About this role
Job summary
Due to an internal promotion, we have an exciting opportunity for a substantive Deputy Chief Nursing Officer to join our Trust. This senior leadership role offers the chance to provide visible, compassionate, and strategic nursing leadership across clinical, operational, and corporate teams.
This is a fantastic opportunity todevelop your career towards a future Chief Nursing Officer role, withdedicated CPD funding to support your growth.
You'll work closely with colleagues to drive meaningful improvements that positively impact patients and their families.
We're looking for someone ambitious and tenacious, with a proven track record of leading change, inspiring teams, and championing patient voices at every level.
This is a unique opportunity to:
Influence strategic direction Champion patient-centred care Develop as a future Chief Nursing Officer with CPD support
Main duties of the job
You will lead and drive high-quality, safe patient care and create a positive experience for patients--while enabling staff to thrive-- this is central to our organisational vision.
In this key leadership role, you will work closely with the Chief Nursing Officer to shape and implement the Nursing and Midwifery Strategy. A core focus will be developing leadership capacity across nursing, midwifery, and care staff to drive continuous improvements in quality and safety. You will help ensure our services are recognised as compassionate, patient-centred, and responsive to feedback.
You will also collaborate with the Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Medical Officer and other executive leaders to provide strategic direction for the Trust's Quality Improvement Strategy. This includes fostering a culture of excellence in patient care, safety and experience.
Working across organisational boundaries with health and social care partners, you will help deliver the best possible outcomes for our patients.
Interviews for this role will take place the week commencing 15th June 2026
About us
At the RUH we put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone's contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.
We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks - celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.
A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.
We value staff wellbeing, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellbeing. We've even got a pool!
We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we're providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.
Job description Job responsibilities
For more information about this role please refer to the attached job description and person specification.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Registered nurse with clinical background and recent experience in acute Trust Masters level qualification Demonstrable evidence of ongoing continuous professional development
Knowledge Essential
Recent experience of working at a senior level in the NHS In depth knowledge of the current NHS agenda and challenges. Ability to interpret national and local policy drivers and translate them into practice. Proven ability to manage change within a complex organisation. Experience of working with Executive teams and Boards.
Desirable
Experience of developing business cases.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Employer details Employer name Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Address Royal United Hospital
Combe Park
Bath
BA1 3NG
Employer's website https://www.ruh.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)