Senior Sister / Senior Charge Nurse

Job summary

Leading your team in a fast moving and variable environment this essential role in the collection of blood and blood products will directly contribute to the saving and improving of patients lives.

Our donors are very special people, and it is your job to make sure they feel safe, special and well cared for, creating an experience that they will want to return to time and time again. Without our donors we cannot ensure and deliver a safe and sufficient blood supply to hospitals. Your work links directly to saving and improving patients lives every day. Your leadership skills are key to ensuring the blood your team collects is safe for the patient and the giving of their donation safe for the donors; a unique challenge.

As part of the selection process, you will be invited to attend a Blood Donation Session, so that you can gain an understanding of the requirements of this essential role.

You will undertake an extensive induction and training programme, with ongoing assessment, and receive ongoing development to support you in your role and to develop your leadership and management skills.

The majority of the role is worked in a standard Monday to Friday daytime pattern, but you may have to cover sessions on occasion, which may finish at 21:00 and could include a rare bank holiday or weekend day.

Main duties of the job

You will lead, manage and motivate a team of Healthcare Assistants, Donor Care Supervisor(s) and Sister/Charge Nurses to deliver and maintain high standards of care to our donors and to meet our regulatory and governance requirements. Your duties will include: Taking clinical accountability and operational responsibility for ensuring the safe collection of blood products. Leading by example, promoting our core values and behaviours to deliver an excellent donation experience. Overseeing and maintaining the competency and skills of your team and yourself. Motivating your team to promote continuous improvement and staff development. Collaborating with a range of stakeholders to effectively plan and resource blood collection sessions. You may be required to work variable hours and cover blood collection sessions as needed. This may include evenings, weekends and bank holidays. Night shifts are not required in this role.

About us

It takes all types of people to deliver the kind of service that saves and improves lives. At NHS Blood and Transplant, you'll join a team of more than 6,000 people who are making a genuine difference to communities, families, friends, relatives and more across the UK. We play a unique and special role in the NHS by helping people do something extraordinary- donate blood, blood products, organs, tissues, or stem cells to save someone in need.

Our three core values are what set us apart. They guide and inspire everything we do. By being caring, expertly meeting the needs of our patients and our people, and accepting nothing less than the best quality, we can do extraordinary work and help our people to do something extraordinary in their career, too. Three small words, one big difference - Caring, Expert and Quality. Together we'll save and improve more lives than ever.

You will join us on our journey to create an inclusive workplace and aim to reflect the diverse communities we work with, and we positively encourage applications from all sectors of the community.

Details

• Date posted: 15 June 2026
• Pay scheme: Agenda for change
• Band: Band 7
• Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year plus High Cost Area Supplement
• Contract: Permanent
• Working pattern: Full-time
• Reference number: 008949
• Job locations: NHSBT, Slough Team Base, Langley, United Kingdom, SL3 7EW, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

What we offer:

• Flexible working options – we promote flexible working where the role allows. We’re happy to discuss what flexibility might look like for you.
• Generous annual leave - 27 days annual leave (pro rata for part-time) plus Bank Holidays, increasing to 29 days after 5 years’ service and to 33 days after 10 years.
• Inclusive pension scheme - the NHS Pension Scheme is a defined benefit scheme (not dependent on investment returns). Further details and outline of benefits can be found at: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/information-about-nhs-pensions‎
• Supportive learning culture - we’ve fostered a culture of continuous learning where colleagues are well-led, engaged, and encouraged to grow. We support you in reaching your full potential, both in your current role and future career. Our Thrive program embodies our commitment to learning and development, offering a wide range of activities to support your personal and professional growth. It’s open to everyone at NHSBT, ensuring you have the resources to succeed and shine in your role.
• Health and wellbeing support – we offer confidential services including occupational health, employee assistance programme, and wellbeing resources. Our support is available to all colleagues and we endevour to provide tailored workplace adjustments where possible.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we welcome applications from disabled candidates. We will talk with you to explore any adjustments that may help you during the recruitment process.

You can find more information about accessibility, our culture, and how we support applicants on the NHSBT Careers website:

• Read about our application process
• Learn more about our culture at NHSBT

To learn more, please see the job description and person specification. These can be accessed via the link below, or by clicking ‘Apply’ if you are viewing this advert on another site.

Next steps

This vacancy will close at 23:59 on Sunday 28 June 2026.

The assessment process for this role will include a single in-person interview and a donation session tour to show you more about the job.

Interviews are anticipated to be held on the afternoon of Wednesday 8 July 2026 subject to confirmation.