Divisional Governance Lead in Burnley

Join us as a Divisional Governance Lead and play a pivotal role in shaping patient safety and quality across our Division. This highly influential leadership position provides strategic oversight of governance systems, ensuring compliance with national standards and Trust policies. You’ll lead a dedicated governance team, drive continuous improvement, and embed a culture of safety and learning. Working closely with senior clinical leaders, you’ll oversee incident management, lead responses under PSIRF, and ensure lessons learned translate into better care for our patients.

Main duties of the job:

• Provide strategic leadership and oversight of the divisional governance agenda.
• Ensure compliance with Trust policies, NHS frameworks, and national standards.
• Manage the divisional governance team and embed a culture of safety, learning, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee incident profiles and serious incidents, ensuring timely escalation and thematic reviews.
• Lead divisional learning responses under the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF).
• Drive improvement actions and monitor assurance through audit processes.
• Enable high-quality care through effective risk management, incident response, and compliance.
• Collaborate with senior nursing and medical leaders, clinical teams, and corporate colleagues to embed governance principles.

The postholder acts as a key driver for patient safety and quality, ensuring lessons learned are embedded into practice and that governance systems support safe, effective, and compassionate care delivery.

Working for our organisation:

As part of this role, you will work directly with a team of Governance Managers and Governance Facilitators, all committed to improving standards and closely linking with our clinical teams to ensure governance excellence. Together, this team will champion continuous improvement, robust incident management under PSIRF, risk oversight, and regulatory compliance, including CQC readiness.

If you are passionate about influencing care delivery and shaping governance at the highest level, we would love to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide oversight of the divisional governance agenda, ensuring compliance with Trust policies, NHS frameworks, and national standards.
• Lead and develop the divisional governance team, including recruitment, onboarding, appraisals, and performance management.
• Drive a culture of safety, learning, and continuous improvement; oversee incident management and thematic reviews.
• Lead divisional learning responses under the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework, ensuring robust investigations and shared outcomes.
• Maintain and scrutinise the divisional risk register, validate new risks, and elevate significant risks to senior leadership.
• Act as divisional lead for CQC requirements, maintain inspection readiness, and coordinate responses to regulatory enquiries.
• Oversee audit processes, track NICE guidance responses, and ensure findings are reported through governance structures.
• Monitor safeguarding incidents, collaborate with the Safeguarding Team, and participate in Section 42 reviews.
• Coordinate responses to clinical claims, disseminate learning, and manage safety alerts for timely action.
• Work closely with senior nursing and medical leaders, clinical teams, and corporate colleagues to embed governance principles.

Person specification:

Qualifications & Education:

• Degree in health related subject or equivalent.
• Evidence of undertaking or completing a Management or Leadership/Development Programme/Qualification (equivalent to the Band 6 programme or Level 4 ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) or equivalent).
• Post Registration Qualifications relevant to the role.
• Registered with appropriate professional body if registered professional.
• Teaching/Assessing Qualification.
• Training in Incident management Systems or similar management systems.

Knowledge & Experience:

• Substantial experience of working in the NHS and understanding of governance, patient safety, risk management, and regulatory frameworks.
• Experience leading or supporting patient safety investigations and applying PSIRF principles.
• Experience of using governance information systems (e.g., DATIX Risk Management Software or equivalent).
• Experience of analysing safety data and triangulating with other sources (e.g., complaints, claims, mortality reviews) and reporting this both written and verbally.
• Experience of developing and implementing policies and procedural documents.
• Substantial experience of communicating effectively internally and externally (e.g., patients, clients, public, partners, key stakeholders).
• Experience of audit activity or validation of safety actions.
• Experience of staff management and team development.
• Experience of developing and delivering training and facilitating learning.
• Experience of leading improvement initiatives in clinical outcomes or equivalent (e.g. experience of change/ project management).
• Experience of preparing reports for Board, Executive and Senior Managers and Regulators.
• Experience of supporting the development of dashboards and visual tools for safety insights.

Thanks for taking the time to view this advert; we’re looking forward to receiving your application. You should be aware that the vacancy may close earlier than the published date if sufficient applications are received so it would be best to apply as soon as you can. We’ll contact you by e‑mail to update you on the progress of your application so please check the e‑mail.