General Manager – Clinical and Care Governance
UnitingCare
CANDIDATE INFORMATION PACK
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Executive Summary
- Visionary and inspirational leader
- Lead and promote best practice in clinical and care governance
- Enable excellence and embed a culture of safety, quality and continuous improvement
THE OPPORTUNITY
You may know us as UnitingCare, Blue Care, ARRCS, Lifeline, or one of our hospitals - St Stephen’s Hospital, The Wesley Hospital, Buderim Private Hospital, or St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital. At UnitingCare, you are part of something bigger. Through these services we support more than 400,000 people every year in urban, rural, and remote communities across Queensland and the Northern Territory. You’ll find our people everywhere. People committed to and passionate about delivering services that improve the lives of individuals, families and communities. And with more than 16,500 staff and 9,000 volunteers – we’re proud to be making a meaningful difference every day.
UnitingCare is the second-largest Queensland employer who has been leading by example as a proud not-for-profit, for more than 100 years. As a team we’re inclusive, supportive, and diverse, working constructively together with respect and compassion. Always striving to make a difference for our frontline services and the people we serve, we look to the future as we evolve.
THE ROLE
The General Manager (GM) – Clinical and Care Governance (CCG), enabled by a clear mandate and authorising environment, is accountable for providing whole of organisation leadership for clinical and care governance. The role, hosted by the Group Executive BlueCare, will provide critical leadership and support to service-line executives in the establishment and operation of best practice Clinical and Care governance functions across the Hospitals, Aged Care and Family & Disability Services. Working closely with the relevant Service Group Executives this role will hold the delegation for whole of organisation positioning on strategic clinical and care governance, continuous improvement and adherence to legislation and regulation.
The GM CCG will design, drive and coordinate integrated clinical and care governance systems achieving a single, contemporary shared understanding of robust governance and continuous improvement. The role will provide strategic and operational advice and influential leadership to create, drive and embed a culture of safety, quality and continuous improvement, whilst ensuring alignment with organisational strategy, regulatory requirements and clinical governance frameworks.
THE CANDIDATE
To be successful in this role you will have:
- Tertiary qualifications in a health-related discipline (e.g. Nursing, Allied Health, Medicine, Public Health or similar)
- Significant senior leadership experience in clinical governance, clinical risk and quality management within complex health and/or aged care and community services environments.
- Demonstrated leadership of whole of organisation transformation or integration initiatives.
- Demonstrated and extensive experience in developing and implementing patient and client safety and quality improvement programs in large health care and community services organisations.
- Proven experience leading multidisciplinary teams and influencing senior stakeholders across diverse service models.
- Strong analytical, governance, communication and change leadership capability
For a confidential discussion, please get in touch with:
Liz Hlipala
HardyGroup Principal Consultant
M. +61 (0)401 122 301
E. lhlipala@hardygroupintl.com
UnitingCare Queensland
You may know us as UnitingCare, Blue Care, ARRCS, Lifeline, or one of our hospitals - St Stephen’s Hospital, The Wesley Hospital, Buderim Private Hospital, or St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital. At UnitingCare, you are part of something bigger. Through these services we support more than 400,000 people every year in urban, rural, and remote communities across Queensland and the Northern Territory. You’ll find our people everywhere. People committed to and passionate about delivering services that improve the lives of individuals, families and communities. And with more than 16,500 staff and 9,000 volunteers – we’re proud to be making a meaningful difference every day.
UnitingCare is the second-largest Queensland employer who has been leading by example as a proud not-for-profit, for more than 100 years. As a team we’re inclusive, supportive, and diverse, working constructively together with respect and compassion. Always striving to make a difference for our frontline services and the people we serve, we look to the future as we evolve.
Values
Compassion
Demonstrating understanding and empathy for others, to bring holistic care, hope and inspiration.
Respect
Accepting and honouring diversity, uniqueness and the contribution of others.
Justice
Focusing on the needs of people we serve and to work for a fair, just and sustainable society.
Working Together
Appreciating the richness of individual contributions, partnerships and teamwork.
Leading Through Learning
Encouraging innovation and supporting learning.
Vision
‘Life in all its fullness’ [John 10:10] – for people from all walks of life.
Mission
As part of the Uniting Church, the mission of UnitingCare is to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities as we:
- Reach out to people in need
- Speak out for fairness and justice
- Care with compassion, innovation and wisdom.
Role Specification
Clinical and Care Governance is the holistic system through which UnitingCare Queensland will ensure, from front-line all the way through to the UnitingCare Queensland Board, that the organisation effectively and continuously:
- monitors the quality of service delivery,
- reports accurately and appropriately,
- improves the quality of services, and
- safeguards high standards of care, and
- contributes to evidence and research on clinical and care governance improvement and innovation
by creating an environment and culture in which excellence in care will flourish.
