Director of Children's Nursing & Quality


Location
Salary
£112,782 - £129,783 per annum
Profession
Director
Grade
Band 9
Deadline
05 Nov 2026
Contract Type
Permanent
Posted Date
22 Oct 2026
Medical Protection — the side of locally employed doctors from £83

Job requirements

Essential

36 listed

Requirements the employer expects applicants to meet.

  • Skills

    Able to build effective relationships with clinical, operational, corporate and system partners.

  • Skills

    Able to influence, negotiate and build consensus across professional, organisational and system boundaries.

  • Skills

    Able to analyse and triangulate complex quality, safety, workforce, operational, patient experience and financial information, identify risk and secure appropriate action.

  • Skills

    Able to interpret highly complex and sometimes conflicting information, exercise sound professional judgement and make clear recommendations where there are competing priorities, uncertainty, risk or no obvious solution.

  • Skills

    Able to translate Trust strategy, national policy, regulatory requirements and professional standards into practical ACG delivery plans and measurable improvement actions.

  • Skills

    Able to direct complex planning, transformation and improvement programmes, ensuring plans are evidence-based, affordable, measurable and deliverable.

  • Skills

    Able to lead and support teams through change, ambiguity and operational pressure.

  • Skills

    Able to chair senior meetings, present reports and provide assurance to governance forums.

  • Skills

    Able to write clear, evidence-based reports, briefings, policies and improvement plans.

  • Skills

    Able to use improvement methodology to deliver measurable and sustained change.

  • Knowledge

    Strong understanding of nursing professional standards, NMC requirements, revalidation and professional practice governance.

  • Knowledge

    Advanced understanding of NHS quality governance, patient safety, PSIRF, risk management, complaints, clinical effectiveness, regulatory assurance and the use of quality intelligence to drive improvement.

  • Knowledge

    Understanding of CQC regulatory requirements and inspection preparation.

  • Knowledge

    Understanding of safeguarding, infection prevention and control, patient experience and clinical effectiveness requirements in complex clinical services.

  • Knowledge

    Advanced understanding of the wider NHS context, including integrated care systems, provider collaboration, national policy, workforce challenges and financial constraints.

  • Knowledge

    Knowledge of how to apply equality, diversity and inclusion principles to improve patient outcomes, staff experience and service access.

  • Knowledge

    Understanding of digital, data and information governance requirements, including the use of digital systems and dashboards to support quality, safety, workforce, productivity and patient experience.

  • Experience

    Significant senior leadership experience within children's healthcare services, including responsibility for quality, patient safety, workforce and service improvement.

  • Experience

    Significant experience of leading quality, safety, patient experience and clinical governance across complex clinical services.

  • Experience

    Experience of working as part of a senior leadership team with collective responsibility for quality, operational performance, workforce and finance.

  • Experience

    Experience of holding senior responsibility for delegated budgets, workforce expenditure, productivity or financial improvement, with clear consideration of quality and safety impact.

  • Experience

    Experience of leading nursing workforce planning, safe staffing reviews, skill mix assessment, recruitment, retention and professional development.

  • Experience

    Experience of leading improvement following incidents, complaints, audits, inspections, regulatory reviews or external assurance processes.

  • Experience

    Experience of analysing and interpreting complex quality, safety, workforce, operational, patient experience and financial information to identify risk, inform senior decisions and drive improvement.

  • Experience

    Experience of leading education, research, innovation or evidence-based practice priorities across complex clinical services.

  • Experience

    Experience of leading service planning, transformation, policy implementation or service redesign across complex clinical services.

  • Experience

    Experience of providing senior professional advice on conduct, capability, performance or professional practice concerns.

  • Experience

    Experience of providing assurance to senior governance forums on quality, safety, patient experience, professional standards and regulatory compliance.

  • Qualifications

    First Level Registered Children's Nurse with current NMC registration.

  • Qualifications

    Educated to master’s degree level in a relevant subject, or able to demonstrate equivalent senior professional knowledge and experience applied in nursing leadership, quality governance, patient safety, regulatory assurance and service improvement.

  • Qualifications

    Evidence of recent and relevant continuing professional development in nursing, quality, patient safety, leadership and management.

  • Additional Requirements

    Committed to improving patient care, patient experience and staff experience.

  • Additional Requirements

    Demonstrates personal resilience and sound judgement, remaining effective, visible and compassionate under sustained operational pressure, scrutiny, ambiguity and competing priorities.

  • Additional Requirements

    Able to work flexibly to meet service and organisational needs.

  • Additional Requirements

    Able to travel between Trust sites and to external meetings as required.

  • Additional Requirements

    Able to participate in senior on-call arrangements where required.

Desirable

10 listed

Additional qualities the employer would prefer.

  • Skills

    Able to apply recognised quality improvement, transformation or programme management methods.

  • Skills

    Able to contribute to research, innovation, education or academic partnership development.

  • Knowledge

    Knowledge of CUH services, specialist tertiary care or academic health science environments.

  • Knowledge

    Knowledge of digital, education, research, clinical academic or innovation opportunities relevant to nursing, quality improvement and patient outcomes.

