Job overview

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is seeking an exceptional Trust Board Business Manager to join the Chief Executive’s Office in a pivotal senior role supporting the Trust Chair and Board.

Reporting to the Trust’s Chief Executive, the Trust Board Business Manager will play a critical role in enabling the effective operation of the Trust Board, ensuring that statutory responsibilities are discharged and high standards of corporate governance are maintained. This is a highly influential and facilitative post, requiring sound judgement, discretion and the ability to operate confidently at Board level.

The postholder will act as a trusted advisor to the Trust Chair and Board members. Key responsibilities include leading all aspects of Trust Board governance; managing the delivery of regulatory and improvement action plans; overseeing the development and coordination of the Board’s annual work programme; and ensuring high-quality administration of Board and Committee business, including effective information flow and accurate record keeping.

Provide comprehensive support to the Trust Chair and Non-Executive Directors, including preparing high-quality briefings and correspondence, supporting Board development and appraisal processes, and maintaining key statutory registers. The role includes responsibility for key governance outputs such as the Annual Governance Statement and Annual Report, alongside oversight of Board-related budgets and external governance requirements.

Main duties of the job

The Trust Board Business Manager is a critically important role supporting and enabling the Trust Chair in facilitating an effective Board and in ensuring all statutory functions of the Board of an NHS Trust are performed and legislative duties are met. The postholder will serve as a confidante to the Chair and other members of the Trust Board and assist in various ways.

The postholder is accountable and responsible for the effective delivery of all regulatory action plans at Board level, including but not limited to a Board development programme and the Trust Care Quality Commission well-led action plan. The postholder will be expected to discharge all the requisite activities of a Trust Board secretary and advise the Board on developments in governance issues.

The postholder is accountable for high quality and effective management and administration of the Trust Board and Board Committees, ensuring they are appropriately recorded and improving existing processes and systems where relevant. The postholder will work closely with Committee Chairs and the responsible Executive Directors and their Executive Administrators to ensure the Committees are operating at the highest quality.

Working for our organisation

We are a people business – where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment. We offer all of this in a vibrant, modern city with a historic reputation for adventure. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY. If you have any issues with applying online and need additional support including reasonable adjustments with the application process please contact the recruitment manager for this post who will put you in touch with the recruitment team. We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants around less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. Please contact the recruiting manager to discuss this prior to your application submission. We commit to giving this full consideration in each case. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply for our roles, as diversity strengthens our teams. It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.