Business Manager - Independent Maternity Review

Job overview

University Hospitals Sussex is the subject of an important Independent Maternity Review (IMR), commissioned by the Department of Health on behalf of the Secretary of State. This is due to commence in October 2026 and is expected to last at least 3 years. The review will examine approximately 1,000 cases of stillbirths, neonatal deaths, maternal deaths, neonatal harm due to severe brain injury and severe maternal harm dating back to at least 2018. The purpose is to understand what happened, reach conclusions on the care provided, provide answers for families and identify learning for the organisation and wider NHS. The review is, by its’ very nature, extremely sensitive and politically charged. The impact is expected to be significant for the families at the heart of the review, current and past staff and the wider organisation. In parallel, the Trust is the subject of an active police investigation – Operation Bramber.

The programme of work required to ensure the Trust can meet the needs of families, the IMR team, Sussex Police, staff and other bodies is complex and diverse. It will span quality and corporate governance, information management, information governance, analytics, communications, wellbeing, recruitment, training, inclusion and professional standards. Working effectively with teams across Women and Children’s services and critical corporate teams will be essential.

Main duties of the job

The business manager will work as part of a small team in the trust contact centre, line managing two administrative staff. They will oversee the flow of requests coming into the contact centre from within and outside the Trust, ensuring the Trust has logged, tracked and responded promptly to each enquiry. The postholder will also organise and participate in daily huddles and weekly panels which bring together experts to consider how we best respond to more complex requests. As a core member of the team, the Business Manager will contribute ideas on how we keep improving our response over the course of the review and investigation.

This is a real opportunity to be involved in a truly consequential piece of work. You will be part of a new team and a new programme, able to shape how we respond using your professional expertise and experience. Applicants should be highly organised and ideally with experience of working on complex, time-critical programmes in the NHS. An ability to build good working relationships with staff from diverse parts of the organisation is essential, as are attention to detail, tenacity and follow through. Given the nature of the work, high standards of professionalism, discretion, sensitivity and commitment to preserving confidentiality of highly sensitive information are critical. Previous experience of direct contact with members of the public, including handling sensitive concerns or complaints is beneficial.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see further detailed information in the job description and person specification.

If you fit the bill, we would love to hear from you. For an informal discussion please contact (add contact details for our Interim quality lead when appointed) .

Please note: This role does not meet the minimum criteria for visa sponsorship under the current UK immigration rules, which set specific salary and skill thresholds. As such, we are unable to provide sponsorship for this post. Applicants will therefore need to already have the right to work in the UK to be considered. We include this information at the outset to provide clarity and avoid unnecessary inconvenience for applicants.

If you do not meet the sponsorship requirements, and you are applying using a Graduate visa as your right to work, you must have a minimum of 18 months remaining on your visa at time of application.