Head of Nursing & Quality

As Head of Nursing & Quality, you will be a visible, credible and influential senior nursing leader, working closely with the Divisional Director of Nursing and Quality to provide strategic leadership for nursing practice, quality and safety across a large and diverse portfolio of services. You will set direction, lead improvement and influence change at scale, ensuring nursing care is safe, effective and person-centred, while maintaining a strong connection to frontline teams. This is a key role in shaping and delivering service transformation, workforce development and improvements in patient experience across the division. You will regularly deputise for the Divisional Director of Nursing and Quality, representing nursing at senior forums and contributing to strategic decision making, while also playing an active role in Trust-wide leadership and development., Provide strategic and professional leadership for nursing across a division

• Be accountable for standards of nursing practice, quality and patient experience
• Lead nursing governance, safety and regulatory assurance, including CQC activity
• Drive continuous improvement using data, learning from incidents and patient feedback
• Shape workforce development, career pathways and the future nursing workforce
• Influence service design, transformation and system working across the Trust
• Support delivery of safe staffing, workforce planning and risk management
• Act as a senior voice for nursing within divisional and Trust leadership forums
Working for our organisation Provide strategic and professional leadership for nursing across a division
• Be accountable for standards of nursing practice, quality and patient experience
• Lead nursing governance, safety and regulatory assurance, including CQC activity
• Drive continuous improvement using data, learning from incidents and patient feedback
• Shape workforce development, career pathways and the future nursing workforce
• Influence service design, transformation and system working across the Trust
• Support delivery of safe staffing, workforce planning and risk management
• Act as a senior voice for nursing within divisional and Trust leadership forums, As Head of Nursing & Quality, you will provide senior professional leadership across a designated division, ensuring high standards of care, governance and workforce development. The role combines strategic leadership with operational oversight, alongside maintaining a visible and credible presence across services.
You will play a key role in shaping nursing practice, influencing service development and leading improvement at scale, working closely with divisional and Trust-wide leadership teams. This is an onsite role comprising 9-5 hours Monday to Friday with a small on call element. You will report to the Divisional Director of Nursing.,
• Provide visible, influential professional leadership for nursing across a designated division
• Be accountable for the quality, safety and standards of nursing practice, ensuring care is safe, effective and person-centred
• Lead nursing governance, including quality assurance, complaints, incidents and CQC activity
• Champion patient experience, using feedback and data to drive continuous improvement
• Support and assure safer staffing, workforce planning, establishment reviews and risk mitigation
• Lead professional regulation, including supervision, revalidation and management of professional concerns
• Drive nursing workforce development, career pathways and the development of new and evolving roles
• Deputise for the Divisional Director of Nursing and Quality as required
• Work in close partnership with multidisciplinary teams, service users, carers and system partners
• Contribute to Trust-wide nursing leadership, service development and quality improvement initiatives
• Ensure compliance with infection prevention, physical health and safeguarding requirements
• Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is committed to compassionate, inclusive and high-quality care. Our nurses are central to everything we do, and we are proud of our focus on staff wellbeing, professional development and continuous improvement.
The Trust is organised into four divisions: East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, and Specialist. Each division is led by a triumvirate of Managing Director, Clinical Director and Director of Nursing and Quality. We currently have Head of Nursing & Quality posts available in the Specialist Division and East Sussex Division: Specialist Division We are looking to recruit 2 Heads of Nursing posts. One post will cover CAMHS - which consists of 6 large community teams, Eating disorder services (community and a day service) and our acute care pathway (A&E liaison ; crisis team and our new inpatient unit due to open this Autumn and also Learning Disability Services and Neurodiversity services. The second post will cover forensics, EIP and Perinatal services East Sussex Division This role sits within Acute and Urgent Care Services which includes inpatient wards, crisis teams and liaison services, at a time of significant development including the opening of a new 54-bedded hospital. Why join SPFT This is an opportunity to take on a senior leadership role with real influence, shaping nursing practice and quality across a division. We offer: + A genuine opportunity to influence care and outcomes at scale + Supportive executive and divisional leadership + A strong commitment to professional development and leadership support + Opportunities to contribute to Trust-wide leadership and innovation + A culture that values compassion, accountability and continuous learning

+ Registered Nurse with current NMC registration + Significant senior nursing leadership experience in mental health or related services + Educated to master's level or equivalent experience + Experience leading governance, quality and risk in complex services + Strong leadership, influencing and communication skills + Commitment to equality, inclusion and person-centred care,
• Registered Nurse with current registration (mental health / LD/ Adult) appropriate to the job role
• Evidence of significant relevant professional development
• Practice assessor, Extensive clinical experience and practice in the care group in a range of settings
• Expert knowledge of nursing practice and multidisciplinary team working
• Evidence of inter-professional collaboration
• Advanced decision making skills that reflect a patient/carer focus
• Evidence of implementing innovative practice
• Evidence of conducting audit/research
• Evidence of ability to drive change forwards through excellent leadership and the ability to create strategic vision
• Able to demonstrate expert advice within the field of Mental Health for the care group
• Able to demonstrate lateral thinking and generate novel solutions to meet the needs of this client group
• Promotion of best practice through clinical governance mechanisms
• Demonstrate evidence of successful change management within complex teams, Successful candidates are normally appointed to the bottom of the pay scale unless previous NHS experience in a similar role can be evidenced., You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
  
  At SPFT we put people first. We'll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You'll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it's part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we'll explore what works for you and the role. We recognise that tools like AI are becoming part of everyday life and you may choose to use them when preparing your application. We welcome this, as long as what you submit reflects your own experience, skills and voice. AI can be helpful for structuring or refining your answers, but it should not replace your own examples or create content that isn't based on your real experience. Our recruitment process is designed to get to know you, and we'll explore your examples further at interview, so it's important your application genuinely represents what you bring. You can read more about using AI in applications and interviews on our recruitment process page. We're shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we'd love to hear from you.