Job overview

We are seeking an exceptional quality governance leader to join West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust as Associate Director of Quality Governance and Risk Management. This is a pivotal leadership role responsible for providing operational leadership for the Trust's risk management, governance and assurance frameworks, ensuring that risk management is embedded across all areas of the organisation and supports the delivery of safe, effective and high-quality patient care. 

Reporting to the Director of Governance, you will operationally lead Trust-wide risk management, oversee the Corporate Risk Register, and ensure that governance systems can provide robust risk assurance to the Board and its Committees. The role will provide line management for legal services, clinical effectiveness and divisional governance functions for Surgery, Anaesthetics and Cancer and Corporate divisions, while making expert contribution to the wider clinical quality and patient safety agenda. 

This is an outstanding opportunity for an experienced senior governance leader to shape organisational culture, strengthen risk assurance arrangements and influence strategic decision-making at Board level within a complex NHS organisation.

Advert

As Associate Director of Quality Governance and Risk Management, you will lead the operational delivery of the Trust's integrated risk management framework, ensuring effective systems are in place for identifying, assessing, mitigating and monitoring both clinical and non-clinical risks. You will provide leadership for corporate and divisional risk management arrangements, ensuring risks are clearly articulated, appropriately escalated and supported by robust controls, assurances and improvement plans. 

The role is responsible for providing expert advice to senior leaders, supporting governance maturity across the organisation and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements including Care Quality Commission standards and the NHS Oversight Framework. You will oversee the development of high-quality governance and assurance reporting for Trust committees and the Board, using intelligence from incidents, complaints, claims, audits, patient feedback and risk management systems to support informed decision-making. 

While delivering trust wide risk management, the role line manages the head of governance and risk who leads Surgery, Anaesthetics and Cancer and Corporate divisional governance teams. The role also line manages legal services and clinical effectiveness functions. You will promote a culture of openness, learning, accountability and continuous improvement across the Trust.

Working for our organisation

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The successful candidate will provide leadership for governance and risk management across the Trust. They will oversee the Corporate Risk Register and risk management framework, support Board and committee assurance processes, and ensure governance systems effectively support the achievement of strategic objectives.

Working collaboratively with executive, clinical and operational leaders, the postholder will analyse complex information, identify emerging risks and opportunities, develop governance strategies and lead programmes that strengthen organisational risk management capability. They will play a key role in translating national policy and regulatory requirements into practical governance arrangements, while ensuring that learning from incidents, complaints, claims and audits drives sustainable improvement. 

The role is primarily based at Watford General Hospital with some travel across Trust sites and external organisations as required. Core working hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm (37.5 hours per week). Flexible working requests will be considered in line with Trust policy and service requirements. Participation in the Trust's on-call arrangements may be required for Band 8c roles.