BURY HOSPICE

Head of
Governance and
Shared Services
Candidate Pack
June 2026

Head of Governance and Shared Services

Welcome from our Chief Executive

Thank you for your interest in joining Bury Hospice. We are entering an exciting period of growth and innovation, and there has never been a more meaningful time to join us. Our mission goes beyond care — it is about offering comfort, dignity and hope to people and families when they need it most. Every person who joins our organisation helps strengthen that mission and shapes the future of hospice care in Bury.

As Head of Governance and Shared Services, you will be at the heart of this transformation. Your leadership, creativity and determination will unlock opportunities, inspire our community and ensure we can continue providing exceptional care for generations to come. This role is not just about governance — it is about driving real, lasting impact.

If you would like to find out more or have any questions, please contact people@buryhospice.org.uk.

Wishing you the very best of luck with your application.

Stuart Richardson

About Bury Hospice

Bury Hospice provides compassionate, specialist palliative and end-of-life care to people and families across the Bury community. Our values—to learn, inspire, care and respect—guide everything we do.

Mission, Vision and Values

Mission: To provide exceptional holistic care to those facing life-limiting illness.

Vision: A community where everyone receives the care they need, when they need it.

Values: Learn |Inspire |Care |Respect

Employee Benefits

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Hybrid working arrangements, with a mix of on-site and remote working depending on organisational needs

• Pension scheme

• Training and development opportunities

• Free on-site parking

• On site café available to staff

• Staff support and wellbeing programme

How to Apply

Please submit your CV and supporting statement to people@buryhospice.org.uk . Include a short summary of how your experience meets the role criteria and why you would like to join the Bury Hospice team.

Our closing date is Wednesday 24th June 2026 at 5pm.

The Interviews will be at the Hospice on Friday $\pmb { 1 0 } ^ { \mathrm { t h } }$ July 2026

Full Job Description

Job Title: Head of Governance and Shared Services

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Location: Bury Hospice, Rochdale Old Road, BURY, BL9 7RG

Hours: Full-time (37.5 hours) with flexible working. with on-call responsibilities as part of SLT rota

Salary: £49,387 - £56,515 dependent on experience

Purpose of Role

As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, the Head of Governance and Operations leads an integrated approach to quality governance, support services, and organisational assurance across the Hospice. The role fosters a culture of continuous quality improvement, supported by robust governance, risk, and performance systems.

The post holder is responsible for ensuring effective and proportionate governance, risk and compliance arrangements that provide clear assurance that services are safe, effective, and aligned to statutory requirements, national guidance, and Care Quality Commission (CQC) standards, maintaining continuous inspection readiness.

The role also provides leadership and oversight of Hospice wide services across the Hospice, ensuring these functions are safe, efficient, and responsive to service needs. It supports the integration of governance and service operations to enable high-quality care delivery and achievement of the Hospice’s strategic priorities.

1. Strategic Leadership

• Act as a senior leader contributing to organisational strategy, business planning, and transformation.

• Lead the development and delivery of the Hospice Quality Strategy and Governance Framework.

• Provide visible, values-driven leadership and promote a positive organisational culture.

• Support the Board and CEO through robust assurance reporting.

• Build strong partnerships across the health and social care system.

• Drive innovation and service development to ensure sustainability and responsiveness

2. Quality, Governance and Assurance

• Lead and coordinate organisation-wide governance systems, ensuring a structured and consistent approach to compliance, assurance, and performance monitoring.

• Develop and maintain a robust governance framework across clinical and support services.

• Produce high-quality reports for SLT and Board to inform decision making.

• Lead the development of Annual Quality Accounts and other statutory reports, ensuring accuracy, transparency, and regulatory compliance.

Oversee governance committees and action tracking processes, ensuring timely follow-up, accountability, and closure of actions.

• Promote a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

• Ensure governance systems provide clear and timely assurance on risks, performance, and outcomes.

Embed an organisation-wide quality improvement methodology, ensuring consistent application and measurable impact across clinical and corporate service

3. Compliance and Regulatory Readiness

Ensure the organisation maintains full compliance with CQC standards, legislation, and national guidance, supporting the delivery of safe and effective care.

• Maintain continuous inspection readiness, ensuring evidence, systems and processes are in place to demonstrate compliance at all times.

Lead preparation for inspections, reviews and external assessments, coordinating evidence and supporting teams throughout the process.

• Monitor regulatory and legislative developments, ensuring the organisation responds proactively to changes in requirements or guidance.

