Senior Resilience Advisor - Internal Only

NHS Ayrshire & Arran; Ayr; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

NHS Ayrshire & Arran invites applications for a Senior Resilience Advisor in our Public Health Department based at Ailsa Hospital, Ayr with options for hybrid working. This permanent role focuses on building system resilience, advising colleagues, and ensuring readiness under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

You will deputise for the Head of Organisational Resilience, lead resilience planning, coordinate cross‑agency exercises and workshops, and promote robust business continuity across NHS

Qualifications

• Educated to postgraduate level or equivalent specialist knowledge in resilience.
• Excellent negotiation and influencing skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist advice to strengthen system resilience and ensure compliance with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and NHS Scotland guidance.
• Deputise for the Head of Organisational Resilience and lead resilience planning within NHS Ayrshire & Arran.

Skills

Emergency planning

Business continuity

Stakeholder engagement

Workshop facilitation

Negotiation

Effective communication

Project management

Resilience knowledge

Driving licence

Education

Postgraduate diploma in resilience or equivalent

Job description

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.

Note that this post is only open to internal staff of NHS Ayrshire & Arran and/or NHS Scotland.

Who We Are

NHS Ayrshire and Arran are one of 14 territorial NHS Boards within NHS Scotland.

In support of our core purpose of Working together to achieve the healthiest life possible for everyone in Ayrshire and Arran, we are committed to a culture that is Caring, Safe, and Respectful. You will be required to work collaboratively in a safe, caring and respectful way.

To find out more about NHS Ayrshire and Arran please visit our website - NHS Ayrshire & Arran - Home (nhsaaa.net)

• Show us the real you: Your application should reflect your skills, experience, and motivations authentically.
• Use AI wisely: It’s fine to use AI for ideas or to check spelling and grammar, but don’t let it write your answers.
• Why this matters: Applications that rely on AI-generated content may be withdrawn. By applying, you confirm your responses are based on your own knowledge and achievements.

Tip: Think of AI as a helper, not a substitute. We want to understand you—not an AI tool.

Position

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Resilience Advisor within our Public Health Department based at Ailsa Hospital, Ayr with options for hybrid working. This post is offered on a permanent basis.

Hours

36 hours

UK Driving Licence

A UK driving licence is essential for this role.

What You Will Do

The senior role exists to provide specialist advice and support to colleagues to build resilience across the system to strengthen resilience and ensure compliance with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA), the Preparing Scotland suite of Guidance, the NHS Scotland Preparing for Emergencies and the NHS Scotland Standards for Organisational Resilience. The purpose of this post is to ensure through adequate arrangements for assessment, prevention, preparedness, response and recovery, essential health needs in Ayrshire are met when normal services.

Become Overloaded, Restricted Or Non-operational For Whatever Reason Including

• Major/Critical incidents within the community that will, or have the potential to, impact on human health;
• large communicable disease outbreaks;
• interruption or failure of critical service and infra-structure support functions;
• deliberate acts (of terrorism)

To deputise for the Head of Organisational Resilience and provide direct support to the in developing, project managing and promoting resilience planning within NHS Ayrshire & Arran and including within the Health & Social Care Partnerships. The post holder will have an independent work-load and also lead areas identified within the Resilience work plan.

Training

Knowledge, training and/or experience required for this post:

• Educated to post graduate diploma level or possess equivalent specialist knowledge and experience in resilience
• Excellent and highly developed negotiation and influencing skills

Experience And Skills

• Proven experience in emergency planning and business continuity management, ideally within the NHS or other Category 1 responder organisation
• Ability to work to deadlines and to prioritise work whilst maintaining attention to detail
• Experience of working collaboratively across multi-disciplinary teams
• Experience of organising and facilitating workshops, seminars and exercises
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of professional groups and senior managers.
• Excellent negotiation and influencing skills, with the ability to engage and motivate others. Highly effective written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly and persuasively.
• Knowledge: Comprehensive knowledge of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, associated legislation, and national guidance, with a clear understanding of the statutory duties placed on local responding agencies.
• Strong understanding of of the NHS and how it operates.
• Hold a full UK driving license

If you want to find out more about the role, please contact (Lorette Dunlop, Head of Organisational Resilience at [e-mail])

RIGHT TO WORK / CERTIFICATES OF SPONSORSHIP

To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service. Further information on what NHS Scotland Boards are required to do to check this as well as what your responsibilities include can be found within the attached Candidate Information Pack.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

NHS Ayrshire & Arran may be able to offer visa sponsorship for certain roles, provided the post meets the minimum salary threshold and any other required criteria. When considering if a post meets the salary threshold for sponsorship, please note the salary advertised is based on a full-time contract and must be pro-rated for part-time positions. Sponsorship is not guaranteed and is assessed on a case-by-case basis following interview and at the commencement of pre-employment checks.

Please visit here for further information.

We are unable to provide sponsorship for Band 2 posts or bank contracts.