About this role
Job summary
Are you an experienced neonatal nursing leader with a commitment to safe, compassionate care and improving outcomes and experiences for babies and their families? Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Head of Neonatal Nursing to provide professional and strategic leadership across the neonatal pathway.
This senior role offers the opportunity to shape nursing practice, strengthen quality and safety, and lead workforce and service improvements across neonatal services. As part of the Accountable Care Group's midwifery, nursing and quality leadership team, you will work closely with clinical, operational and corporate colleagues to deliver safe, effective care, placing babies and families at the centre of service delivery.
Main duties of the job
You will provide visible, credible and compassionate leadership to neonatal nursing teams, directly line managing Matrons and Advanced Neonatal Practitioners. Your portfolio will also include leadership and managerial oversight of the Paediatric and Neonatal Decision Support and Retrieval Service (PaNDR).
Leading nursing standards, clinical governance and patient safety, you will use quality, workforce, operational and family experience data to identify priorities and deliver measurable improvements. You will oversee safe staffing, workforce planning and professional development, manage delegated nursing budgets, and support effective use of resources without compromising quality or safety.
You will represent neonatal services in regional and system-wide partnerships, including the Operational Delivery Network and the wider regional Maternity and Neonatal System, influencing service development and improvement across organisational boundaries. You will also champion evidence-based practice, education, research, innovation and the effective use of digital tools and data.
About us
Come Nurse with us...
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the country. It comprises Addenbrooke's Hospital and the Rosie Hospital. We provide accessible high-quality healthcare for the local people of Cambridge and regional and national specialist services. It's a great place to nurse, work and live.
You will work on a vibrant hospital campus with a friendly community feel; we have excellent facilities to practise your skills and abilities to support your career pathway and development. Our values of Together - Safe, Kind, Excellent support the delivery of outstanding care. We have a fully electronic patient record system that is improving health-care quality; this is transforming services, improving patient safety and clinical outcomes.
Why choose Cambridge University Hospitals?
o Our values and reputation for outstanding care
o Opportunities to experience a range of specialities
o Career and development opportunities
o Preceptorship and mentoring programmes delivered by a dedicated clinical education support team
o Research experience and opportunities
o Lovely location and quality of life
o Excellent schools/colleges and transport links (road, rail and air)
Job description
Job 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 22nd November.
Interviews are due to be held on 10th December.
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.
Right to Work
As there is a 12-week probationary period, successful candidates are expected to have the Right to Work for a period of at least 6 months from the proposed start date. Immigration and Right to Work status will be discussed with successful candidates at conditional offer. CUH will not offer sponsorship to candidates that have applied for a fee waiver.
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 caf, 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.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Registered Nurse or Midwife with current Nursing and Midwifery Council registration.
- Educated to master's degree level or equivalent level of knowledge and experience.
- Evidence of recent and relevant continuing professional development.
- Qualification in Speciality. (QIS)
- Evidence of management, leadership, governance or quality improvement development relevant to a senior perinatal leadership role.
Desirable
- Formal leadership, management, quality improvement or patient safety qualification, or equivalent applied experience.
Experience
Essential
- Significant senior neonatal nursing leadership experience within an acute NHS provider or comparable complex healthcare organisation.
- Experience of leading nursing standards, patient and family experience, quality improvement and professional practice across a complex clinical service or group of services.
- Experience of line managing matrons, senior nurses or equivalent clinical leaders.
- Experience of working with clinical and operational teams to improve quality, safety, patient flow, patient & family experience and workforce effectiveness.
- Experience of using quality, safety, workforce, operational and patient & family experience data to identify risk and drive improvement.
- Experience of supporting incident response, complaints management, risk management, clinical governance and assurance processes.
- Experience of contributing to safe staffing reviews, workforce planning, skill mix assessment, recruitment, retention and professional development.
- Experience of supporting service change, pathway redesign or transformation while maintaining a focus on quality, safety and patient experience.
Desirable
- Experience in a large acute teaching hospital or specialist tertiary provider.
- Experience of working in a clinical group, care group, divisional or similarly devolved operating model.
- Experience relevant to the specialty portfolio.
- Experience of supporting research, innovation, clinical academic practice or education within nursing services.
Knowledge
Essential
- Strong understanding of nursing professional standards, NMC requirements, revalidation and professional practice governance.
- Understanding of NHS quality governance, patient safety, PSIRF, risk management, complaints, clinical effectiveness and CQC regulatory requirements.
- Knowledge of safeguarding, infection prevention and control, patient & family experience and equality, diversity and inclusion requirements in clinical services.
- Understanding of nursing workforce planning, safe staffing, acuity and dependency, skill mix, temporary staffing controls and professional escalation.
- Understanding of how quality, workforce, operational and financial information is used to inform safe and effective service delivery.
Desirable
- Knowledge of CUH services, specialist tertiary care or academic health science environments.
- Knowledge of digital, education, research, clinical academic or innovation opportunities relevant to nursing, quality improvement and patient outcomes.
Skills
Essential
- Able to build effective relationships with nursing, medical, operational, corporate and professional colleagues.
- Able to influence, negotiate and build consensus across professional and organisational boundaries. (
- Able to analyse and triangulate quality, safety, workforce, operational and patient & family experience information, identify risk and secure appropriate action.
- Able to translate Trust and ACG priorities into practical delivery plans for matrons and nursing teams.
- Able to lead and support teams through change, ambiguity and operational pressure.
- Able to chair meetings, present reports and provide assurance to governance forums.
- Able to write clear, evidence-based reports, briefings, improvement plans and assurance updates.
- Skilled in coaching, developing and holding senior nursing staff to account.
- Able to use improvement methodology to deliver measurable and sustained change.
Desirable
- Able to apply recognised quality improvement, transformation or programme management methods.
- Able to contribute to research, innovation, education or clinical academic development.
- Experience of presenting to senior governance forums or external stakeholders.
Additional Requirements
Essential
- The ability to understand and always behave, towards patients, visitors, and colleagues according to the Trust values of safe, kind, excellent.
- Committed to improving patient care, patient & family experience and staff experience.
- Able to work flexibly to meet service and organisational needs.
- Able to travel between Trust sites and to external meetings as required.
- Able to participate in escalation, resilience or on-call arrangements
Desirable
- Active participation in relevant professional networks.
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
Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Addenbrooke's The Rosie Hospital - Division E
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridge
CB2 0QQ
United Kingdom
Employer's website
https://www.cuh.nhs.uk (Opens in a new tab)