Director of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities
We are looking for an exceptional leader with significant senior experience in mental health, learning disability or a closely related health and care setting. You will bring a strong track record of leading complex services, delivering improvement, working across organisational boundaries, and building trusted relationships with partners, communities, people who use services, and staff.
You will be able to operate effectively at Board and system level, balancing strategic leadership with grip on delivery, quality, safety and performance. You will demonstrate a deep commitment to compassionate leadership, reducing inequalities, co-production, partnership working and improving outcomes for people with mental health needs and learning disabilities.
The Director of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities provides strategic leadership for all Mental Health and Learning Disability (MH&LD) services across Swansea Bay University Health Board. The role enables the delivery of high-quality, safe, compassionate and sustainable services aligned with the NHS Wales Duty of Quality and Duty of Candour, while leading implementation of the Welsh Government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025–2035 and the Learning Disability Strategic Action Plan 2022–2026.
As a member of the Health Board’s senior leadership team, the postholder leads the delivery, transformation and continuous improvement of MH&LD services across community, inpatient and specialist pathways, ensuring alignment with the Health Board’s Transforming for the Future Clinical Services Plan, ten-year organisational strategy, A Healthier Swansea Bay and the Integrated Medium Term Plan (IMTP). The Director will lead the redesign of services to strengthen prevention, early intervention and integrated community-based alternatives to hospital admission while ensuring safe, therapeutic and effective inpatient care.
The Director provides visible system leadership across the MH&LD portfolio, working in partnership with Local Authorities, police, housing, education, the third sector and Regional Partnership Boards to develop integrated pathways that improve outcomes and reduce inequalities.
Central to the role is meaningful co-production with people who use services, their families and carers, ensuring lived experience informs service design, governance and improvement.
The Director acts as Senior Responsible Officer for MH&LD elements of the Health Board’s Integrated Medium-Term Plan (IMTP) and provides strategic oversight of commissioning, market shaping and independent sector provision. The role represents the Health Board within regional commissioning arrangements, including the Joint Commissioning Committee, ensuring sustainable and person-centred pathways across organisational boundaries.
The Director will provide visible, values-based leadership across the MH&LD workforce, fostering a culture of compassion, partnership working and continuous improvement.
The role will play a key leadership role in the Health Board’s Organised for Success programme alongside the rest of the executive team, supporting the transition to a care group structure and embedding a consistent organisational methodology for improvement and culture change.
Operational delivery of MH&LD services is undertaken through the Mental Health Service Group leadership triumvirate, comprising the Clinical Director, Operational Director and Director of Nursing. These leaders hold day-to-day operational accountability for service delivery.
The Director of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities provides Board-level leadership, strategic direction, performance oversight and system leadership for the portfolio, ensuring alignment between operational delivery, organisational strategy and national policy.
The portfolio includes strategic responsibility for:
- community mental health services
- acute and inpatient mental health services
- crisis and urgent care pathways
- psychological therapies
- perinatal mental health services
- forensic and secure interfaces
- rehabilitation and recovery services
- learning disability services
- statutory mental health functions
Person Specification
Essential:
- Educated to postgraduate level or equivalent experience in a relevant field such as healthcare, leadership, management, or public administration.
- Evidence of significant continuing professional development relevant to a senior leadership role.
- Relevant professional qualification or equivalent senior leadership experience within mental health, learning disability or related services.
Desirable:
- Postgraduate qualification in leadership, management or healthcare (e.g. MSc, MBA or equivalent).
- Completion of recognised executive leadership development (e.g. NHS Leadership Academy or equivalent).
- Current professional registration with an appropriate regulatory body (e.g. GMC, NMC, HCPC, Social Care Wales), where applicable.
- Values-driven leader committed to improving outcomes for people with mental health needs and learning disabilities.
- Demonstrates compassion, integrity and openness, with a strong commitment to co-production and person-centred care.
- Resilient and able to lead effectively in complex, politically sensitive environments.
- Strong personal credibility with clinicians, partners, service users and communities.
- Committed to promoting equality, inclusion and reducing health inequalities.
Essential:
- Significant senior leadership experience in complex health, social care or public sector organisations.
- Demonstrable experience of leading large-scale service transformation and improvement programmes.
- Experience of delivering improvements in quality, safety, access and outcomes within regulated services.
- Proven track record of working in partnership across organisational boundaries including health, local government and voluntary sector organisations.
- Experience of working within complex governance and regulatory environments.
Desirable:
- Experience of leadership at Board or executive level.
- Experience of commissioning, contracting and market shaping across health and social care.
- Experience of working within NHS Wales or comparable systems.
- Strategic leadership with the ability to translate policy and strategy into operational delivery.
- Excellent communication and influencing skills, including the ability to engage effectively with clinicians, partners, service users and political stakeholders.
- Strong partnership and system leadership skills, able to build collaborative relationships across organisations and sectors.
- Ability to lead complex organisational and cultural change programmes.
- Highly developed analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to use data and evidence to inform decision-making.
- Strong negotiation and stakeholder management capability.
- Ability to motivate large multi-professional teams and develop leadership capability across organisations.
- In-depth understanding of mental health and learning disability policy, legislation and service models.
- Knowledge of the Mental Health (Wales) Measure, Mental Health Act and relevant safeguarding legislation.
- Understanding of the NHS Wales planning, performance and governance framework, including IMTP requirements.
- Knowledge of integrated health and social care systems and partnership arrangements in Wales.
- Understanding of quality improvement, clinical governance and patient safety frameworks.
- Awareness of population health approaches and the wider determinants of mental health and wellbeing.
- Strategic thinker with the ability to operate effectively at Board and system level.
- Politically astute, with the ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments.
- Demonstrates integrity, transparency and accountability in decision-making.
- Ability to remain calm and effective under pressure and during periods of significant organisational change.
- Strong commitment to collaborative working, co-production and continuous improvement.
- Ability to act as an ambassador for the Health Board and NHS Wales in local, regional and national settings.
