Job summary
We are pleased to be able to recruit to the role of Director of Nursing (DoN) at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, and warmly welcome applications from experienced nursing and midwifery leaders who are passionate about the profession, valuing high standards of patient care, workforce development and innovation.
The role of the Director of Nursing is to provide support to the Trust Heads of Nursing and Midwifery within the Clinical Service Units (CSUs), developing capacity and capability within these teams whilst providing support for the daily operational management of the hospital.
Together with the Chief Nurse (CN) and Deputy Chief Nurse (DCN) they will lead the development and implementation of quality initiatives to improve patient outcomes and patient satisfaction. In realising this ambition, the DoN will ensure that there are structures in place to support the engagement of clinical staff across the organisation to deliver effective and efficient services to our patients. They will develop a culture that encourages excellence in clinical practice, facilitates team working and multi professional care delivery.
Expected Shortlisting Date
24/03/2026
Planned Interview Date
02/04/2026
Main duties of the job
Provide expert leadership, knowledge, and advice to all areas of the portfolio.
Working closely with the DCN and Heads of Nursing, the post holder will be pivotal in ensuring the provision of an effective, high quality nursing service and will advise on nursing standards and practice within available resources, taking full regard of all professional views and facilitating the development of clinical strategies that ensure the Trusts continued success.
The DoN will work with the DCN and wider Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional Leadership team to lead the nursing, midwifery, and Allied Health Professional workforce to aspire towards excellence through developing and valuing our talented workforce.
The DoN will support the delivery of our strategic Quality objectives, supported by our values which set the standards of behaviour for all staff, actively promoting a culture aligned to our values.
The DCN will work with the Deputy Director of Operations and Deputy Medical Director of Operations to provide professional support and oversight of CSUs overseen by the portfolio.
About us
Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust is a large and complex organisation, providing services from five sites, serving the large and diverse population of Leeds. We employ approximately 22,000 staff, who are dedicated to the Leeds Improvement Method and our Leeds Way Values.
We are committed to providing the best care possible, ensuring research, innovation and quality improvement methodology is engrained in everything we do. Our facilities are some of the best in the country.
Thanks to the continued extraordinary efforts of our staff we remain one of the top performing health providers in the country. It has never been more evident that, to provide excellent care to our patients, we must also provide excellent support to the people who work within the Trust to deliver our aspirations for excellence.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk' members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all our job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.
Details
Date posted
24 February 2026
Pay scheme
Agenda for change
Band
Band 9
Salary
£109,179 to £125,637 a year
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time, Flexible working
Reference number
C9298-COO-0099
Job locations
St. James's University Hospital
Beckett Street
Leeds
LS9 7TF
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Director of Nursing as a key member of the Chief Nurse team will:
provide professional leadership across the Trust to Heads of Nursing and Midwifery within the Clinical Service Units (CSUs) developing capacity and capability within these teams.
through their professional leadership be responsible for the implementation of relevant national and Trust nursing and midwifery policies and clinical practice standards in the CSUs to secure continuous improvement in the patient experience.
be responsible for ensuring that where nursing and midwifery practice standards fall short of required standards CSUs teams are held to account ensuring appropriate plans and support are in place to secure improvement.
ensure that nursing and midwifery contribute to the development and delivery of the Trust vision, Strategic Objectives and Business Plan and their delivery on a daily basis.
provide support for the daily operational management of the hospital ensuring appropriate sharing of staff resources across CSUs to provide safe care for all patients.
Job dimensions:
The Director of Nursing provides professional leadership to Heads of Nursing and Midwifery, Matrons and Nursing and Midwifery Staff within 19 CSUs.
The Leeds Way Values:
Our values are part of what make us different from other trusts, so we see this as a strength, as well as a responsibility. They have been developed by our staff and set out what they see as important to how we work. Our five values are:
Patient-centred
Collaborative
Fair
Accountable
Empowered
All our actions and endeavours will be guided and evaluated through these values.
