Compliance and Assurance Lead in Sheffield

Use your expertise in compliance, health and safety, and governance to help create a safe, inclusive and resilient environment for the babies, children, young people and families who rely on Bluebell Wood. As our Compliance and Assurance Lead, you will provide strategic leadership on compliance, risk and assurance, while leading and managing our Facilities, Housekeeping and Catering teams to create a safe, welcoming and well-run Hospice environment. We’re looking for someone who can bring people with them, build trusted relationships and turn compliance into practical, positive action. At Bluebell Wood, we embrace individuality, work with authenticity, stay purpose-driven in our support for families, and take responsibility for high standards of safety, assurance, service and care. Your work will help our teams focus on what matters most: providing exceptional care and support when families need us most.

Main duties of the job:

• Lead health and safety, compliance and assurance across the Hospice.
• Strengthen systems, audits, reporting and risk management so we stay safe, compliant and well prepared.
• Oversee estates, facilities, contractors and business continuity from a compliance and assurance perspective.
• Provide clear, practical advice to colleagues and senior leaders.
• Prepare confident reports for leadership, committees and governance groups.
• Lead and support the Facilities, Housekeeping and Catering teams, building an inclusive, high-performing culture.

About us:

At Bluebell Wood, our vision is for every baby, child and young person with a life-limiting condition to access specialist palliative care, wherever and whenever they need it. Every role here plays a part in making that happen. Our support is wide-ranging and tailored to every family. From symptom management and short breaks to counselling, sibling support, music therapy, home visits and end-of-life care, we provide expert care when and where it matters most. We support families across South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire, North Derbyshire and parts of North Lincolnshire. To keep our doors open, we need to raise £6.7m every year, with only around 17% of our income coming from government sources. That’s why every role matters.

Job responsibilities:

The Compliance and Assurance Lead is responsible for organisation-wide leadership and coordination across health and safety, statutory compliance and estates-related governance. The primary focus of the role is to strengthen compliance systems, improve oversight, and embed a proactive safety and governance culture, while maintaining appropriate oversight of estates and facilities-related risks. The role provides strategic leadership on compliance matters and acts as the central point of advice for health and safety systems, inspections, audits, contractor compliance, business continuity and estates-related projects. The postholder will work closely with the Facilities, Housekeeping, Catering, Care, People and Senior Leadership Teams to ensure that compliance is proactive, proportionate and well evidenced. Day-to-day service delivery will sit with the relevant teams, with this role focused on standards, risk management, escalation, forward planning and continuous improvement.

• Health & Safety Leadership: Lead and maintain the organisation’s Health & Safety Management System, ensuring legal compliance, proportionate controls and alignment with best practice. Provide expert health and safety advice, guidance and assurance to leaders, managers and teams, supporting clear ownership of responsibilities. Develop, review and embed health and safety policies, procedures, risk assessments, audits, inspections and action tracking arrangements.
• Regulatory & Organisational Compliance: Lead and coordinate non-clinical compliance activities, maintaining compliance registers, evidence records, action plans and escalation routes. Monitor legislative, regulatory and sector changes, advising on organisational impact, risk exposure and practical actions required. Act as Business Continuity Lead, maintaining plans, coordinating testing and exercises, and supporting incident response, recovery and organisational learning. Provide strategic oversight of estates and facilities compliance through standards, assurance processes, planned checks and risk escalation. Ensure compliance requirements are built into capital projects, refurbishments, contractor management, statutory servicing and building works. Support long-term estates planning by identifying compliance risks, improvement priorities, infrastructure needs and resilience requirements.
• Governance Assurance & Reporting: Produce clear, evidence-based compliance, risk and assurance reports for senior stakeholders, Committees and Board, highlighting trends, gaps and actions. Coordinate organisational readiness for audits, inspections and external reviews, ensuring evidence is available and agreed actions are completed. Contribute to governance, risk management and assurance frameworks, promoting a practical culture of safety, compliance and continuous improvement.
• Leadership & Ways of Working: Lead and manage Facilities, Housekeeping and Catering teams, setting clear standards, priorities, expectations and accountability. Coach and support managers to understand and fulfil compliance responsibilities through practical advice, communication, guidance and follow-up. Build effective cross-departmental relationships, share learning and use performance insight to drive improvement across services.

Person Specification:

Experience:

• Significant experience in health and safety, compliance, governance or estates-related work, preferably within a smaller or multi-disciplinary organisation.
• Strong working knowledge of UK health and safety legislation, regulatory requirements and their practical application in a care or complex operational environment.
• Experience of managing audits, inspections, compliance evidence, action plans and follow-up arrangements.
• Experience of contractor management and compliance oversight relating to facilities, estates or operational services.
• Ability to develop and maintain compliance systems, standards, action trackers and clear reporting arrangements.
• Strong analytical, written communication and reporting skills, with the ability to present information clearly to different audiences.
• Ability to work collaboratively, influence constructively and support managers to take ownership of compliance responsibilities.
• Ability to plan, prioritise and maintain focus across competing strategic and operational demands, escalating risks appropriately.
• Experience supporting capital projects building works or estates-related improvement activity.

Personal qualities and values:

• Confident, credible and self-motivated, with honesty, integrity, resilience and a values-led approach to professional practice.

Other:

• Legally Entitled to work in this country.
• Ability to participate in out of hours rota.
• Full driving licence with access to a reliable vehicle and business insurance cover.
• Ability to travel easily to other sites either by public transport or have access to a vehicle in order to provide cover/assistance.
• Able to manage the physical aspects of the role, e.g., lifting, carrying, manual handling etc.

General Expectations:

All employees are expected to:

• Comply with health and safety, safeguarding, GDPR, confidentiality and organisational policies.
• Maintain professional standards and positive working relationships.
• Participate in team activities, training and continuous professional development.
• Act as an ambassador for Bluebell Wood, supporting its values, reputation and fundraising activities.

Managers are expected to:

• Lead, support and develop their teams through effective supervision, communication, induction, appraisal and learning opportunities.
• Conduct regular one-to-ones and team meetings.
• Support recruitment, attendance management and employee wellbeing.
• Manage performance issues fairly and consistently, seeking HR advice where appropriate.

Qualifications:

Disclosure and Barring Service Check: This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.