Associate Director of Patient Engagement and Experience

Job summary

Reporting to the Chief Nurse the Associate Director of Patient Engagement and Experience will ensure that the voices and lived experiences of patients, carers and communities shape Trust strategy, decisions, services and improvement.

The post holder will provide corporate leadership and accountability for complaints, PALS, patient surveys and insight, involvement and co-design, carers, Chaplaincy, translation and interpreting, volunteers, and patient-experience improvement. The post holder will lead delivery of the Patient Experience strategy and the experience and voice commitments of the national Quality Strategy for NHS-funded care in England.

They will translate national and Trust strategy into measurable priorities, policy, standards and improvement programmes, creating systematic and inclusive routes for people to influence how care is planned, delivered and evaluated and ensuring that the Trust visibly responds to what it hears.

The post holder will operate with substantial autonomy within broad professional, organisational and national policies and delegated authority, interpreting these requirements and determining how agreed objectives are achieved. Interview date: 16th November 2026.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is the responsible strategic lead for the development and implementation of the Trust strategy for improving patient and carer experience and engagement for University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. An influential senior leader working within the corporate nursing team to provide strategic nursing leadership and expert specialist advice concerning all areas of patient engagement and patient experience.

The post holder will lead on and facilitate the successful delivery of the strategic objectives set out in the Patient Engagement and Experience Strategy and provide support to the wider patient experience team in relation to the core functions. The role requires a senior manager with strong leadership skills, current specialist knowledge and experience in the field of patient experience, engagement and co-production.

The post holder will provide leadership and management of the Trust's Patient Engagement & Experience Team, Volunteer Services, Chaplaincy, and for patient/community focussed activities.

They will act as a source of professional advice and expertise, developing and acting upon specialist knowledge on current trends in NHS complaints and PALS, patient experience, service user involvement, quality improvement, volunteering, and health inequalities, keeping abreast of relevant legislation, policy changes and national/regional impact.

About us

UHD are investing, developing and transforming Trust services in line with the New Hospital Programme. As part of this, some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or permanently. Recruiting Managers will be happy to answer any service-specific questions at interview. UHD has active networks including Women's, BAME, Pride, EU, Pro Ability, and Armed Forces. We support Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant interview schemes. AI tools may be used, but applications must honestly reflect your own skills and experience. Integrity is key to our recruitment process.

Job responsibilities

The postholder will take a significant role in the continued development of high-quality patient experience and care quality throughout the Trust providing support and guidance to Trust staff ensuring a patient focussed service.

The post holder will be the primary source of expert, strategic professional leadership, advice and guidance to the Trust Board and Care Groups in matters of patient engagement, patient experience including complaints and volunteering in order to deliver an outstanding patient experience for the Trust.

Provide strategic and corporate leadership for the Trust-wide Patient Experience and Voice portfolio, translating national and Trust priorities into clear policies, standards, improvement programmes and measurable outcomes.- Ensure patient, carer and community voices influence strategy, governance, service design and evaluation through inclusive engagement, co-design, accessible routes for participation.- Lead systems for capturing, analysing, acting on complaints, PALS contacts, surveys, patient stories, equality insight and community feedback to identify inequalities, risks and improvement priorities.- Provide senior oversight of complex complaints and poor experiences, ensuring effective advocacy, restorative approaches, learning, corrective action and escalation of significant or unresolved risks.- Hold corporate oversight of patient experience services, including complaints, PALS, surveys, involvement and co-design, carers, Chaplaincy, translation and interpreting, and volunteers.- Provide Executive and Board assurance, chair the Patient Experience and Voice Improvement Group and integrate patient experience with patient safety, clinical effectiveness and regulatory assurance.

Person Specification

Qualifications · Essential

Educated to Master's level or equivalent experience. Management/leadership qualification or equivalent experience at post graduate level Evidence of continued professional development Registered nurse or other registered professional; alternatively, demonstrable equivalent senior professional knowledge and experience relevant to patient experience, quality governance, complaints, engagement or service improvement.

Desirable

Quality Improvement qualification

Experience · Essential

Extensive experience of working in a senior management/leadership role Significant experience of managing, leading and motivating teams/departments Specialist knowledge around legislation, service requirements in NHS complaints, PALS, and volunteering Leading service changes to improve performance Experience of working across boundaries to develop networks with key stakeholders with using highly developed persuasive, motivational and negotiating skills Experience of line managing a diverse team utilising the full spectrum of HR practices Technical

Skills · Essential

Good analytical and problem-solving skills - ability to analyse highly complex data/information and make judgements/draw conclusions - including ability to respond to unexpected demands. Ability to work independently and make autonomous decisions Ability to prepare and present written reports/papers to a high standard and to find, retrieve and disseminate information up to Board level Ability to embrace, lead and drive change

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab) . From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab) .

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).