The General Manager (GM) – Clinical and Care Governance (CCG), enabled by a clear mandate and authorising environment, is accountable for providing whole of organisation leadership for clinical and care governance. The role, hosted by the Group Executive BlueCare, will provide critical leadership and support to service-line executives in the establishment and operation of best practice Clinical and Care governance functions across the Hospitals, Aged Care and Family & Disability Services. Working closely with the relevant Service Group Executives this role will hold the delegation for whole of organisation positioning on strategic clinical and care governance, continuous improvement and adherence to legislation and regulation.
The GM CCG will design, drive and coordinate integrated clinical and care governance systems achieving a single, contemporary shared understanding of robust governance and continuous improvement. The role will provide strategic and operational advice and influential leadership to create, drive and embed a culture of safety, quality and continuous improvement, whilst ensuring alignment with organisational strategy, regulatory requirements and clinical governance frameworks.
The role will lead a small team and work in partnership with key service delivery leaders to continually improve and embed a robust UCQ-wide Clinical and Care Governance Framework. This Framework includes core UCQ-wide clinical and care governance principles and systems common to all services lines, whilst also addressing service-specific quality, risk and regulatory obligations. There will be an important role in engaging with and contributing to relevant evidence and research on clinical and care governance improvement and innovation.
Components of this UCQ-wide framework to support safe, compliant and high-performing services across acute care, community, aged care, hospitals, family and disability service contexts. This includes, but is not limited to: clinical and care outcomes, risk frameworks and management including a comprehensive approach to incident and adverse events; standards and compliance monitoring and reporting; quality improvement and measurement; staff training and development and patient, resident, participant engagement; targeted clinical and care risk control programs for major risk areas such as infection prevention and control; falls and pressure injury prevention; medication safety and clinical education strategies.
Whole of Organisational Governance - integrated corporate and clinical governance systems to improve the safety and quality of services.
- Lead the development and implementation of an integrated clinical and care governance and risk management framework and program across BlueCare, FaDs and Hospitals ensuring consistency while recognising contextual differences between Hospital, aged care and community-based services. This includes but is not limited to the development and implementation of a whole of organisation Quality and Clinical Governance Framework and reporting mechanism.
- Provide expert advice and support to BlueCare, FaDS, Hospitals and Governance Group Executives in delivery of best-practice clinical and care governance
- To be the trusted advisor to the CEO, Group Executive BlueCare, FaDs, Hospitals, Board Committees and senior leaders on whole of organisation emerging clinical and practice risks, trends and continuous improvement activities and strategies.
- Ensure robust whole of organisation contemporary policy, procedure and frameworks that align with changing and developing regulatory requirements and best practice, ensuring a consistent approach to recording, responding to, investigating, managing and closure of clinical and practice incidents. In alignment with this, other key related areas include open disclosure, complaints, feedback, audits, risk management, reportable conduct scheme and other regulatory reporting requirements and compliance in relation to clinical care and practice delivery.
- Develop, facilitate and implement a program for lessons learned related to clinical and care incident management across the organisation.
Whole of Organisational Leadership and Culture - the environment promotes safe and high-quality services.
- Drive and coordinate whole of organisation strategy through the clinical and care governance, clinical risk reportable incidents, quality and safeguarding portfolios, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and values.
- Role Model a strong culture which promotes transparency and openness, continuous improvement, learning and innovation.
- Build strong partnerships with the whole Executive Leadership Team (Digital and Technology, People and Culture, Governance, Finance and Mission) in addition to BlueCare, FaDS, Hospitals and Governance Leaders and subject matter experts to drive and enable effective risk-based decision making and contemporary quality systems.
- Lead and develop a high-performing specialist team, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
- Represent the organisation externally in relation to clinical and care governance, clinical risk, quality and safeguarding where required.
Safety and Quality Systems - safety and quality systems are integrated with governance processes to actively manage and improve the safety and quality.
- Embed and maintain evidence based clinical and care governance and quality systems aligned to relevant national standards and legislation (including but not limited to Hospital, Out of Home Care, Disability, Aged Care and Community Care standards).
- Lead monitoring, analysis and reporting of key performance indicators related to clinical and care quality, safety and risk across all service streams. Leadership of core whole of enterprise ICT systems utilised for the storage and reporting of clinical incidents and risks.
- Develop and deliver organisational initiatives that foster a culture of learning and continuous improvement, enabled by technology and informed by evidenced based best practice.
- Support service areas accreditation, regulatory reviews, coronial responses and external reporting obligations relevant to clinical governance, risk and safeguarding.