Principal duties and areas of responsibility:
Lead in operational issues as part of COO team
Professional Leadership
The Director of Nursing provides visible and accessible professional leadership across the Trust to Heads of Nursing and Midwifery within the Clinical Service Units (CSUs) developing capacity and capability within these teams. The Director of Nursing is a key member of the Chief Nurse team and one of three key posts supporting the Chief Nurse.
The Director of Nursing will:
ensure that at all levels within the CSUs there is clear and visible nursing leadership that is both effective and meaningful to staff and patients and provide assurance to the Chief Nurse in this regard.
be responsible for the provision of professional nursing advice to Heads of Nursing within the CSUs ensuing that Heads of Nursing and Midwifery adhere to the N&M standards required within the Trust.
be responsible as required for decisions at final stages of discipline, grievance and performance cases for N&M staff across the Trust.
where required attend professional forums and committees within the Trust on behalf of the Chief Nurse.
Support CSUs in the delivery of appropriate staffing levels to provide safe cover to patients and be responsible for the deployment of nursing staff between CSUs.
contribute to CSU performance management
oversee and approve nursing establishments and budgets across the Trust.
be responsible for the development and implementation of the nursing component of Trust wide operational policies and procedures
Patient Care, Safety and Experience The Director of Nursing is:
responsible through their professional leadership for ensuring the implementation in CSUs of relevant national and Trust nursing and midwifery policies and clinical practice standards to secure continuous improvement in the patient experience.
responsible for ensuring that where nursing and midwifery practice fall short of required standards CSU teams are held to account. The Director of Nursing is responsible for ensuring appropriate plans and support is in place to secure improvement.
responsible for ensuring that Heads of Nursing implement the Trust requirements to provide assurance against national quality standards regarding nursing and midwifery care.
with the other members of the Chief Nurse team be accountable and responsible for the implementation of national safety and professional standards across the CSUs and ensuring that there is a documented audit trail to evidence the systems and processes taken to gain assurance. The Director of Nursing will in partnership with the Medical Director (Operations) be responsible for ensuring that services which are planned and delivered meet the performance standards for quality and safety as agreed by the Chief Nurse and CMO.
responsible for ensuring the effective implementation and achievement of the Trust standards for systems and processes to seek feedback, learning and improvement from patient feedback including FFT, complaints and PALs.
responsible for promoting a culture of openness and transparency in line with the duty of candour and that all incidents of poor nursing care and harm are investigated openly, reported widely and clear changes and improvements to practice are implemented within the agreed governance framework.
responsible for leading the implementation on a Trust wide basis the delivery of organisational priorities determined by the Chief Nurse.
The Director of Nursing will have a regular presence in clinical areas for the purpose of observing and assuring standards of clinical practice, communicating with clinical staff and will undertake clinical practice shifts where required.
Service Management and Leadership
As a member of the COO team the Director of Nursing will ensure that nursing and midwifery contribute to the development and delivery of the Trust vision, Strategic Objectives and Business Plan.
The Director of Nursing:
is responsible for leading the Trust wide development and implementation of projects relating to nursing care and service delivery as determined by the Chief Nurse.
will ensure that quality and service delivery information is triangulated against financial data to ensure that CSUs are providing both a clinical and financially sustainable service and is responsible in partnership with the Medical Director (Operations) for ensuring that all service developments are subject to a Quality Impact Assessment.
will work with triumvirate colleagues to set appropriate budgets for services each year and will ensure that there is a robust process in place for monitoring the compliance of services against these.
The Director of Nursing will participate in the Trust on call rota (Director on call)
Communication
The Director of Nursing will ensure effective communication and partnership working is established with the Medical Director (Operations), Deputy Chief Nurse and with Clinical Directors.
The Director of Nursing will develop and establish effective communication mechanisms and forums for Nursing and Midwifery to ensure clear delivery of operational information to CSUs.
