Job summary
We are seeking an experienced, values driven director to lead the delivery of a high-profile special interest programme. This is an opportunity to strengthen quality, safety and experience for our patients, families, carers and staff both now and for the future.
You will be accountable for building and sustaining strong, credible relationships across the trust and wider system, operating with authority and assurance in environments subject to significant regulatory, legal and public scrutiny.
The role requires the confident management of complex and often sensitive relationships with regulators, commissioners, system partners and senior stakeholders. You will need to exercise sound judgement, discretion and resilience when responding to multiple challenges, whilst building strong assurance processes amid competing priorities.
Provisional Interview Dates: 23rd & 24th April 2026
Main duties of the job
You will bring a strong understanding of NHS regulatory frameworks, governance and accountability arrangements, alongside insight into the wider strategic and political system in which the Trust operates. Highly organised and persistent, you will approach sensitive and confidential matters with professionalism, humility and care, ensuring, appropriate escalation and assurance at all times.
As a senior leader, you will set the tone for constructive, transparent engagement, modelling openness, trust and accountability. You will be comfortable working in politically and emotionally complex contexts, balancing pace with rigour, and assurance with compassion, to ensure we uphold our responsibilities to the communities we serve. You will lead in line with the Trust's values, demonstrating responsibility, respect and compassion, and a clear commitment to openness and honesty at all times.
About us
We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby.
From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care --our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for.
We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help. In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health.
We're committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it.
Details
Date posted
13 March 2026
Pay scheme
Very senior manager (VSM)
Salary
Depending on experience pro rata, per annum
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time
Reference number
346-CORP-030-26
Job locations
West Park Hospital
Edward Pease Way
Darlington
DL2 2TS
Job description
Job responsibilities
Please see attached Job Description for full description, main responsibilities and person specification.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
1. Master's Degree level education or equivalent training/qualification or demonstrable experience equivalent to masters level (must include Degree qualification and independently assessed work at Master's level)
2. Understanding of the impact of regulatory frameworks and statutory regulations and how that affects the way an organisation functions
3. Evidence of strong continuing professional development
Knowledge
Essential
4. Specialist knowledge of statutory and non-statutory Inquiry processes
5. Strong business acumen and commercial experience or demonstrate potential to develop this
6. Comprehensive understanding of policy and strategic issues within NHS
7. Understanding of innovation and evidence base in relation to all areas of the directorate
8. Highly developed knowledge of complex national guidance and legislation and commissioning in the NHS
Experience
Essential
9. Significant experience of working in a complex organisation at a senior level where a high degree of strategic and political awareness is required.
10. Track record of significant achievement within complex program management and oversight
11. Experience of working across systems, including influencing decision making, strategy development and deployment at system level where diplomacy, compromise and acting without precedent was frequently required.
12. Significant experience of taking the lead in the development of a range of plans including organisation wide strategic plans, business plans and departmental operational plans and establishing monitoring arrangements.
13. Considerable experience in leadership
14. Experience of coordinating strategic intelligence into organisations.
15. Managing and working with muti-disciplinary teams within and across organisation
16. Evidence of being an effective team leader and player
17. Successful partnership working with other healthcare and partner agencies
18. Significant experience of program and project management
19. Strong commitment to collective leadership, especially with clinical and lived experience colleagues.
Skills
Essential
20. Excellent communication skills
21. An agent of change, able to shape the future, to enthuse and to influence colleagues and partners
22. Highly developed skills in the interpretation and analysis of data in order to identify trends, exceptions and variances to facilitate evidence-based decision making throughout the organisation
23. Highly developed presentation skills with the ability to communicate ideas, issues and visions successfully to a variety of audiences.
24. Understanding of financial management
25. Ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders, professional leaders and operational managers
26. Demonstrably open to new ideas and a management style that empowers others and encourages innovation
27. Politically aware
28. Strong personal values that align with Trust values and the ability to model these as a corporate leader
29. Ability to achieve results and targets and drive for best performance
30. Excellent negotiating skills and a gifted influencer
31. Skilled planning practitioner, adept at co-ordination
32. Confidence and resilience; ability to prioritise effectively under pressure
33. Commitment to openness, honesty, inclusiveness and high standards
34. Evidence of strong drive to improve services and patient care/experience
35. A compassionate, inclusive and empowering leader who gets the best out of teams and continually strives for improvement.
36. Significant ability in making judgements where it is necessary to take into account a variety of information where there is no precedent or where expert opinions may conflict or differ.