Principal Allied Health Professional Lead

Job overview

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to shape the future of Allied Health Professions across Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

We are seeking an inspiring and experienced Allied Health Professional leader to take on the role of Principal Allied Health Professional Lead, providing strategic professional leadership for Allied Health Professionals across the organisation. This is a pivotal senior role, working closely with executive and clinical leaders to ensure AHPs are central to service transformation, workforce development and high-quality care.

Our AHP workforce spans a wide range of professions including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, dietetics, arts therapies, and support roles. This role will ensure that these professions have a strong and influential voice within the Trust and across the wider health and care system.

You will work directly with the Director of Psychological Therapies, Allied Health Professionals and Social Work to strengthen professional governance, develop the AHP workforce, and embed innovative models of care that improve outcomes for the communities we serve.

This is a unique opportunity to influence strategy, build professional leadership capability and shape the future of AHP practice in mental health, learning disability and community services.

Main duties of the job

As Principal Allied Health Professional Lead, you will provide strategic leadership, professional governance and system influence for Allied Health Professionals across the Trust.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Providing Trust-wide professional leadership for all Allied Health Professionals
• Leading the development and delivery of the Trust’s AHP strategy
• Strengthening professional governance, quality and safety frameworks
• Developing AHP workforce strategy, career pathways and leadership pipelines
• Supporting advanced practice, consultant practice and extended scope roles
• Promoting a strong culture of research, innovation and evidence-based practice
• Representing the Trust within regional and Integrated Care System AHP networks
• Advising executive leaders on professional standards, workforce capability and service redesign

You will also line manage Principal AHP Leads across the Trust, strengthening professional leadership across localities and services.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Establish and maintain a Trust-wide AHP professional governance framework
• Provide assurance on AHP professional standards, scope of practice and regulatory compliance
• Ensure effective systems for supervision, competency, credentialing and registration support
• Lead or oversee professional reviews relating to incidents, complaints and conduct concerns involving AHP staff
• Advise on professional risk, safe staffing and safe scope of practice

• To ensure that Allied health Professional staff have a clear professional development pathway that meets national guidelines
• To work with Trust educational governance processes to ensure a multi-professional approach to standards within clinical education
• Promote an AHP research and innovation culture
• Support audit, research and service evaluation activity
• Develop academic and research partnerships
• Encourage dissemination and implementation of evidence-based practice

• Accountability for own AHP practice as set out in policies by maintaining responsibility for own professional development, by undertaking appropriate supervision, training and appraisals
• Maintain records as appropriate
• Demonstrate reflective practice, using analytical skills and determine professional and personal training requirements
• Contribute and promote Safeguarding of Adults and Safeguarding of Children across the Trust

• Extensive post qualifying experience and current or past experience as an AHP.
• Demonstrate wide range of professional knowledge across service lines and specialist knowledge of national and local policy and legislation.
• Recent CPD activity and demonstration of working with local universities in role as an AHP.
• Ability to manoeuvre through complex situations and focus on agreed outcomes and decisions within a system of competing demands and views.
• Provide professional opinion in professional investigations and incident reviews.
• Plan and prioritise multiple and competing work streams with minimal supervision
• Negotiation, proactive partnership working and leadership skills required to work with a range of senior managers and clinicians across agencies.
• To be a member of relevant trust wide management meetings
• To support and advise the Senior Operational Team, locality and service managers on ensuring AHP performance indicators are met within the Trust

• Lead development and delivery of the Trust AHP Strategy and Programme of Work aligned to Trust and ICS priorities
• Provide senior professional advice to the Director of Psychological Therapies, AHPs and Social Workers on AHP matters
• Ensure AHP contribution is embedded in transformation, pathway redesign and new models of care
• Represent AHPs within Trust-wide and system-level strategic forums
• Act as senior ambassador and advocate for AHP professions

• Lead AHP workforce strategy and career framework development
• Support advanced practice, consultant practice and extended scope roles
• Work with HR, OD and Education teams on recruitment and retention strategies
• Develop AHP leadership pipelines and succession planning
• Strengthen placement, preceptorship and HEI partnerships

• Lead AHP contribution to quality improvement and clinical effectiveness programmes
• Promote use of audit, outcome measures and benchmarking data
• Support services to evidence AHP impact and value
• Contribute to Trust quality and safety governance structure

Act as Trust lead for advice, guidance, support in relation to AHP work practice and services, using their own specialist knowledge.