Lead Nurse – Organ Donation: Sponsorship Available

NHS Blood and Transplant

Job summary

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) play a vital role in saving and improving lives through the delivery of organ and tissue donation and transplantation services across the UK. We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Lead Nurse in Organ Donation to provide expert clinical leadership and operational support to our regional donation teams.

In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for leading and supporting Specialist Nurses in Organ Donation (SNODs), ensuring high standards of clinical practice, governance, and professional development. You will work collaboratively with hospital teams, stakeholders, and donor families to maximise donation opportunities and uphold the highest standards of care and compassion.

The successful candidate will demonstrate significant experience in critical care or transplantation, strong leadership and communication skills, and a commitment to delivering excellence in end-of-life care and organ donation.

This unique role provides you with opportunities to develop yourself, both as part of a regional team and as an individual autonomous practitioner. This essential role will impact on all stages of the donation process and ultimately in the number of life-saving transplants and as such is a rewarding and satisfying role.

Main duties of the job

  • Monitoring and managing the delivery of Key Performance Indicators to ensure the number of actual organs and tissues within the geographical donation area is maximised.
  • Shared responsibility for operationally managing all aspects of the service provided by the Organ Donation Services team within the geographical area.
  • Direct management of a team of staff. Overall duties and responsibilities will be allocated on a rotational basis within the service management team; most notably, management of the full Area budget and responsibility for overall management of a 24 hour on-call service.
  • Providing input and challenge to hospital development planning and lead corrective action where necessary; ensuring national strategy is implemented and evaluated within the geographical area.
  • Operational management of those staff within the team that fall within delegated area of responsibility.
    You will be required to participate in a 24 hour, 365 days per year on call rota and maintain clinical credibility by being up to date in all aspects of organ donation.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Registered Nurse with current Nursing and Midwifery Council registration (which must be maintained) as Registered Nurse Adult or Paediatric Nurse.
  • Relevant degree or equivalent qualification in allied health or related field OR job-related experience equivalent to degree level knowledge.
  • Demonstrable post graduate equivalent level specialist experience in leadership and management.
  • Ability to travel independently across the UK to various locations. You will be provided with notice to allow for your journey planning.
  • Demonstrates commitment to own continued professional development (CPD).

Experience

Essential

  • Evidence of proven leadership and management experience in an acute hospital setting relevant to donation such as ICU, theatres or an emergency medicine department.
  • Experience of working within the Organ Donation Service as a DTC within the last 5 years.
  • Awareness of current professional issues and developments within co-ordination, nursing and the NHS.
  • Proven ability to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of own clinical practice.
  • Experience of implementing effective change within teams / across an organisation.

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).

Closing Date: 29 November 2026

To apply for this job please visit jobs.nhsbt.nhs.uk.