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.

Main duties of the job

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.

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