  • Experience

    Experience in a large acute teaching hospital or specialist tertiary provider.

  • Experience

    Experience of working in a clinical group, care group, divisional or similarly devolved operating model.

  • Experience

    Experience of research, innovation, academic partnerships or education leadership.

  • Qualifications

    Formal leadership, management, quality improvement or patient safety qualification, or equivalent applied experience.

  • Qualifications

    Evidence of post-graduate study or advanced professional development relevant to nursing, quality, safety or organisational leadership.

  • Additional Requirements

    Active participation in relevant professional networks at regional or national level.

Job overview

Exceptional leadership opportunity to shape the future of nursing, quality and patient care at one of the UK's leading NHS Trusts

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) is seeking an outstanding and inspirational nursing leader to join our senior leadership team as Director of Children's Nursing and Quality.

This is a pivotal leadership role within one of our three Accountable Care Groups, offering the opportunity to influence care delivery across complex clinical services while making a lasting impact on patient outcomes, staff experience and organisational performance. The post holder will provide visible, credible and compassionate leadership, ensuring the highest standards of nursing practice, quality, safety and patient experience across the ACG.

Main duties of the job

As an experienced children's nurse, the Director of Children's Nursing and Quality will provide professional leadership across nursing, quality, patient safety, patient experience, safeguarding, infection prevention and control, regulatory assurance and clinical governance.You will work alongside the Managing Director and senior clinical, operational and corporate leaders to deliver outstanding care and achieve strategic objectives.

You will play a key role in:

  • Leading the nursing, quality and patient safety agenda across the ACG.
  • Driving continuous quality improvement and innovation.
  • Leading safe staffing, workforce planning and professional development.
  • Championing a culture where patients, families and staff are at the heart of everything we do.

About you

  • We are looking for an accomplished senior children's nursing leader who can demonstrate:
  • Extensive experience in senior nursing leadership within a large and complex NHS organisation.
  • Significant experience leading quality, safety, patient experience and clinical governance.
  • Proven ability to influence at executive level and work effectively within multidisciplinary leadership teams.
  • Strong understanding of patient safety,quality governance,regulatory assurance and workforce planning.
  • Experience of leading large-scale improvement, transformation and service development initiatives.
  • A visible, compassionate and inclusive leadership style with the credibility to inspire confidence and drive excellence across services.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Applicant Information Pack (combined Job Description and Person Specification) for key duties and responsibilities.

This vacancy will close at midnight on 05th November 2026.

Interviews are due to be held on 24th November 2026.

All appointments with a start date on or after 1 October 2026 will be subject to a 12-week probationary period. This provides a structured and supportive period to help you settle into your role, with regular reviews and feedback.

Due to Home Office immigration rules, a full-time permanent vacancy cannot be filled by individuals on a student visa. Therefore, please be advised that if you are a student visa holder, we will not be able to offer you a full-time permanent contract unless you have:

  • applied for a Graduate visa
  • or you will have successfully completed your course and have applied for a Graduate visa before the anticipated start date of your employment

Benefits to you

At Cambridge University Hospitals, we want to do all we can to support good working days. We offer development opportunities and a wide range of benefits, including on-site leisure facilities, shopping concourse and day nurseries. Our good work programme currently includes providing reduced cost Stagecoach bus travel to and from Cambridge University Hospital site. Park and Ride bus journeys between Babraham Road and Trumpington sites are free, as is the route to and from Cambridge train station and our hospitals. We also subsidise the cost of parking on site for eligible staff.

On CUH campus, hot food is available 24/7 and at a reduced cost for colleagues. Recently we launched the first of our staff pod break spaces. Located in the Deakin Centre, we have a purpose-created colleague-only café, with free tea and coffee, a break space and private outside area for colleagues to rest, refuel and recharge. Just one of the ways we are working hard to support good working days at CUH.

CUH is committed to assisting employees in achieving a good work-life balance irrespective of role or personal circumstances. Flexible arrangements may include, but are not limited to, part-time working, job-share, term-time working and flexible start and finish times.

Please note if you would like to discuss the required hours of this role further, you should approach the contact given. In some cases, alternative working hours will be considered.

We welcome applications from the Armed Forces.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.

WhatsApp job alerts

Get instant WhatsApp alerts for Band 9 Director roles in Cambridge

Create your Job Clerk account first. We'll collect your alert preferences during onboarding and help you turn on WhatsApp notifications for matching healthcare roles.

Sign up for WhatsApp alerts

Applying for this NHS job

This advert is for Director of Children's Nursing & Quality with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Cambridge, England. It is listed as a Band 9 Director role. The advertised salary is £112,782 - £129,783 per annum. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 05 Nov 2026.

Before you apply, compare the job description with the person specification and mirror the employer's essential criteria in your supporting information. Use the vacancy title, employer, location, salary, contract type, closing date and posted date (22 Oct 2026) to decide whether this role fits your current NHSjob search. If the employer can close applications early, prepare the application before the stated deadline rather than waiting for the final day.

For more context, review related Job Clerk pages for the same profession, band or location where they exist, then use the application-support guides to tailor your statement and prepare for interview.