Director of Specialist and Secured Services

Go back Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust

Director of Specialist and Secured Services

The closing date is 13 May 2026

NHFT manages an extensive range of prison healthcare services in Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire, as well as overseeing an Immigration Referral Centre, secure forensic facilities, and specialist gender contracts.

Over the past year, our Secured settings have experienced significant growth, driven by the expansion of prison healthcare provision in Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. This development has presented us with the chance to review and enhance our leadership structure, enabling growth within the Specialist and Secured leadership team. Our aim is to establish robust foundations for the services we currently deliver and to build a strong platform for future advancements across our diverse portfolio.

Main duties of the job

We are seeking an experienced, resilient, agile, and trauma‑informed leader to guide our services through the next phase of development. The successful candidate will play a vital role in supporting and nurturing our highly skilled and compassionate staff, who are essential to delivering quality services and achieving positive outcomes for our patients.

This newly created position will work alongside our other Pathway Directors, supporting the Group Chief Integration & Delivery Officer in leading the operational delivery across the organisation.

About us

NHFT is an NHS Community and Mental Health Foundation Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in hospital settings and in the community. We provide over 200 services across the county – as well as some specialist services in bordering and nearby counties. We work together with our partners to ensure that everyone who comes through our doors receives compassionate, person‑centred care, regardless of their background or circumstances.

NHFT promotes a culture of learning, to improve the care and safety of our patients and colleagues. We have achieved our ‘outstanding’ rating by encouraging opportunity, innovation, development and growth across our workforce.

Person Specification

Behaviours and Values

• Highly motivated, driven to achieve significant results and can be relied upon to deliver.
• People oriented without losing sight of the task; with an ability to manage the conflict between service priorities and staff and continue to influence, motivate and lead all grades of staff.
• Able to develop, establish and maintain positive relationships with others both internal and external to the organisation; able to work effectively across organisational boundaries and maintain effective multi‑disciplinary working relationships particularly during change.

Knowledge and Experience

• Professional knowledge in a relevant discipline acquired through specialist training to a doctorate level or equivalent knowledge, experience and competency in a range of disciplines.
• Recognised management qualifications in Health or Social Care field (diploma level or higher) or equivalent experience.
• Evidence of management development through Continuous Professional Development and/or formal management courses.
• Recent significant experience at senior level management within the NHS (or can demonstrate how you would apply your experience in the NHS) with proven track record of using professional knowledge (managerial and/or clinical) to bring about change.

Skills and Abilities

• Highly developed level of interpersonal, communications and influencing skills that enable highly complex, sensitive or contentious technical issues to be explained in clear and concise terms and appropriate action to be understood.
• Able to think analytically, anticipating obstacles and thinking ahead. Uses analytical techniques to identify several solutions to the problem or issue.
• Highly developed verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to synthesise and articulate highly complex information and build rapport with a diverse audience.
• Ability to lead others through change, building commitment and managing complexity and uncertainty.

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.

Employer name

Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust

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