Senior Quality Governance LeadNHS

Job summary

Closing date: 1st September 2026

Shortlisting to take place: Commencing 8th September 2026

Interviews to commence: W/C 14th September 2026 (May Change)

Are you a dynamic leader with a wealth of experience in Clinical Governance, looking for an opportunity to work with a fantastic team?

An exciting opportunity has arisen to lead and manage our Quality Governance Team at a pivotal time in our organisational journey. We are seeking an experienced and forward-thinking individual to drive performance excellence in clinical quality, patient safety, and risk management across the Trust.

Working closely with the Associate Director of Quality you will play a key leadership role in embedding the Trust's strategies for quality, patient safety, governance, and assurance. You will ensure that delivering high-quality, safe care is recognised as the responsibility of every member of staff, supporting our ambition to become an outstanding provider of healthcare.

This role is focused on achieving measurable improvement outcomes through strong leadership, data-driven insights, and continuous learning. You will lead the Trust's approach to quality governance, ensuring robust, effective arrangements that meet the requirements of regulatory bodies and commissioners, while driving a culture that goes beyond compliance to continuous improvement.

Main duties of the job

In taking this role forward, you will:

• Support and further develop a culture that empowers staff to continuously improve care and outcomes;
• Build on existing structures to enhance and sustain high-quality care across the organisation;
• Align quality governance systems with corporate governance to ensure consistency, efficiency, and impact;
• Provide visible, credible leadership across the Trust on quality, risk, and patient safety;
• Translate learning from patient safety incidents, clinical negligence claims, and other sources into meaningful and sustainable improvements.

As part of the Quality Team, you will provide expert governance leadership within an acute hospital setting and contribute to the Trust-wide on-call rota. You will act as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert, championing a proactive, high-performing culture where innovation and accountability thrive.

The role involves overseeing the Trust's governance and patient safety systems, leading incident response processes, and ensuring learning from incidents, claims, and inquests is embedded across services. The post holder works closely with clinical teams and senior stakeholders to improve quality, manage risks, and drive compliance with national standards. They also lead the Quality Governance Team, deliver reporting to the Board, and support staff development through training, engagement, and improvement programmes.

Job description

The Senior Quality Governance Lead provides expert leadership on risk, patient safety, and governance. The role ensures the effective delivery of the Trusts Risk Management Strategy and Patient Safety Incident Response Framework, embedding systems thinking, human factors, and a being fair approach. The post holder supports the development of safe systems of care, promotes continuous learning, and provides assurance to the Trust Board regarding quality and compliance. Key responsibilities include:

• Lead the development and implementation of clinical governance, patient safety, and quality assurance strategies.
• Support the Associate Director of Quality in delivering organisational objectives and maintaining regulatory compliance.
• Provide leadership to the Quality Governance Team and oversee incident response systems.
• Embed a Trust-wide culture where quality and safety are prioritised by all staff.

Patient Safety and Risk Management:

• Oversee patient safety incident investigations, ensuring fairness, consistency, and learning.
• Lead the implementation of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework.
• Conduct thematic analysis of incidents, claims, and inquests to identify risks and improvement actions.
• Ensure effective risk escalation, governance processes, and safety assurance mechanisms.

Governance and Compliance:

• Maintain systems and processes to support CQC registration and regulatory compliance.
• Develop and monitor governance frameworks and assurance systems across the Trust.
• Support production of Quality Accounts, Board reports, and quality dashboards.
• Ensure policies align with national patient safety strategies and frameworks.

Stakeholder Engagement and Communication:

• Work collaboratively with internal teams, regulators, and external partners including NHS bodies and local authorities.
• Engage clinical and non-clinical staff to drive governance improvements.
• Produce high-quality reports, data analysis, and recommendations for senior leadership.
• Foster a culture of open communication and psychological safety.

Quality Improvement:

• Lead and support Trust-wide patient safety improvement programmes.
• Promote continuous improvement through training, learning, and development initiatives.
• Use data and intelligence to inform decision-making and service redesign.

Operational Management:

• Oversee staffing, budgets, and resources within the Quality Governance function.
• Ensure effective performance management and delivery of team objectives.
• Manage reporting systems, data accuracy, and governance processes.

N.B this is not exhaustive.

About us

Do you have excellent communication skills, strong experience in governance and assurance, and a track record of leading teams and driving improvement? Are you adept at identifying and embedding learning from patient safety insights?

This is an exciting time to join the Quality Team as we continue to evolve our approach to continuous improvement and organisational learning--offering you the opportunity to make a real and lasting impact on patient care.

Our People Charter outlines the behaviours we can expect from one another and what you can expect from Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust:

• We value people
• We are one team
• We care

We're keen to meet people who share these values and are passionate about delivering the highest quality of care to our patients.