The role requires the post-holder to discuss, in detail complex service-related information with senior managers, staff, and external agencies providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive or contentious information.
Education, training and development:
The Director of Nursing:
is responsible through their professional leadership for ensuring the implementation in CSUs of Trust nursing and midwifery policies and clinical practice standards to secure continuous improvement in the experience of preregistration students.
is responsible for ensuring that where the learning environment falls short of required standards or the student experience is poor appropriate plans and support are in place to secure improvement.
will promote a culture of continuous learning and development within nursing and midwifery staff within the Trust.
is responsible for working in partnership with the Director of Nursing (Corporate) to ensure that the identified training and development needs of Trust nursing and midwifery staff are reflected in education and training commissioning.
Workforce
The Director of Nursing:
is responsible through their professional leadership for ensuring the implementation in CSUs of relevant national and Trust nursing and midwifery policies to secure safe and effective nurse and midwifery staffing.
Is responsible for ensuring that where nursing and midwifery staffing falls short of required policy or standards that Heads of Nursing have appropriate plans and support are in place to secure improvement.
is responsible for ensuring collaborative and partnership working across CSU Heads of Nursing with regard to dealing with short and medium term staffing pressures facilitating the achievement of solutions to operational challenges where required.
is responsible for scrutinising CSU service plans with regard to Nursing and Midwifery Staffing and ensuring that any planned changes are subject to appropriate Quality Impact Assessment prior to their consideration by the Chief Nurse.
for providing professional advice to Heads of Nursing regarding issues of professional conduct.
responsible for promoting a culture of openness and transparency in line with the duty of candour and that all incidents of poor nursing care and harm are investigated openly, reported widely and clear changes and improvements to practice are implemented within the agreed governance framework.
The Director of Nursing is responsible for supporting and enabling nurses and midwives within the CSUs to become research active and that research undertaken by Trust staff as part of undergraduate and post graduate study has relevance to Trust practice.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The Director of Nursing as a key member of the Chief Nurse team will:
provide professional leadership across the Trust to Heads of Nursing and Midwifery within the Clinical Service Units (CSUs) developing capacity and capability within these teams.
through their professional leadership be responsible for the implementation of relevant national and Trust nursing and midwifery policies and clinical practice standards in the CSUs to secure continuous improvement in the patient experience.
be responsible for ensuring that where nursing and midwifery practice standards fall short of required standards CSUs teams are held to account ensuring appropriate plans and support are in place to secure improvement.
ensure that nursing and midwifery contribute to the development and delivery of the Trust vision, Strategic Objectives and Business Plan and their delivery on a daily basis.
provide support for the daily operational management of the hospital ensuring appropriate sharing of staff resources across CSUs to provide safe care for all patients.
Job dimensions:
The Director of Nursing provides professional leadership to Heads of Nursing and Midwifery, Matrons and Nursing and Midwifery Staff within 19 CSUs.
The Leeds Way Values:
Our values are part of what make us different from other trusts, so we see this as a strength, as well as a responsibility. They have been developed by our staff and set out what they see as important to how we work. Our five values are:
Patient-centred
Collaborative
Fair
Accountable
Empowered
All our actions and endeavours will be guided and evaluated through these values.
Principal duties and areas of responsibility:
Lead in operational issues as part of COO team
Professional Leadership
The Director of Nursing provides visible and accessible professional leadership across the Trust to Heads of Nursing and Midwifery within the Clinical Service Units (CSUs) developing capacity and capability within these teams. The Director of Nursing is a key member of the Chief Nurse team and one of three key posts supporting the Chief Nurse.
The Director of Nursing will:
ensure that at all levels within the CSUs there is clear and visible nursing leadership that is both effective and meaningful to staff and patients and provide assurance to the Chief Nurse in this regard.
be responsible for the provision of professional nursing advice to Heads of Nursing within the CSUs ensuing that Heads of Nursing and Midwifery adhere to the N&M standards required within the Trust.
be responsible as required for decisions at final stages of discipline, grievance and performance cases for N&M staff across the Trust.
where required attend professional forums and committees within the Trust on behalf of the Chief Nurse.
