Deputy Director of Quality

Site Ladybridge Hall Town Bolton Salary £94,356 - £108,814 per annum, depending on experience Salary period Yearly Closing 08/07/:59

North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We are committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet our minimum selection criteria at each stage of the selection process. We will not tolerate discrimination on any of the following: gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, working pattern, caring responsibilities trade union activity or political beliefs-or any other grounds.

In October 2025 we published our Anti-racist Statement, which sets out our key commitments to becoming an anti-racist organisation. These commitments underpin our recruitment practices and reflect our dedication to creating a diverse, inclusive, and representative workforce.

The Trust is currently under-represented in terms of staff from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. We encourage applications from all backgrounds to improve the diversity of our workforce and to better reflect the communities we serve to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right place; every time.

The Trust reserves the right to close this vacancy early if a large number of applications are received.

Due to the volume of applications received for our advertisements, we will only contact those candidates shortlisted for interview via email; we aim to do this within 4 weeks of the closing date. If you do not receive the email, it will be that you have not been shortlisting on this occasion. When applying for this position, it is essential that you read the job description and person specification fully. Please use the supporting information space to demonstrate your ability to undertake this role, drawing on your skills, knowledge and experience.

We also offers a range of excellent benefits including a pension scheme, up to 33 days Annual leave (exclusive of bank holidays), training and development opportunities, access to NHS discounts, Car Lease Scheme, Cycle to Work Scheme, NHS Mortgages and Childcare Vouchers.

Job overview This new role will act as deputy to the Director of Quality and Improvement and will include oversight of the delivery of the Quality Directorate strategic plans whilst driving improvements in patient safety and regulatory compliance.

Main duties of the job To succeed in this role, you are likely to have extensive leadership experience in healthcare, a sound understanding of NHS governance including PSIRF with a penchant for building relationships, taking ownership and a track record of delivery across a diverse portfolio. The role will include opportunities to test out improvement methodologies, the ability to work flexibly across our five thousand miles and to work with great people committed to our common purpose of helping people when they need us most.

The recruitment process will have two stages which shortlisted candidates will need to attend, we are planning to hold the assessment centres on 27th July 2026 and Professional Discussions on 28th July 2026, these date may be subject to change but we will keep shortlisted candidates updated.

For further information please contact Kathryn Butler by email

Working for our organisation North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust provides 24 hour, 365 days a year accident and emergency services to those in need of emergency medical treatment and transport.

Our highly skilled staff provide life-saving care to patients in the community and take people to hospital or a place of care if needed.
We also provide non-emergency patient transport services for those patients who require non-emergency transport to and from hospital and who are unable to travel unaided because of their medical condition or clinical need.

Alongside the other emergency services, we also work to ensure the safety of the public and treatment of patients in the event of a major incident.

We also deliver the NHS 111 service in the North West. NHS 111 replaced NHS Direct in 2013. This service was introduced to make it easier for people to access local NHS healthcare services in England. It provides non-emergency medical help fast, and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities Visa sponsorship is not possible for this role for either candidates or existing employees. This role does not meet the eligibility criteria for Skilled Worker/ Health and Care Worker visas as set out at gov.uk. Graduate visa holders should have no expectation of long-term employment through sponsorship. Additionally, your visa conditions and validity period must allow you to work in the role question and for a suitable period to allow training and execution without requiring sponsorship.

Please ensure that you have read and understood the job description and person specification before applying.

Person specification

• Ability to translate strategic goals into effective and achievable operational plans
• Intellectual flexibility, including the ability to understand both operational detail and long-term strategic vision
• Ability to cope with ambiguity and perform through uncertainty
• High level of communication skills, including mediation, negotiation, consultation, facilitation, presentation, training, and coaching skill using well developed interpersonal skills to influence, inform reconcile differences and resolve conflicts
• Ability to understand, disseminate and present highly complex and highly contentious information using both verbal and written disciplines where there may be barriers to understanding
• Excellent analytical skills and the ability to draw qualitative and quantitative data from a wide range of sources and present in a clear and concise, assess options and draw appropriate conclusions.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to work in partnership at all levels within the organisation and with key internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to work autonomously and able to set own and prioritise team workloads, leading efficient working, and achievement of deadlines
• Ability to act on own initiative, judgement, and to make decisions
• Ability to maintain a high standard of diplomacy and confidentiality
• Advanced keyboard skills; use a variety of programmes at speed with high degree of accuracy -
• Experience in the application of HR processes
• Demonstrable experience of line management responsibilities

Qualification and Knowledge

• In depth demonstrable understanding and experience of PSIRF and patient safety governance, regulatory assurance and CQC framework experience, leading complex clinical governance systems, using quality intelligence to inform Board-level assurance
• Experience of working across organisational and system boundaries, and understanding of health inequalities and inclusive approaches to safety and quality.
• In depth understanding of patient experience mechanisms and approaches
• Educated to Master's degree level or equivalent knowledge through experience
• Strong evidence of continuing personal & professional development
• Knowledge of specialist change management/quality improvement, developed through practical experience, and post graduate training
• Good understanding of the national strategic context of the NHS
• Evidence of continuing personal and professional development

Experience

• Has business planning, objective setting and performance management experience
• Proven programme and project management experience
• Substantial experience of working at a Senior level in large and complex NHS organisation - working with Board of Directors and Executive Directors/ Teams
• Experience of effective partnership and working with internal and external stakeholders
• Experience of writing and presenting high quality Board level papers
• Experience of effectively managing people, evidencing appropriate monitoring of people management processes with improvements
• Experience of effective budgetary management within designated resource limits
• Experience of delivering tight deadlines
• Evidence of successfully leading, motivating and developing others

Values and Behaviours

• Working together - demonstrate collaborative and inclusive working and challenge behaviour that is not inclusive or acceptable

Any offer of employment may be withdrawn if you knowingly withhold information, provide false or misleading information.

Should you be successful at interview stage successful candidates will receive a conditional offer of employment, this will be subject to the NHS Employment Checks Standards.

A valid right to work and identity check

Reference checks - Thiswill cover a minimum of a three year period and will include a request for the number of days and occasions of sickness absence covering a minimum two year period. In line with equality legislation, the earliest point at which we will ask health related questions is when an offer of employment has been made. Absences related to disability may be excluded from these considerations; consideration would be given as to what would be a reasonable attendance level, based on the information available. Absences related to pregnancy . click apply for full job details