- Drive continuous improvement informed by the collations of audit programs, benchmarking and evaluation of risk controls and informed by key external stakeholders
- Ensure timely and consistent reporting internally and externally high-risk legal matters in line with relevant frameworks.
- Provide organisational leadership, governance and implementation of the Infection Prevention and Control program (and as required Pandemic Reponses): ensuring evidence-based infection prevention and control policies, surveillance, monitoring and outbreak management processes are developed, reviewed implemented and sustained. This alongside driving improvement in the other enduring key risk areas such as: falls with harm, medication errors, restraint etc.
Performance and Effectiveness - the workforce has the right qualifications, skills and supervision to provide safe, high-quality services.
- Establish an integrated clinical education strategy that supports workforce capability, safety and regulatory compliance.
- Ensure mandatory training, competencies and professional development frameworks are aligned to governance priorities.
- Partner with operational leaders and people and culture to address emerging capability risks and support workforce sustainability.
- Coordinate integrated education and training compliance reporting and tends
Service Users and Families/Carers Informed – services are informed, co-designed and improved through active engagement with clients/patients/residents/participants
- Lead the whole of organisation reporting and quality systems development to ensure voices of clients, patients, resident’s systems are designed and used to support service users, carers, families and consumers to be partners in planning, design, measurement and evaluation; service literacy and delivery.
Operational Leadership
- Lead a small team to drive and support the delivery of integrated infection prevention and control, clinical education and capability and clinical monitoring.
Culture, Values and People Leadership
- Model and promote the organisation’s values and commitment to person-centred, safe and compassionate care.
- Create a psychologically safe environment that supports learning from incidents, transparency and improvement.
- Lead change in complex environments, supporting integration across historically separate service models.
Leader Accountabilities
Senior Leadership
- Provide teams with the opportunity to do meaningful work and make a difference, every day.
- Take responsibility for key operational management decisions for the team reporting into the role, whilst ensuring clinical, care and practice governance remains coordinated, consistent and connected, through direct engagement with the FaDs, Hospitals and Governance SLTs.
- Balance the missional imperatives of the Uniting Church with the commercial imperatives of operating a large, not for profit health and Aged Care and community services provider.
- Contribute to the maximisation of synergies across clinical, care and practice across BlueCare, FaDs and Hospitals and the wider UnitingCare to achieve an integrated focus aimed at improving safety and quality systems across service delivery.
- Create a work environment that promotes safety, employee wellbeing; flexible work and a positive work-life balance
- Build high performing teams; actively identifying opportunities to recognise and reward performance; setting goals that are linked to business objectives and holding teams accountable.
- Undertake other duties as required/directed as service needs change or grow, consistent with the above and within the scope of the position and any other legal or industrial obligations.
Reports to: Group Executive, BlueCare
Indirect reports: Approx 40
Qualifications/Licences
- Essential
- Tertiary qualifications in a health-related discipline (e.g. Nursing, Allied Health, Medicine, Public Health or similar).
- Minimum of five years appropriate experience in clinical (and care) governance.
- Current professional registration where applicable.
- Desirable
- Postgraduate qualifications in health management, clinical governance or a related field.
Knowledge and Experience
- Essential
- Significant senior leadership experience in clinical governance, clinical risk and quality management within complex health and/or aged care and community services environments.
- Demonstrated leadership of whole of organisation transformation or integration initiatives.
- Demonstrated and extensive experience in developing and implementing patient and client safety and quality improvement programs in large health care and community services organisations.
- Proven experience leading multidisciplinary teams and influencing senior stakeholders across diverse service models.
- Strong analytical, governance, communication and change leadership capability.
- Desirable
- Experience working across acute hospital, community and aged care settings.
Additional Capabilities for People Leaders
Remuneration and benefits to be discussed with the HardyGroup Principal Consultant.
Service Location: Brisbane
Contract: Permanent role
The closing date for applications is Tuesday, 19 May 2026
The reference number to include in your application is H26_5496
Note: Please use the online platform to submit your application. It will not be accepted via email.
If you require assistance in submitting your application online, please get in touch with Executive Search Coordinator, Bradie Hammat: M: +61 (0)417 882 900 / E: bhammat@hardygroupintl.com
Your application must include:
- 1.Cover letter addressed to the Principal Consultant;
- 2.A written response addressing the essential requirements of the role; and
- 3.An up to date copy of your Curriculum Vitae.
It Is standard practice for HardyGroup to acknowledge receipt of your application no later than the next business day. We request that if you do not receive the acknowledgement, you contact the search coordinator listed above as soon as possible after the 24-hour business period and arrange to resend your application if necessary.
For a confidential discussion, please contact:
Liz Hlipala
HardyGroup Principal Consultant
M. +61 (0)401 122 301
E. lhlipala@hardygroupintl.com
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