Head of Involvement

Job Overview

Shape the Future of Healthcare Through Meaningful Engagement

Are you passionate about ensuring the voices of patients, communities and the public influence healthcare decisions at the highest level?

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced and dynamic Head of Involvement to lead our patient, public and community involvement agenda. This is an exciting opportunity to join a forward-thinking Communications and Engagement Directorate and play a pivotal role in shaping how we engage with the people who use, support and influence our services.

As our Head of Involvement, you will provide strategic leadership across the Trust's involvement programmes, ensuring engagement activity is meaningful, inclusive, legally robust and delivers real impact. You will work closely with senior leaders, governors, community partners and stakeholders to strengthen relationships, amplify patient voices and support the delivery of our organisational priorities.

This role will be central to delivering the Trust's ambitions for patient and public involvement, including leading engagement activity linked to major transformation programmes such as the New Hospital Programme.

Main duties of the job

As a senior member of the Communications and Engagement team, you will:

• Lead the development and delivery of the Trust's patient, public and community involvement strategy.
• Provide strategic leadership for engagement activity associated with the New Hospital Programme, ensuring activities meet governance requirements and recognised involvement principles.
• Build and maintain influential relationships with key partners, including Healthwatch organisations, voluntary and community groups, independent research partners and seldom-heard communities.
• Lead the governance framework for Foundation Trust member and governor engagement, ensuring statutory responsibilities are met while fostering meaningful and proactive involvement.
• Commission and oversee specialist engagement, research and evaluation activity, ensuring value for money and effective governance.
• Work with senior executives, governors and external stakeholders to embed a culture where patient and community insight informs decision-making and service improvement.

Working for our organisation

Why Join Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust?

At Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, our people are at the heart of everything we do.

As a Disability Confident Employer and recipient of the Gold Award in the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme, we actively champion equality, diversity and inclusion, creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to build rewarding careers within the NHS.

We also recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance. By supporting flexible working arrangements wherever possible, we enable our colleagues to balance their professional and personal commitments while continuing to deliver outstanding care to our patients. Whether flexibility means adjusted hours, part-time working, hybrid arrangements or alternative working patterns, we work in partnership with our staff to meet both individual and service needs.

Join Us

Whether you're at the start of your career or looking for your next challenge, Frimley Health offers the opportunity to be part of a inclusive, forward-thinking organisation that is committed to excellence, innovation and compassionate care. Together, we can shape the future of healthcare and make a real difference to the lives of the communities we serve.

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Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

For a comprehensive list of duties and responsibilities, please refer to the full Job Description and Person Specification.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Post-graduate qualification or professional diploma in communications, public relations, engagement or a related discipline.

Desirable criteria

• Professional body membership and/or accreditation (e.g. CIPR, PRCA or equivalent).

Skills & Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Excellent stakeholder engagement, influencing and relationship management skills.
• Strong project management, organisational and planning skills.
• Ability to develop governance processes, policies and assurance frameworks.
• Ability to analyse feedback, interpret findings and use insights to inform strategic decision-making.

Desirable criteria

• Facilitation and consultation skills, including managing challenging discussions and competing interests.
• Ability to design innovative approaches to community and public engagement, particularly with seldom-heard groups.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Significant experience of leading patient, public and community involvement (PPCI) or stakeholder engagement programmes within a complex healthcare, public sector or regulated environment.
• Experience of developing and implementing engagement strategies and governance frameworks.
• Experience of leading large-scale public consultation and engagement activities, including ensuring compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements.
• Experience of commissioning, managing and evaluating external providers, consultants or research partners.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of working within an NHS Foundation Trust and supporting Council of Governors and membership engagement.
• Experience of leading engagement activities associated with major capital developments, service transformation programmes or New Hospital Programmes.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) is proud of its strong reputation, record of achievement and ambition for the future. We serve a population of over 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and South Buckinghamshire, and remain committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Our new organisational strategy – FHFT 2030 – sets out our ambition to be the best place to receive care and the best place to work in the NHS. Underpinned by our Trust values – Committed to Excellence, Working Together, Facing the Future, and being a modern, compassionate, Healthcare Organisation – we are creating a culture where our people can thrive and patients always come first.

We continue to invest heavily in our services and facilities. This includes the development of a new hospital at Frimley Park, major expansion of diagnostics and inpatient capacity, and the continued transformation of services across our sites. We have already delivered a brand-new £100m state-of-the-art Heatherwood Hospital, a £49m Emergency Assessment Centre at Wexham Park, and a £10m upgrade to maternity services.

We are also committed to sustainability and the NHS Net Zero ambition. Our new hospital and estate developments are being designed to be environmentally responsible, energy efficient, and future-proofed, featuring on-site renewables energy and intelligent energy systems. Through our green plan, we are embedding sustainable practices across all areas of care and operations, ensuring we reduce our environmental impact while improving population health and wellbeing. Our staff are key to helps us deliver on our ambition and to ensure sustainability is a core component of care delivery and our operations.

Alongside estates’ investments, we are embedding a strong focus on digital innovation and quality improvement. Our electronic patient record (Epic), launched in 2024, is already enabling safer, more connected, and more effective care for patients, while giving staff the tools they need to do their best work. Our electronic patient record also supports safe and effective digitised care pathways, savings time and carbon, whilst delivering excellent quality of care.

Everything we do is guided by our values, shaping how we care for patients, support colleagues, and build a sustainable future for healthcare together.

Apply online now