Job summary
- Main area
- Corporate
- Grade
- Associate Non-Executive
- Contract
- Fixed term: 24 months (01 January 2026 to 31 December 2028)
- Hours
- Part time
- Job ref
- 430-CORP25-223A
- Employer
- Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Trust Board Support (Dept)
- Town
- Milton Keynes
- Salary
- £9,000 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 31/10/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Associate Non-Executive Director
Associate Non-Executive
At Milton Keynes University Hospital, you will be welcomed into a friendly and supportive environment where teamwork and respect are at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to live our Trust values and behaviours every day, creating a culture where everyone feels heard and valued.
MKUH staff's Motivation and Involvement scores are among the highest in our peer group, showing that our people feel inspired and included in decision-making (Staff Survey, 2024).
Our benefits
We believe in recognising and rewarding the amazing contribution of our staff and that is why we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your wellbeing, work-life balance, and professional growth, including:
- Free on-site parking including EV charging
- Complimentary refreshments
- Flexible working arrangements
- Discounted gym membership
- Salary sacrifice car scheme
- Generous annual leave, with the option to bank holiday entitlement
- Membership of the NHS Pension Scheme
- On-site nursery (charges apply)
- A wide-ranging staff health and wellbeing programme including EAP
- VIVUP products to support your mental, physical, and financial Wellbeing
Job overview
Associate Non-Executive Director
Department Board of Directors
Band Associate Non-Executive
Hours: 3-4 days per month, flexible working will be considered.
We are now seeking to recruit an Associate Non-Executive Director to join the Trust Board of Directors and drive forward the Trust’s strategic development. Working closely with the Trust Board Chair, you will have a strong commitment to the principles of the NHS and provide strategic direction, leadership, and challenge at the Board of Directors.
You will have held senior leadership or consultancy positions in either the public or private sector, preferably operating at board or strategic level. We are actively seeking applications from individuals with a Senior level experience in one or more of the following areas: clinical services (urgent and emergency care context), social care’ local authority services, voluntary/charitable sector services, health and care technology, transformational change projects in a public or private sector; workforce, workplace culture and organisational development.
The Associate Non-Executive Director (NED) role is a well-established approach within the NHS and MKUH to support Board succession planning and ensure a balanced mix of skills at Board level.
Applications should only be sent via email to the Trust Secretary: [email protected] by midnight on 31 October 2025. Applications must not be sent via the website or TRAC portal.
Interview w/c 17 November 2025
Main duties of the job
We care We communicate We collaborate We contribute
Non-executive directors and Associate Non-Executive Directors play a crucial role in bringing independent perspectives to the boardroom, in addition to any specific knowledge and skills they may have. Non-executive directors and Associate Non-Executive Directors have a duty to uphold the highest standards of integrity and probity and to foster good relations in the boardroom. They will be required to contribute to setting the strategic direction, effectively participate in the Board, ensuring effective governance and compliance and the meeting of performance targets required by the Trust and other external partners such as commissioners of services, NHS Improvement, the Care Quality Commission and other statutory bodies. Non-executive directors are expected to participate fully as members of sub committees of the Board of Directors to which they are appointed and to take the role of committee chair if appointed.
Associate Non-Executive Directors will work with the Non-Executive Directors to ensure that the Board acts in the best interests of service users, patients, the community and wider public. You will be a member of a unitary board.
Working for our organisation
Milton Keynes University Hospital, in proud partnership with the University of Buckingham, is a University Teaching Hospital committed to advancing patient care through cutting-edge research and education. With a “Good” rating from the CQC and significant investment underway, this is an exciting time to join our team and grow your career.
As a medium sized general hospital, we provide a full range of general medical and surgical services, including a busy Emergency Department, Maternity, and Paediatrics. As the population of our city and surrounding areas continues to grow rapidly, we are expanding and enhancing our facilities to meet rising demand and improve access to care for all our communities.
We are also proud to offer a growing portfolio of specialist services. In January 2025 we opened our state-of-the-art Radiotherapy Centre, bringing advanced cancer treatment closer to home. Our services also include neonatology, specialist surgical care, and a wide range of diagnostics, supported by the new Community Diagnostic Centre at Whitehouse Health Centre.
Further investment is underway, including the construction of Oak Wards – a new ward block featuring two 24-bed wards – and the recently approved Women and Children’s Centre, set to open by 2030.
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Detailed job description and main responsibilities
• Upholding the values of the Trust by example, and to ensure that the organisation promotes and upholds the principles of equality and diversity for all its patients, staff and other stakeholders.
• Commit to working to, and encouraging within the Trust, the highest standards of probity, integrity and governance and contribute to ensuring that the Trust’s internal governance arrangements conform to best practice and statutory requirements.
• Provide independent judgement and advice on issues of strategy, vision, performance, resources and standards of conduct and constructively challenge, influence and help the board of directors develop proposals on such strategies.
• In accordance with agreed board procedures, monitor the performance and conduct of management in meeting agreed goals and objectives and statutory responsibilities, including the preparation of annual reports and annual accounts and other statutory duties.
Please refer to the Job Description for further details
Person specification
Essential Criteria
Essential criteria
- Experience of delivering successful change within complex and highly regulated
Experience
Essential criteria
- Senior level experience in one or more of the following areas: clinical services (urgent and emergency care context), social care’ local authority services, legal, corporate governance, Information technology, voluntary/charitable sector services, health and care technology, transformational change projects in a public or private sector organization; workforce, workplace culture and organisational development
- Strong understanding of quality and safety governance frameworks together with the ability to review complex performance data to provide oversight and challenge
- Understanding of complex organisations and a track record of leadership
- Experience specific to a particular profession, sector, or specialism as detailed in the job advert
- Experience in leading transformational change and service redesign
- Awareness of and a strong background in quality improvement systems
Qualifications and knowledge
Essential criteria
- A qualified professional with a minimum of 10 years of experience in a Board and/or senior level in a public or private sector organisation
- An understanding of Foundation Trusts, the NHS and the external environment in which they operate and accountability arrangements
- Degree or equivalent experience in professional career
- A public member of the Foundation Trust or qualifies to be a public member of the Foundation Trust
- An understanding of and commitment to the equality, diversity and inclusion agenda in public service
- The ability to understand complex strategic issues and to analyse and resolve difficult problems
- Sound understanding of corporate governance
- An understanding of the essential need to build and maintain close relations with stakeholder groups to promote the effective operation of the Trust’s activities, including Council of Governors and Membership
Personal Qualities
Essential criteria
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills
- Well-organised and self-motivated
- Collaborative
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to challenge and debate constructively
- Strategic thinking
- High level of personal and business integrity
- Leadership skills
- Political acumen and awareness
Specific requirements
Essential criteria
- Able to perform the duties of the post with reasonable aids and adaptations
- Available to meet the time commitment, working flexibly as required.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Oluwakemi Olayiwola
- Job title
- Trust Secretary
- Email address
- [email protected]
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