Head of Midwifery

Job overview

Are you a compassionate and visionary midwifery leader ready to shape the future of maternity care?

This is an exciting opportunity to join York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as we continue our ambitious improvement journey across maternity and neonatal services.

We are seeking an exceptional Head of Midwifery with the passion, insight and leadership skills to drive meaningful and sustainable change. You will bring a strong understanding of maternity care, a commitment to excellence, and the ability to inspire teams through visible and effective leadership.

This Trust-wide role spans both York and Scarborough hospitals, where you will play a key role in strengthening collaboration, consistency and quality across services. Working closely with colleagues, partners and the wider integrated care system, you will help deliver safe, compassionate and high-quality care for women, birthing people, babies and families.

This is a fantastic opportunity to further develop your operational leadership career. You will be supported by our Director and Deputy Director of Midwifery through coaching, mentoring and exposure to senior organisational leadership.

The selection process will include a panel interview and a focus group/task-based activity across York and Scarborough on 30th and 31st July 2026.

If you are driven to make a difference, thrive on challenge and are ready to lead with purpose, we would love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

In this role, you will:

• Work closely with the senior midwifery leadership team, Matrons, team leaders/ward managers, obstetricians, support staff and wider team members, providing visible, accessible leadership, mentoring and coaching.

• In conjunction with the Deputy Director of Midwifery, provide professional midwifery leadership and advice on the development of community and hospital based maternity services.

• Provide day‑to‑day operational oversight of maternity services across both sites and within community and outpatient areas

• Ensure safe staffing, effective patient flow, and escalation and work alongside the Deputy Director of Midwifery supporting development of workforce plans and recruitment and retention strategies.

• Support effective oversight of clinical governance, financial planning, and adherence to regional and national standards and evidence‑based practice to enhance safety and quality and monitor key quality and performance standards.

• Collaborate with key stakeholders including Maternity and Neonatal Voice Partnerships (MNVPs) and Patient Public Voice (PPV) leads ensuring co-production and high standards of patient-centred care.

• Champion a culture of equality, diversity and inclusion supporting learning, improvement, and professional pride.

• Develop effective feedback mechanisms to communicate Trust wide issues to midwives, nurses and support staff.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

A full description of the role is available in the attachment: job description.

Please note that if a high number of applications are received this advert may close early. You are advised to submit your application at the earliest opportunity.

Working for the Trust

Across our organisation, people are guided by values that were co-developed with staff: we are kind; we are open; and we pursue excellence.

Our values play into our ambition to develop a more diverse workforce, truly representative of our communities.  We welcome applications from everyone, while working with our Staff Networks - including our Race Equality, LGBTQ+, Disability and Carers Networks - to increase the number of applications we receive from different backgrounds.  If there is anything we can do to make our application process more accessible to you, please contact: yhs-tr.recruitment@nhs.net.

As part of seeking to become more inclusive, we will consider requests for flexible working from the start of your employment.  It may not be suitable for every role, but we will try and be supportive where we can.  We would encourage you to speak to the recruiting manager named within this advert to discuss any requirements you may have.

Armed Forces Friendly Employer

We are holders of the Gold Award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, which is helping actively promote SaBRE - Supporting Britain’s Reservists and Employers.  This means that we have made a statement of intent to support all Defence personnel, including with applications for employment.