• Act as the organisational lead for external regulatory engagement, including managing relationships with regulators and overseeing responses to inspection findings and recommendations

4. Audit, Risk and Patient Safety

• Lead the organisational audit programme aligned to risks and priorities.

• Ensure audit findings translate into measurable improvement.

• Oversee risk management processes and the organisational risk register.

• Oversee incidents, complaints and investigations using a systems-based learning approach.

• Promote a just culture of openness and learning.

• Lead implementation of PSIRF-aligned safety learning systems.

• Provide Board-level assurance on safety, risk, and mitigation.

5. Information Governance and Data

• Act as Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO), providing Board-level leadership and assurance for information governance, data security, and risk management across the organisation.

• Ensure compliance with GDPR and the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT), maintaining robust systems and controls to safeguard sensitive information and ensure regulatory requirements are met.

• Lead the development of reporting systems, ensuring timely, accurate and accessible data is available to support operational, strategic, and Board-level decision making.

• Provide analysis of performance data, interpreting trends and identifying risks, opportunities, and areas for improvement to support service quality and organisational performance.

• Strengthen data maturity, developing advanced reporting, insight generation and promoting a culture of data-driven decision making across the Hospice.

6. Shared Services Leadership

• Lead Estates, Facilities, Catering and Housekeeping.

• Ensure services operate safely, efficiently and in line with regulatory standards.

• Lead the development and delivery of corporate strategies, including workforce, IT, and estates plans, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and future service needs.

Oversee budgets, financial planning, and business cases, ensuring effective use of resources and supporting sustainable decision making.

Ensure integration between support services and clinical delivery, promoting joined up working to optimise operational effectiveness, enhance patient experience and support front-line services.

7. Policy, Systems and Continuous Improvement

• Maintain and oversee the organisational policy framework, ensuring policies are current, accessible and support safe, effective practice across all services.

• Develop and implement systems for tracking assurance, performance and actions, providing clear oversight and accountability across governance processes.

• Lead and support service improvement initiatives, embedding a culture of continuous improvement and ensuring changes result in measurable benefits.

• Benchmark performance externally, using data and comparative insights to drive improvement and inform strategic decision-making.

• Ensure all policies and procedures are aligned to legislation, national guidance and organisational risk, supporting compliance and reducing risk across the Hospice.

8. Collaboration and Engagement

Work collaboratively with internal teams and leaders.

• Build effective relationships with external stakeholders and partners.

Represent the Hospice at regional and national forums.

• Provide leadership, training and support on governance, risk, and compliance, ensuring staff at all levels understand their responsibilities and contribute to organisational assurance.

Organisational Responsibilities

• Adhere to Bury Hospice standards, policies and procedures and champion our values.

• Take responsibility for personal learning and development; complete mandatory training and refreshers as required.

• Comply with GDPR and handle confidential data appropriately.

• Raise and escalate any safeguarding concerns appropriately, following policy.

• Implement Health & Safety policy and safe systems of work in line with statutory regulations.

• Promote equality, diversity and inclusion in all activities.

• Follow incident reporting processes to support continual learning and improvement.

• Observe Infection Prevention and Control policies and procedures.

• Support the culture of volunteering, including role‑managing volunteers where appropriate.

Person Specification

Attributes Essential Qualifications		Desirable Educated to degree level in
Knowledge & Experience	relevant subject or equivalent level area supported by	qualification or significant experience of working at a similar level in specialist professional development	Professional qualification in governance, quality, risk, or management Postgraduate qualification or equivalent experience Training in patient safety, quality improvement, or PSIRF
	Knowledge of governance frameworks and processes Understanding of risk management and organisational impact Experience in quality, governance, or compliance roles Experience of leading organisational change and improvement Experience of developing policies, strategies, and reports Experience managing staff and services Experience in risk		Experience at senior management level in healthcare Experience of cQc inspections or regulatory engagement Experience of leading corporate service functions Understanding of hospice or healthcare environment Experience of completing the DSPT.
Skills & Abilities	Experience engaging Strong project solving skills Proficient IT skills Ability to present	management and audit stakeholders at all levels. Strong organisational and time management skills Excellent communication and interpersonal skills Ability to analyse data and inform decision making management and problem-	Proven, motivational leader with strong influencing, negotiation, and interpersonal skills, able to provide support, empathy, and reassurance

Personal Qualities

Self-motivated and proactive

A full driving licence and access to a vehicle insured for business use

Able to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines

Collaborative team player

Committed to continuous professional development

• Demonstrates commitment to the vision and values of Bury Hospice

This job description outlines the main responsibilities of the role and is not exhaustive. It may be reviewed and amended to reflect organisational needs.