Support CSUs in the delivery of appropriate staffing levels to provide safe cover to patients and be responsible for the deployment of nursing staff between CSUs.
contribute to CSU performance management
oversee and approve nursing establishments and budgets across the Trust.
be responsible for the development and implementation of the nursing component of Trust wide operational policies and procedures
Patient Care, Safety and Experience The Director of Nursing is:
responsible through their professional leadership for ensuring the implementation in CSUs of relevant national and Trust nursing and midwifery policies and clinical practice standards to secure continuous improvement in the patient experience.
responsible for ensuring that where nursing and midwifery practice fall short of required standards CSU teams are held to account. The Director of Nursing is responsible for ensuring appropriate plans and support is in place to secure improvement.
responsible for ensuring that Heads of Nursing implement the Trust requirements to provide assurance against national quality standards regarding nursing and midwifery care.
with the other members of the Chief Nurse team be accountable and responsible for the implementation of national safety and professional standards across the CSUs and ensuring that there is a documented audit trail to evidence the systems and processes taken to gain assurance. The Director of Nursing will in partnership with the Medical Director (Operations) be responsible for ensuring that services which are planned and delivered meet the performance standards for quality and safety as agreed by the Chief Nurse and CMO.
responsible for ensuring the effective implementation and achievement of the Trust standards for systems and processes to seek feedback, learning and improvement from patient feedback including FFT, complaints and PALs.
responsible for promoting a culture of openness and transparency in line with the duty of candour and that all incidents of poor nursing care and harm are investigated openly, reported widely and clear changes and improvements to practice are implemented within the agreed governance framework.
responsible for leading the implementation on a Trust wide basis the delivery of organisational priorities determined by the Chief Nurse.
The Director of Nursing will have a regular presence in clinical areas for the purpose of observing and assuring standards of clinical practice, communicating with clinical staff and will undertake clinical practice shifts where required.
Service Management and Leadership
As a member of the COO team the Director of Nursing will ensure that nursing and midwifery contribute to the development and delivery of the Trust vision, Strategic Objectives and Business Plan.
The Director of Nursing:
is responsible for leading the Trust wide development and implementation of projects relating to nursing care and service delivery as determined by the Chief Nurse.
will ensure that quality and service delivery information is triangulated against financial data to ensure that CSUs are providing both a clinical and financially sustainable service and is responsible in partnership with the Medical Director (Operations) for ensuring that all service developments are subject to a Quality Impact Assessment.
will work with triumvirate colleagues to set appropriate budgets for services each year and will ensure that there is a robust process in place for monitoring the compliance of services against these.
The Director of Nursing will participate in the Trust on call rota (Director on call)
Communication
The Director of Nursing will ensure effective communication and partnership working is established with the Medical Director (Operations), Deputy Chief Nurse and with Clinical Directors.
The Director of Nursing will develop and establish effective communication mechanisms and forums for Nursing and Midwifery to ensure clear delivery of operational information to CSUs.
The role requires the post-holder to discuss, in detail complex service-related information with senior managers, staff, and external agencies providing and receiving highly complex, sensitive or contentious information.
Education, training and development:
The Director of Nursing:
is responsible through their professional leadership for ensuring the implementation in CSUs of Trust nursing and midwifery policies and clinical practice standards to secure continuous improvement in the experience of preregistration students.
is responsible for ensuring that where the learning environment falls short of required standards or the student experience is poor appropriate plans and support are in place to secure improvement.
will promote a culture of continuous learning and development within nursing and midwifery staff within the Trust.
is responsible for working in partnership with the Director of Nursing (Corporate) to ensure that the identified training and development needs of Trust nursing and midwifery staff are reflected in education and training commissioning.
