Quality Improvement Lead - Strategy & QI

Job overview

At Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, our vision is Outstanding Care for One+All. We’re building a learning organisation where improvement is part of everyday work—so colleagues feel empowered to make changes that matter, and patients experience safer, higher-quality care closer to home.

The opportunity

This is a high-profile leadership role for an experienced improvement practitioner who can inspire, coach and challenge. You’ll lead the development and delivery of our Trust-wide Quality Improvement (QI) culture programme, supporting teams across the organisation to build capability, remove barriers and deliver measurable change.

What you’ll do

• Lead a team of Improvement Practitioners to deliver tailored training, coaching and support across clinical and corporate services.
• Co-create a shared purpose and vision for improvement with Trust Board, senior leaders and front-line teams—so everyone feels able to improve where they work.
• Develop and deliver the Trust’s Improvement Strategy, embedding improvement into how services are managed and delivered now and in the future.
• Build a robust improvement governance and reporting approach, providing clear insight and assurance through high-quality reporting (including to Trust Board).
• Strengthen collaboration across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (CIOS) and the wider peninsula—developing shared approaches and networks for improvement.

Main duties of the job

Who we’re looking for

You’ll bring deep expertise in improvement science and a track record of leading culture change in large, complex organisations. You’ll be comfortable working with senior leaders and engaging large groups of clinical staff—turning ambition into practical, sustainable improvement. You will have:

• A passion for Quality Improvement, with extensive experience designing and delivering QI culture programmes and capability-building at scale.
• Strong leadership experience and experience of working across organisations to develop an Improvement culture.
• Master’s degree (or equivalent experience) and recognised QI methodology qualification (e.g., Model for Improvement, Lean, QSIR, Six Sigma) or significant practical experience.

Why join us?

• Make a visible difference to quality and safety for patients across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
• Lead a Trust-wide programme with senior sponsorship and real scope to shape culture and capability.
• Join an organisation committed to supporting and valuing our people, ensuring QI is at the core of who we are

Ready to lead improvement at scale?

If you’re excited by the challenge of embedding continuous improvement across a busy acute Trust—and you can bring people with you—we’d love to hear from you.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

PLEASE NOTE: To view the full Job Description and Person Specification, please click the supporting document on the right-hand side.

To be an employee of the NHS you need to successfully complete the following:

• Identity Checks
• Professional registration and qualification checks
• Employment history and reference checks
• Occupational Health clearance
• Satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service check
• Right to work in the UK

For further information please visit:

https://www.nhsemployers.org/topics-networks/employment-standards-and-regulation

We reserve the right to close this advert early.

We may be able to offer flexible working. Please discuss at interview.