Chief Nursing Officer

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Job summary

We are seeking an exceptional individual to join us as Chief Nurse. This is a unique opportunity to join our Board and Executive Team and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our organisation.

At Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, our vision is to be exceptional – exceptional in the quality of care we provide, exceptional in the support we give our colleagues, and exceptional in the difference we make through our partnerships and within our communities. Our values of Respect, Compassion and Inclusion underpin everything we do and guide how we work together to achieve the best outcomes for patients and staff.

The Chief Nurse will play a vital role in helping us deliver this vision. As a visible and compassionate leader, you will champion excellence in patient care, quality and safety, whilst supporting our ambition to tackle health inequalities, improve population health and ensure that every patient receives outstanding care and experience. You will also help create an environment where our colleagues can thrive, feel valued and be empowered to deliver their very best.

Main duties of the job

Reporting directly to the CEO and in partnership with the Medical Director, this executive role is responsible for shaping the quality and safety strategy; formulation and implementation of supporting plans; and developing our services in hospital and community settings to improve the overall standard of patient care, in terms of patient safety, clinical effectiveness, patient experience and equality.

The post-holder will, in conjunction with the Medical Director, provide executive clinical leadership and support the Trust to achieve its vision of providing “high quality care for every patient every day”.

The post-holder will be responsible for leading on transforming nursing culture to support the development of high performing teams; providing professional leadership and standards for all nurses and midwives, and allied health professionals (AHPs); and alongside the Medical Director provide clinical leadership for all multi-disciplinary teams.

As a director and senior leader, the post-holder will represent the Trust at various external settings including the Acute Provider Collaborative and the South East London ICS.

The post-holder will model and promote the vision and values of the Trust both internally and externally and ensure the delivery of high quality services and patient and staff experience.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential

  • Registered nurse or midwife
  • Educated to Masters degree or equivalent experience
  • Evidence of continuing professional development

Experience

Essential

  • Experience of working within (and/or with) the NHS in a senior leadership role
  • Experience of delivering performance improvement across various settings
  • Effective performance management of people and services to ensure delivery of key quality and access targets
  • Experience of values-based leadership and delivering culture change programmes across a large and complex organisation
  • Experience of leading successful clinical transformation programmes
  • Experience of clinical governance issues, quality improvement and minimising risk for an organisation
  • Experience of leading, implementing and evaluating complex change
  • Development of business cases for major projects or service changes
  • Experience of successfully leading multi-professional teams

Knowledge and Skills

Essential

  • Clear understanding of current issues relating to professional nursing practice and national healthcare policy and strategic direction
  • Clear understanding of risk and governance
  • Knowledge of revalidation
  • Understanding of the Equalities Agenda and its implications for the workforce and the community
  • Action oriented and able to adapt to changing circumstances
  • Thinks and solves problems creatively and from a position of inquiry
  • Shares leadership with and is respected by clinical and non-clinical staff
  • Provides authentic and clear communication and direction even in times of uncertainty/ambiguity
  • Engages effectively across boundaries, breaking down silos, while operating in partnership with stakeholders towards a shared vision
  • Has effective strategies for dealing with and managing own limitations

Personal Qualities

Essential

  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
  • Strong, visible, creative, open leadership style
  • Able to lead and engage staff across the organisation from a variety of backgrounds
  • Has the drive and energy to make things happen; frequently goes “above and beyond” the call of duty
  • Resilience, drive and perseverance
  • Able to provide sustained challenge to senior colleagues (including senior clinicians) in relation to performance
  • Flexibility

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: 3 August 2026

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.