Head of Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead LW

Job details

• Job reference: 251444
• Salary: Band 8A (£65,125 - £70,303)
• Job closing date: 23/07/2026
• Job Type: Personal and Social Care
• Location: Victoria Hospital
• Employment type: Permanent
• Hours Per Week: 36
• Job posted date: 09/07/2026
• Employer (NHS Board): NHS Fife
• Department: Spiritual Care

The Spiritual Care Department in NHS Fife embraces a broad understanding of spiritual and religious care for patients, visitors, staff and volunteers, regardless of belief or life stance. It forms an integral part of the delivery of safe, effective and person-centred care, supporting those that work within and those who access our services, their families and carers.

The department delivers the following services in Fife: healthcare chaplaincy, bereavement support, staff support and community listening. Our Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead responsibilities align with the Scottish Government national framework on Spiritual Care (2023), “Discovering meaning, purpose and hope through person centred wellbeing and spiritual care” and the aims of “Shaping Bereavement Care” (2010).

You will be responsible for leading and managing the ongoing development of our Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead responsibilities. We are keen to welcome a leader with a proven track record accompanied with experience in a senior chaplaincy leadership role, providing support and leadership, along with full registration with the UKBHC and experience of department administration and budgetary responsibility. We’d like you to bring high level credibility in spiritual care practice and leadership alongside excellent interpersonal skills, the ability to think strategically and analytically, good influencing and negation skills and the ability to deliver change in a multiagency environment.

Key to your success will be your ability to develop and maintain constructive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, internal and external to NHS Fife, including working with Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland), belief groups and third sector agencies.

Among the key purpose of the role is: To hold strategic responsibility for the management, development and delivery of the Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead functions for NHS Fife, in accordance with National Framework for Person Centred Wellbeing and Spiritual Care. To direct and develop the NHS Fife Spiritual Care Policies in line with the Framework, ensuring that there is clear governance systems and processes. To be accountable strategically for Spiritual Care and act as NHS Fife’s expert practitioner on matters of specialist spiritual and religious knowledge and to liaise with local communities, ecumenical, religious, no faith and interfaith organisations.

Successful candidates will participate in an on-call / out of hour’s rota (currently 1:5).

Informal Enquiries: To Nicola Robertson, Director of Nursing, Corporate Nursing Directorate: e-mail nicola.robertson12@nhs.scot

A requirement of this post is to become a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme Prior to appointment.

To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.

As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

We offer flexible working and family-friendly policies and fully support disabled candidates, and candidates with long-term conditions or who are neurodivergent by making reasonable adjustments to our recruitment policy and practices.

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.

AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot can be great for planning and preparing your application—but your answers must be your own.

• Show us the real you: Your application should reflect your skills, experience, and motivations authentically.
• Use AI wisely: It’s fine to use AI for ideas or to check spelling and grammar, but don’t let it write your answers.
• Why this matters: Applications that rely on AI-generated content may be withdrawn. By applying, you confirm your responses are based on your own knowledge and achievements.

Tip: Think of AI as a helper, not a substitute. We want to understand you—not an AI tool.

The Spiritual Care Department in NHS Fife embraces a broad understanding of spiritual and religious care for patients, visitors, staff and volunteers, regardless of belief or life stance. It forms an integral part of the delivery of safe, effective and person-centred care, supporting those that work within and those who access our services, their families and carers.

The department delivers the following services in Fife: healthcare chaplaincy, bereavement support, staff support and community listening. Our Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead responsibilities align with the Scottish Government national framework on Spiritual Care (2023), “Discovering meaning, purpose and hope through person centred wellbeing and spiritual care” and the aims of “Shaping Bereavement Care” (2010).

You will be responsible for leading and managing the ongoing development of our Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead responsibilities. We are keen to welcome a leader with a proven track record accompanied with experience in a senior chaplaincy leadership role, providing support and leadership, along with full registration with the UKBHC and experience of department administration and budgetary responsibility. We’d like you to bring high level credibility in spiritual care practice and leadership alongside excellent interpersonal skills, the ability to think strategically and analytically, good influencing and negation skills and the ability to deliver change in a multiagency environment.

Key to your success will be your ability to develop and maintain constructive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, internal and external to NHS Fife, including working with Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland), belief groups and third sector agencies.

Among the key purpose of the role is: To hold strategic responsibility for the management, development and delivery of the Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead functions for NHS Fife, in accordance with National Framework for Person Centred Wellbeing and Spiritual Care. To direct and develop the NHS Fife Spiritual Care Policies in line with the Framework, ensuring that there is clear governance systems and processes. To be accountable strategically for Spiritual Care and act as NHS Fife’s expert practitioner on matters of specialist spiritual and religious knowledge and to liaise with local communities, ecumenical, religious, no faith and interfaith organisations.

Successful candidates will participate in an on-call / out of hour’s rota (currently 1:5).

Informal Enquiries: To Nicola Robertson, Director of Nursing, Corporate Nursing Directorate: e-mail nicola.robertson12@nhs.scot

A requirement of this post is to become a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme Prior to appointment.

To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.

As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

We offer flexible working and family-friendly policies and fully support disabled candidates, and candidates with long-term conditions or who are neurodivergent by making reasonable adjustments to our recruitment policy and practices.

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. To this end, NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.

AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot can be great for planning and preparing your application—but your answers must be your own.

• Show us the real you: Your application should reflect your skills, experience, and motivations authentically.
• Use AI wisely: It’s fine to use AI for ideas or to check spelling and grammar, but don’t let it write your answers.
• Why this matters: Applications that rely on AI-generated content may be withdrawn. By applying, you confirm your responses are based on your own knowledge and achievements.

Tip: Think of AI as a helper, not a substitute. We want to understand you—not an AI tool.