Head of Health & Safety, Security and Resilience
Job overview
At a time of rising complexity, risk and scrutiny across mental health services, the Trust needs a leader who can turn its values into lived experience. This role matters because safety, security and resilience are no longer just about compliance; they are about compassion, ensuring staff and service users are supported; integrity, having the courage to challenge when necessary; and pride, setting clear standards.The role will work across clinical, operational and external partners, driving collaboration as one system, and innovate, using learning, data and trauma informed approaches to prevent harm rather than simply respond to it. Above all, delivering environments where staff feel protected, listened to and confident their safety genuinely matters.
The role has a clear mandate to bring Health and Safety, Security and Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response together as a single, integrated corporate function. Beyond assurance, the role exists to deliver a step change in culture, embedding psychologically safe systems that support prevention, preparedness and confident escalation.As the Trust’s senior operational lead and competent person, the postholder will set expectations, model behaviours and challenge where needed, to embed accountability, learning, and resilience into everyday decision making and ensuring these responsibilities are owned across the organisation.
Main duties of the job
You will provide senior, Trust-wide leadership for Health and Safety, Security and Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response, bringing these functions together as a single, integrated corporate service. Acting as the Trust’s competent person, you will advise the Board and Executive Team on risk, compliance and safety, while setting clear expectations and challenging behaviours or systems that undermine safety, security or resilience.
You will lead the development and implementation of Trust-wide strategies, policies and governance frameworks, ensuring full compliance with legislation and national NHS standards, while embedding prevention, learning and preparedness into everyday practice.Working closely with clinical, operational and corporate leaders, you will ensure safety, security and resilience are understood as shared responsibilities rather than specialist functions.
You will oversee the Trust’s approach to security management, working with partners such as Police and Probation, and lead the EPRR function, ensuring robust major incident preparedness, business continuity and command capability.
Externally, you will represent the Trust with regulators and partner agencies, providing assurance, leadership and credible challenge in high-risk and high-pressure situations.
working to support staff safety, incident response, and legal compliance.
Working for our organisation
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust provides mental health services and a number of learning disability, autism and social care services in the county of Lincolnshire. Employing around 2,900 staff, and serving a population of over 768,400, our people lie at the heart of everything we do.
You could be part of a Trust rated by staff as one of the best mental health and learning disability trusts in England. We firmly believe the key to high quality care is a contented workforce. This is reflected in our Care Quality Commission rating of ‘outstanding’ for well-led and ‘good’ overall.In the most recent National NHS Staff Survey, our staff rated us as the number one trust nationally for staff morale and one of the top scoring NHS Trusts in the Midlands for being compassionate and inclusive. We’re really proud of this!
We offer options for flexible working and provide a wide range of training and promotion opportunities in all professions. We support and celebrate diversity, have active staff networks groups and are always looking at what more we can do to support our staff.
Whether you’re taking the first exciting steps in your career, itching for a new challenge or searching for a better place to raise a family, Lincolnshire has a range of rewarding health and social care careers in a county that’s friendly, fascinating, affordable and brimming with everything you need to live a happy life.Visit beinlincolnshire.com to find out more.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please view the attached Job Description and Person Specification documents for complete details regarding this post.
When completing your application, please demonstrate how you meet the role criteria.
We can also offer you many staff benefits to help support you which include:
- Early access to Psychological Therapies and Physiotherapy
- Competitive annual leave allowance
- Car leasing scheme
- NHS pension scheme
- Free eye tests
- Money saving options through our salary sacrifice scheme
- Discounts on major high street retailers and restaurants
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria- Educated to degree level in a relevant subject (e.g., Health and Safety, Emergency Planning, Risk Management) or equivalent significant experience
- NEBOSH Diploma or equivalent Health and Safety qualification
- Evidence of continued professional development
- Specialist knowledge gained through experience equivalent to post graduate level
- RSPH Level 4 Award in Violence Prevention and Reduction for Strategic Specialists
- Completed NHS EPRR Commander training
- PRINCE2 or equivalent project management qualification
- Membership of a relevant professional body (e.g., IOSH, IIRSM, IHEEM).
Experience
Essential criteria- Significant senior-level experience in Health and Safety, EPRR, and/or Security within a complex organisation
- Experience advising Executive-level stakeholders and Boards
- Experience managing multidisciplinary teams
- Experience leading investigations, audits, and compliance reviews
- Experience working with external agencies (e.g., HSE, Police, Probation).
- Experience in a mental health or learning disability setting
- Experience implementing staff harm reduction initiatives
- Experience managing or supporting a centralised staff support/referral hub
Skills
Essential criteria- In-depth knowledge of Health and Safety legislation, NHS EPRR Core Standards, and Martyn’s Law
- Strong leadership and people management skills
- Excellent communication and influencing skills at all levels
- Ability to manage complex incidents and emergency responses
- Skilled in policy development, risk assessment, and strategic planning
- Proficient in using incident reporting and risk management systems (e.g., Datix, RADAR)
- Financial and budget management skills
- Understanding of trauma-informed practice and psychological safety
- Familiarity with NHS Protect standards and security risk frameworks
- Knowledge of CQI Key Principles (True North) and their application in staff safety