At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the development of quality, safety, and practice across our services.
- Company: Join Hft, a transformative charity focused on learning disabilities.
- Benefits: Be part of a supportive team with a commitment to inclusion and diversity.
- Other info: Engage with people with learning disabilities throughout the recruitment process.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in people's lives by ensuring quality and safety.
- Qualifications: Senior leadership experience in quality and safety within social care.
Ready to define what “good” looks like and make it real across our services? Hft has turned a corner. After navigating a period of significant financial and operational challenge, we have delivered a major turnaround, reducing a £17 million deficit, stabilising our workforce, and restoring confidence across every level of the organisation. Now, with a new and focused Executive Team working closely with our Senior Leadership Teams, clear governance, and a collective understanding of the need to embed sustainable improvement across all areas of the organisation, we are moving from recovery to transformation.
The Opportunity
You will lead the development and delivery of an integrated, organisation-wide approach to quality, safety, safeguarding and great practice. Your focus will be on ensuring people are supported to live safe, meaningful and aspirational lives. This role brings together quality assurance, safeguarding, safety and practice into a clear and consistent approach across a complex, national organisation. You will drive and oversee quality, safety and governance systems that support them. You will maintain clear oversight of performance, risk and compliance, and provide assurance, insight and challenge to the Executive Team and the Board. You will ensure regulatory compliance, safeguarding, and health and safety systems are robust, responsive, and consistently upheld, but, importantly, rooted in the understanding that all of this is to make sure that the people supported have great lives.
Working closely with operational leaders, you will identify underperformance and support improvement. You will use data, audits, incidents, and feedback to generate insights and drive continuous improvement. You will also help shape a shared understanding of what great practice looks like across services.
If you have senior leadership experience across quality, safety, safeguarding and practice within a learning disability charity or social care provider, we would love to hear from you. Please refer to the candidate brief attached below for full details of the role.
What you will bring to succeed in this role
- Essential
- Senior leadership experience across quality, safety, safeguarding and practice within a large learning disability charity or social care provider
- Accountable experience of leading operational health and safety within a multi-site, CQC regulated care environment
- Ability to lead and develop high-performing teams
- Experience of providing clear assurance and reporting on health and safety performance, risks and compliance to senior leadership and/or Board
- Communication and influencing skills, with the ability to work across organisational boundaries
- Experience embedding co-production and lived experience into organisational approaches
- Highly developed analytical skills and ability to use data to drive decisions
- Confident in leading change, improvement and cultural development
Selection Process
We will be shortlisting applications on an ongoing basis. If your application is shortlisted, we will invite you to a pre-screening interview with a member of the senior hiring team. If you are successful at this stage, the final assessment process will include a competency-based interview, a presentation, and the opportunity to meet with key stakeholders to get to know the team and Hft. As part of our recruitment process, we are proud to include the voices of people with learning disabilities. You will meet them throughout the process, and they will play a key role in the final stages of selection. Their perspective shapes how we lead, listen and make decisions at Hft.
We anticipate the following timelines:
- Closing date: 9 June 2026
- Pre-screening interviews: 12, 15 or 16 June 2026
- Final assessment: 30 June 2026
We may close this role early if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
Our Commitment to Inclusion
We are committed to recruiting people from diverse backgrounds and believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce helps us better support the people we work with to live their best lives.
Director of Quality, Safety & Practice employer: Hft
Hft is an exceptional employer, dedicated to fostering a culture of continuous improvement and inclusivity within the social care sector. With a strong focus on employee development and a commitment to embedding co-production and lived experience into our practices, we empower our staff to make a meaningful impact in the lives of those we support. Located in a dynamic environment, Hft offers unique opportunities for professional growth while ensuring that quality, safety, and safeguarding are at the forefront of our mission.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Director of Quality, Safety & Practice
✨Tip Number 1
Get to know the company inside out! Research Hft's recent turnaround and their focus on quality and safety. This will help you tailor your conversations and show that you're genuinely interested in making a difference.
✨Tip Number 2
Network like a pro! Connect with current employees on LinkedIn or attend industry events. Building relationships can give you insider info and might even lead to a referral, which is always a bonus!
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for those interviews! Think about how your experience aligns with their needs, especially around quality assurance and safeguarding. Practise articulating your achievements and how they relate to the role.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re serious about joining the team at Hft.
We think you need these skills to ace Director of Quality, Safety & Practice
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show Us Your Passion:When you're writing your application, let your enthusiasm for quality, safety, and practice shine through. We want to see how your values align with ours and how you can contribute to making a real difference in people's lives.
Tailor Your Experience:Make sure to highlight your senior leadership experience in quality and safety within the social care sector. We’re looking for specific examples that demonstrate your ability to lead teams and drive improvements, so don’t hold back!
Be Clear and Concise:Keep your application straightforward and to the point. Use clear language to describe your achievements and how they relate to the role. We appreciate a well-structured application that makes it easy for us to see your qualifications.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to submit your application through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your details and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity. Don’t wait too long, as we might close applications early!
How to prepare for a job interview at Hft
✨Understand the Role Inside Out
Before your interview, make sure you thoroughly understand what the Director of Quality, Safety & Practice role entails. Familiarise yourself with Hft's mission and values, and think about how your experience aligns with their focus on quality and safeguarding. This will help you articulate how you can contribute to their transformation journey.
✨Prepare Real-Life Examples
Be ready to share specific examples from your past experiences that demonstrate your leadership in quality, safety, and compliance. Think about challenges you've faced, how you overcame them, and the impact of your actions. This will show the interviewers that you have the practical skills needed for the role.
✨Showcase Your Analytical Skills
Since the role requires using data to drive decisions, be prepared to discuss how you've used analytics in previous positions. Bring examples of how you've identified underperformance and implemented improvements based on data insights. This will highlight your ability to lead change effectively.
✨Engage with Stakeholders
During the interview, demonstrate your communication and influencing skills by discussing how you've worked across organisational boundaries in the past. Be ready to talk about how you’ve engaged with various stakeholders, including those with lived experience, to shape practices and policies. This will resonate well with Hft's commitment to inclusion.
