Programme Director - Independent Review Response Team

Programme Director - Independent Review Response Team

Closing date: 27 February 2026

Programme Director - The Independent Maternity Review

This Review was established by NHS England in May 2022, following significant concerns raised regarding the quality and safety of maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) and concerns of local families.

The Programme Director role has been developed to provide strategic leadership, operational oversight, and governance for NUH's response to the multi disciplinary review into maternity services. Reporting to the Chief Nurse and SRO for the IMR, the Programme Director will work closely with clinical experts, families, regulators, and NHS partners to ensure the review is robust, transparent, and aligned with national standards for maternity safety.

Please see Job Description for full details.

Main duties of the job

The programme director will be responsible for ensuring that there is a robust overall strategy for the Independent Maternity Review, ensuring alignment with national maternity safety priorities. The programme director will:

• Translate the review's terms of reference into clear workstreams, milestones, and deliverables.
• Provide expert advice to senior leaders, review chairs, and oversight bodies on emerging themes, risks, and opportunities.
• Ensure there is robust governance and oversight for the review.
• Work with peers and colleagues across the organisation to support the ongoing learning and improvement within the Trust.
• Ensure there is robust governance and oversight for the police investigation and support the organisation to respond effectively to all enquiries from both regulators and the police.
• The post-holder will be one of the main contact points for the Trust with both the external review team and NHS England, as commissioners of the review. Internally, the Programme Director is responsible for co ordinating the individual and collective endeavours of corporate departments and clinical services in meeting the requirements of both the independent review, as well as the police investigation.

Please see Job Description.

Job responsibilities

1. Provide overall leadership of the development of the independent review programme as well as Operation Perth.
2. Procure as necessary external and professional support for the programme, both regarding project management and professional services.
3. To liaise with colleagues regularly and as required to provide ongoing dialogue for the programme.
4. Provide assurance to commissioning and regulatory colleagues, both internal and external, of progress and escalates issues and risks as required outside of programme board where necessary.
5. Work in an effective corporate manner, working with key stakeholders including Trust Executive and Non Executive Directors to ensure programme development and generate highly effective outcomes.
6. Resolve risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies (RAID) whilst recommending and implementing appropriate corrective action.
7. Take overall responsibility for the programme delivery.
8. To deputise for the Chief Nurse as required in relation to Operation Perth and the independent Review.
9. Ensuring effective quality assurance and risk management of the Programme - focusing inwardly on the internal consistency of the Programme, outputs and outcomes, and outwardly on its coherence and alignment with Trust strategies.
10. Take advice from work stream leads and specialists in support of those work streams to co ordinate and determine assessment of issues and planned outputs and to make recommendations to be presented to review response oversight group.
11. Provide assurance to the Trust Board via Trust Leadership Team and the Quality Assurance Committee on all aspects of the Programme.

Please see Job Description.

Person Specification Other requirements

• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office with intermediate keyboard skills and presentation skills

Training & Qualifications

• Higher level management qualification at masters or equivalent level.
• Significant additional role related and personal development training commensurate with a senior manager post.

Experience

• Significant experience at senior manager/director level in the NHS.
• Significant experience and understanding of proven implementation of programme management methodologies or a Prince 2 or managing successful projects practitioner.
• Leadership, vision, strategic thinking and planning with highly developed strategic skills.
• Demonstrates experience of delivering across organisational boundaries.
• In depth additional expert knowledge acquired over a significant period of time in the following areas: odelivery of organisational change odelivery of performance objectives and improvements odelivery of projects and programme of work of significant size.
• Experience of managing programme and corporate risks appropriately.

Planning & Organisations skills

• Experience of managing complexity such as managing numerous work.
• Experience of leading change management processes from concept to delivery.
• Proven and significant leadership experience and/or formal management qualification at Masters level.
• Proven experience of leading and delivering complex change and strategy development programmes at a senior level, in a politically sensitive and complex environment.

Communications skills

• Experience of performance managing others to ensure organisation delivery and success.
• Must be a highly credible leader with experience of building relationships with a range of stakeholders.
• Extensive experience of delivering presentations to large groups of stakeholders, in often pressured and highly political environments.

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.

Address

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, City campus, Trust HQ