Head of Assurance

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NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board

Head of Assurance\n

The closing date is 19 July 2026

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The Head of Assurance is a senior leadership role responsible for ensuring the Integrated Care Board (ICB) operates to the highest standards of governance, integrity and transparency. The postholder provides strategic oversight of all corporate assurance functions, including statutory compliance, policy frameworks, the development of robust assurance systems including but not restricted to Board and committee oversight and assurance. As a key advisor to the Board of Directors and Executive Team, they help to shape organisational effectiveness, enabling the ICB to deliver its duties under the Health and Care Act and maintain public confidence in decision making.

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This role leads the coordination of the ICB\'s assurance and regulatory processes, ensuring effective management of corporate assurance, alignment with internal and external audit requirements, and delivery of high-quality reporting to NHS England and system partners. The postholder will support strong relationships across the Integrated Care System (ICS), fostering collaborative approaches to governance that strengthen accountability and performance. They will champion good governance culture across the organisation, promoting continuous improvement, learning and best practice, quality reporting to NHS England and system partners.

Main duties of the job\n

Portfolio responsibilities may vary and adapt over time to respond to the needs and strategic priorities of the ICB/ICS. However, the postholder is expected to fulfil the following key functions:

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Key Duties & Responsibilities:

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• Corporate assurance
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• PMO delivery linked to key corporate objectives, improvement plans and CRES
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• Risk, Assurance, Audit & Regulatory Compliance
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• System leadership, Partnership Governance & Team Management
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About us\n

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside serves a population of over 2.7 million people across nine localities, working with 16 NHS provider organisations, 51 Primary Care Networks, local authorities and voluntary sector partners.

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We are proud of Cheshire and Merseyside\'s record of collaborative working and there are countless examples of brilliant care, but there are also examples of variation in service which only serve to exacerbate health inequalities.

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Our vision is for everyone in Cheshire and Merseyside to have a great start in life and get the support they need to stay healthy and live longer.

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We will do this by working together, as equal partners, to support seamless, person-centred care and tackle health inequalities by improving the lives of the poorest fastest.

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Our values are rooted in the NHS Constitution, and we strive to create a compassionate, collaborative and innovative culture where staff can thrive and make a real difference to local communities.

Job responsibilities\n

Key Duties & Responsibilities

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Corporate Governance, Board Support & Decision-Making

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• Advise the Chair, Chief Executive and Non Executive Members on assurance and delivery matters, ensuring clarity of roles, delegations and accountabilities.
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• Ensure effective corporate records management and retention practices.
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• Own and maintain the corporate policy framework, ensuring standards and governance are embedded across decision making.
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• Oversee due diligence and assurance for major business cases, procurements and contractual decisions
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Risk, Assurance, Audit & Regulatory Compliance

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• Operate a disciplined but pragmatic Assurance PMO for planning/performance initiatives (plans, RAID, milestones, change control).
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• Ensure alignment between strategic objectives, risks, controls, assurances and mitigation.
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• Coordinate the assurance map across the three lines of defence.
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• Produce high quality assurance reports for the Board, Audit Committee and NHS England quality assurance reports for the Board, AuditCommittee and NHS England.
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• Track and drive delivery of actions arising from audits, reviews and investigations.
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• Support the executive lead for the Audit Committee, in delivery of an effective annual programme.
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• Liaise with internal and external audit providers and ensure implementation of recommendations.
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• Oversee compliance with legislation, Health and Care Act duties and NHS regulatory requirements.
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• Promote equality, inclusion, sustainability and other statutory duties within governance processes.
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• Champion Nolan Principles, Freedom to Speak Up and an open, learning governance culture.
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System Leadership, Partnership Governance & Team Management

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• Develop strong relationships across the Integrated Care System, ensuring aligned governance and shared accountability.
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• Support joint committees, Section 75 arrangements and collaborative decision making frameworks.
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• Promote consistent governance and assurance standards across system partners and arrangements.
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• Lead and develop a high performing Assurance team, with clear objectives, KPIs and professional development enabling a high performing team.
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• Manage budgets, resources and contracts (e.g., audit, legal, governance systems) to ensure value for money.
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• Set, monitor and improve service standards for risk and assurance functions.
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• Produce clear, insightful Board level reports on risk trends and assurance level reports.
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• Use data and insights to identify emerging risks, gaps in control and opportunities for improvement.
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Operational Responsibility

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• The post is responsible for providing professional expertise to the outcome of the business processes for the Department or Directorate.
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• The post holder will define current processes, facilitate discussions and advise colleagues as to how best practice might be adopted in the definition of future processes, document those processes as they are agreed and oversee their delivery.
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Financial and Physical Resources Responsibility

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• Budget holder for major area of activity
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Human Resources Responsibility

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• Line manager for several/multiple departments or a major area of responsibility
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Information Management Responsibility

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• Responsible for the operation of one or more information systems for department/service as a major job responsibility
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• Regularly uses software to develop reports
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Planning and Organisation Responsibility

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• Formulate long term strategic plans, involving uncertainly, which may impact on the whole of the organisation
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• Makes major contribution to corporate strategy and policy
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Policy and Service Development Responsibility

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• Responsible for policy implementation and development for a directorate or equivalent which impacts across the wider health economy
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• Leads the development of policies and procedures for a major area of activity, ensures compliance with the corporate policies
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Research and Development Responsibility

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Undertakes surveys as necessary to own work

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Freedom to Act

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• Works within general policies, need to establish interpretation/required to interpret overall health service policy and strategy
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• Lead manager for major area of activity
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Analytical and Judgemental Responsibility

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• Highly complex facts or situations requiring analysis, interpretation, comparison of a range of options.
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• Analyses a range of very complex situations which require deciding on the way forward where no precedent exists or options conflict
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Communication Responsibility

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• Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive or contentious information with barriers to understanding; present complex, sensitive or contentious information to large groups
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• Provides and receives highly complex, sensitive or contentious information with significant barriers to acceptance and where there may be significant resistance to change
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This is not an exhaustive list of duties and responsibilities, and the post holder may be required to undertake other duties, which fall within the grade of the job, in discussion with their manager. This job description will be reviewed regularly in the light of changing service requirements, and any such changes will be discussed with the post holder.

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This job description is intended as an outline indicator of general areas of activity and will be amended in the light of the changing needs of the organisation. It will be reviewed in conjunction with the post holder on an annual basis.

Person SpecificationKnowledge, Training and Experience\n

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• Educated to master's level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience of working at a similar level in corporate affairs, governance or assurance.
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• Extensive knowledge and expertise of corporate affairs, or assurance gained over a significant period
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• Significant experience and understanding of proven implementation of project management methodologies.
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Skills\n

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• Dynamic personality and the ability to build trusted stakeholder relationships and wide support networks in a political context
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• Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required.
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• Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium, and long-term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly
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• Experience of project and programme management techniques and tools such as Prince 2 or Managing Successful Projects
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Equality and Diversity\n

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• Will consider the most effective way to promote equality of opportunity and good working relationships in employment and service delivery and has the ability to take actions which support and promote this agenda.
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Disclosure and Barring Service Check\n

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\n

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board

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