Chief Nurse

Job overview

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust (GOSH) is seeking an exceptional Chief Nurse to join its Executive Team and provide visible, influential and compassionate professional leadership at one of the world’s leading centres for babies, children and young people with rare, complex and difficult-to-treat conditions..

The development of the new Children’s Cancer Centre, due to open in 2029, alongside opportunities in research, innovation, genomics and AI, creates a unique platform from which the next Chief Nurse can help shape the future of specialist paediatric care.

As Chief Nurse, you will be a Board-level Executive Director, the professional leader of the Trust’s nursing and Allied Health Professional (AHP) workforce, responsible for ensuring that quality of clinical care, patient safety, nursing strategy and professional standards sit at the heart of GOSH’s excellence. Reporting to the Chief Executive, Karl Munslow Ong, and working closely with the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Operating Officer and wider Executive Team, you will play a central role in shaping and delivering the Trust’s strategic ambitions, championing outstanding care, strengthening clinical quality and governance, and ensuring the voice of children, young people and families remains central to decision-making.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for an accomplished, credible and values-led nursing leader with substantial senior leadership experience in a large, complex healthcare organisation. You will bring deep knowledge of nursing practice, professional standards, quality improvement, patient safety, clinical governance, assurance, risk management and regulatory frameworks, alongside a successful track record of leading transformation and change.

You will be a registered nurse with current NMC registration, able to operate with confidence at Board or Executive level, and capable of inspiring, influencing and uniting multidisciplinary teams around a shared commitment to exceptional care. You will be collaborative, inclusive and resilient, with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, sound judgement, and the ability to provide constructive challenge where appropriate. Experience in a specialist, tertiary, children’s healthcare, academic health science or research-intensive environment would be highly advantageous.

This is a rare opportunity to make a distinctive leadership contribution to children’s health, nationally and internationally, helping GOSH continue to advance care for children and young people with rare and complex conditions so they can fulfil their potential.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. Please view the attachment/s below.

How to apply To apply, please submit your application via email with the subject line “Application for the role of Chief Nurse” to GOSH@thembsgroup.co.uk by midnight on Monday 7th September, 2026.

If you are unable to apply online, or have any accessibility requirements please contact the Project Manager overseeing this recruitment, Tori Birkenshaw at: tori.birkenshaw@thembsgroup.co.uk.

All applications should include:

• A short covering letter, of no more than two A4 pages, your interest in the appointment, how youmeet the appointment criteria and what you specifically will bring to the post;
• Your current CV including educational and professional qualifications and full employment history.Please explain any gaps in your employment history and give details (where applicable) of budgetsand people management responsibilities, highlighting relevant achievements;
• A completed Diversity Monitoring Form, a link to which can be found here

Key dates to diary:

• Closing Date: midnight, Monday 7th September, 2026
• Stakeholder Sessions (in-person, at GOSH): Monday 19th October, 2026
• Selection Panel (in-person, at GOSH): Tuesday 20th October, 2026

Please note, it is unlikely we can accept any late applications nor change the date of the Selection Event; therefore, we ask that applicants take note of these key dates and diary these in the event you are shortlisted.

For further information, please refer to the attached candidate pack.

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.