

Working for your organisation

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust are fully committed to embracing quality in patient and staff safety, experience and effectiveness. We work to ensure we provide the very best care to the people who use our services, utilising resources, expertise and energy to think creatively and differently about service delivery. Embedding quality improvement across the Trust as the method for change is fully supported by our Executive board and equally by our staff, patients and partners, who are excited about the prospect of not only thinking about but doing things differently.

Job responsibilities

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

As detailed within the job description and main duties above.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Trained and accredited in Operational Excellence to Yellow Belt level; or equivalent experience
• Educated to Degree Level or equivalent experience

Knowledge/Experience

• Experience of successfully managing and delivering improvement or change programmes in challenging environments
• Experience of leading projects which are recognised as being successful and where the project or change management supported the departmental or organisation's success
• Ability to work independently, make informed decisions and achieve objectives whilst working with continually changing demands and priorities
• Knowledge and experience of improvement tools and methodology
• Experience of providing improvement training
• Knowledge and experience of Coaching and coaching standards/ practises
• Experience of programme planning and delivery, including all aspects of programme governance and control
• Experience of training large groups
• Experience of forming effective working relationships with colleagues to achieve common goals
• Ability to work independently, make informed decisions and achieve objectives whilst working with continually changing demands and priorities
• Demonstrate background of delivering projects in complex and challenging environments

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.

Deputy Director Improvement & Effectiveness