Main area Governance Lead Grade Band 8b Contract Permanent Hours
* Full time
* Part time
* Flexible working
37.5 hours per week (Full Time or Part Time/Flexible working hours may be considered) Job ref 180-F-CVA590
Employer Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Addenbrookes Hospital-Division Corporate Town Cambridge Salary £66,582 - £77,368 p.a. pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 22/03/2026 23:59 Interview date 09/04/2026
Job overview
The Lead for Quality Governance provides senior operational leadership for the Trust’s quality governance agenda, ensuring processes are effective, coherent and supportive. Working under the strategic direction of the Head of Quality Governance, Risk & Compliance, the post‑holder brings specialist quality governance insight, leads delegated programmes of work, contributes to Trustwide quality governance leadership development and promotes a culture aligned to the CUH values of Safe, Kind and Excellent.
They also ensure key quality governance meetings operate effectively, with clear reporting, structured oversight and early identification of risks to support learning and improvement.
The role requires strong visibility across clinical areas, excellent analytical capability, senior influencing skills and the ability to lead staff and stakeholders through improvement in relation to quality governance.
Main duties of the job
Provide senior operational leadership for the delivery of the quality governance agenda across CUH.
Ensure quality governance expectations are clearly articulated, well‑understood and consistently applied across Divisions and at a Trustwide level.
Provide expert leadership in quality governance, drawing on specialist knowledge of risk management, patient safety, patient experience and clinical effectiveness and national standards to support Divisions and the organisation in embedding robust governance systems.
Support Divisions to strengthen quality governance systems and embed improvement actions.
Contribute to the development and review of Trust wide quality governance policies, procedures and strategies, offering specialist insight.
Support the development and implementation of medium‑ and long‑term quality governance improvement plans across clinical areas.
Working for our organisation
Our Trust
Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust comprises Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge. With over 13,000 staff and over 1100 beds the priorities of the Trust focus on a quality service which is all about people – patients, staff and partners. Recognised as providing ‘outstanding’ care to our patients and rated ‘Good’ overall by the Care Quality Commissioner, is testament to the skill and dedication of the people who work here. CUH’s values – Together - Safe, Kind, Excellent – are at the heart of patient care, defining the way all staff work and behave. The Trust provides accessible high‑quality healthcare for the local people of Cambridge, together with specialist services, dealing with rare or complex conditions for a regional, national and international population.
CUH is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community - a place where we can all be ourselves. We value our differences and fully advocate and support an inclusive working environment where every individual can fulfil their potential. We want to ensure our people are truly representative of all the communities that we serve. We welcome applications for all positions in the organisation irrespective of people’s age, disability, ethnicity, race, nationality, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marriage and civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity status or social economic background.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached Applicant Information Pack (combined Job
Due to Home Office immigration rules, a full time permanent vacancy cannot be filled by individuals on a Student visa. Therefore, please be advised that if you are a Student visa holder, we will not be able to offer you a full time permanent contract unless you have:
* applied for a Graduate visa
* or you will have successfully completed your course and have applied for a Graduate visa before the anticipated start date of your employment
* or the Trust has agreed that they will Sponsor you as a Skilled Worker and you will complete your studies within 3 months of the anticipated start date of employment
This vacancy will close at midnight on the 22nd March 2026.
Interviews are due to be held on the 9th April 2026.
Benefits to you
At Cambridge University Hospitals, we want to do all we can to support good working days. We offer development opportunities and a wide range of benefits, including on-site leisure facilities, shopping concourse and day nurseries. Our good work programme currently includes providing reduced cost Stagecoach bus travel to and from Cambridge University Hospital site. Park and Ride bus journeys between Babraham Road and Trumpington sites are free, as is the route to and from Cambridge train station and our hospitals. We also subsidise the cost of parking on site for eligible staff.
On CUH campus, hot food is available 24/7 and at a reduced cost for colleagues. Recently we launched the first of our staff pod break spaces. Located in the Deakin Centre, we have a purpose‑created colleague‑only café, with free tea and coffee, a break space and private outside area for colleagues to rest, refuel and recharge. Just one of the ways we are working hard to support good working days at CUH.
CUH is committed to assisting employees in achieving a good work‑life balance irrespective of role or personal circumstances. Flexible arrangements may include, but are not limited to, part‑time working, job‑share, term‑time working and flexible start and finish times.
Please note if you would like to discuss the required hours of this role further, you should approach the contact given. In some cases, alternative working hours will be considered.
We welcome applications from the Armed Forces.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Educated to degree level or equivalent experience.
* Educated to Master’s degree level in a relevant field (such as Quality Improvement, Patient Safety, Healthcare Leadership or Risk Management), or able to demonstrate equivalent senior specialist expertise through substantial, relevant experience.
* Completion of Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) Patient Safety Training Levels 1 and 2.
* Coaching, mentoring, management or leadership qualification.
* Completion of a recognised governance or quality improvement programme or evidence of ongoing CPD in governance, quality or risk.
Experience
* Evidence of substantial experience working within governance, demonstrating a depth and breadth of knowledge within the NHS.
* Demonstrable experience of supporting assurance processes, including triangulation of quality, safety and risk information within the NHS/Healthcare Setting
* Experience in leading change projects/programs and demonstrating measurable outcomes.
* Experience working in partnership with clinical and operational leaders to strengthen governance systems and meet regulatory requirements.
* Strong background in building partnerships and engaging with the multidisciplinary team and service users.
* Experience line managing or supervising staff.
* Experience of reporting to or working with regulators (e.g., CQC, NHS England). Recent experience of working within a large acute Trust setting.
* Experience leading or coordinating incident investigations, PSIRF learning responses or governance reviews.
Knowledge
* Strong knowledge of clinical governance frameworks, assurance processes, national standards (e.g., CQC, NHSE) and quality improvement principles.
* Highly developed analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex governance and quality data to identify themes, risks and assurance gaps.Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to provide clear, constructive challenge and support to senior leaders.
* Excellent report writing skills, able to translate complex information into clear, accessible assurance narratives for senior audiences.
* Ability to coach and guide teams to improve governance systems, documentation and decision making.Ability to work autonomously, manage competing priorities and exercise sound judgement.
Skills
* Strong leadership and influencing skills, with the ability to challenge and support at senior levels.
* Excellent communication and presentation skills, both written and verbal.
* Ability to undertake high level analysis of complex governance intelligence (incidents, audits, outcomes, workforce, patient experience, risk data) to identify themes, risks, early warning indicators and required interventions.
* Provides expert judgement and specialist quality governance advice to Divisions on risk mitigation, quality improvement priorities and regulatory compliance.
* Ability to evaluate quality of care performance using multiple data sources and advise on corrective actions.
* Strong project and programme management skills.
* Ability to build trust and credibility across diverse stakeholders.
* Skilled in facilitation, training, and coaching.
* Research and evaluation skills.
* Ability to use digital tools to enhance engagement and reporting.
Additional Requirement
* The ability to understand and behave at all times, towards patients, visitors and colleagues according to the Trust values of safe, kind, excellent.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Name Aoife Cavanagh Job title Head of Quality Governance, Risk & Compliance Email address aoife.cavanagh@nhs.net Additional information
Please email Aoife direct, via email.
aoife.cavanagh@nhs.net
Please cc in Mandy Todd and Helena Gillis to any queries to support triaging any communications:
amanda.todd11@nhs.net
helena.gillis@nhs.net
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