Workforce
The Director of Nursing:
is responsible through their professional leadership for ensuring the implementation in CSUs of relevant national and Trust nursing and midwifery policies to secure safe and effective nurse and midwifery staffing.
Is responsible for ensuring that where nursing and midwifery staffing falls short of required policy or standards that Heads of Nursing have appropriate plans and support are in place to secure improvement.
is responsible for ensuring collaborative and partnership working across CSU Heads of Nursing with regard to dealing with short and medium term staffing pressures facilitating the achievement of solutions to operational challenges where required.
is responsible for scrutinising CSU service plans with regard to Nursing and Midwifery Staffing and ensuring that any planned changes are subject to appropriate Quality Impact Assessment prior to their consideration by the Chief Nurse.
for providing professional advice to Heads of Nursing regarding issues of professional conduct.
responsible for promoting a culture of openness and transparency in line with the duty of candour and that all incidents of poor nursing care and harm are investigated openly, reported widely and clear changes and improvements to practice are implemented within the agreed governance framework.
The Director of Nursing is responsible for supporting and enabling nurses and midwives within the CSUs to become research active and that research undertaken by Trust staff as part of undergraduate and post graduate study has relevance to Trust practice.
Person Specification
Skills & behaviours
Essential
* Patient and person centred
* Commitment to NHS values
* Strategic thinker
* Able to develop effective working relationships and networks
* Politically aware
* Personal integrity, able to demonstrate tact and diplomacy
* Able to communicate effectively to a wide range of audiences using a range of different approaches
* Able to communicate complex and contentious information to individuals and groups
* Able to effectively influence and negotiate
Additional Requirements
Essential
* Evidence of sustained and continuous professional development
* Extensive, expert and in depth knowledge of professional nursing issues and current national nursing and health policy
* In depth knowledge of the national clinical governance, quality and patient safety agendas
* Understanding of role and functioning of Trust Board, governance arrangements and regulators.
* Able to deliver to deadlines and manage a diverse and complex workload to competing timescales
* Able to analyse and interpret highly complex facts and situations
* Able to use computerised systems and media including Microsoft office and health related tools
* Able to fulfil the Occupational Health requirements for the post (with reasonable adjustments if necessary) including clearance on blood borne viruses in compliance with Trust Policy
Experience
Essential
* Extensive experience of senior professional leadership and operational management across a range of clinical specialities and care settings
* Extensive experience of leading operational delivery of safe, effective and compassionate care across a large and complex organisation.
* Extensive senior experience in an acute trust.
* Experience of leading change and improvement on a trust wide basis
* Experience leading and managing staff and teams and budgets
Desirable
* Experience of working with Executive and Non Executive Directors
Qualifications
Essential
* Current NMC registration : Registered Nurse (Adult) level 1
* First degree in Nursing or evidence of practical application of expertise at this level
* Masters degree in Nursing leadership or management or relevant subject or evidence of practical application of expertise at this level
* Post-graduate management qualification or evidence of practical application of expertise at this level
Desirable
* Second registerable qualification
* Post registration qualifications relevant to role
Person Specification
Skills & behaviours
Essential
* Patient and person centred
* Commitment to NHS values
* Strategic thinker
* Able to develop effective working relationships and networks
* Politically aware
* Personal integrity, able to demonstrate tact and diplomacy
* Able to communicate effectively to a wide range of audiences using a range of different approaches
* Able to communicate complex and contentious information to individuals and groups
* Able to effectively influence and negotiate
Additional Requirements
Essential
* Evidence of sustained and continuous professional development
* Extensive, expert and in depth knowledge of professional nursing issues and current national nursing and health policy
* In depth knowledge of the national clinical governance, quality and patient safety agendas
* Understanding of role and functioning of Trust Board, governance arrangements and regulators.
* Able to deliver to deadlines and manage a diverse and complex workload to competing timescales
* Able to analyse and interpret highly complex facts and situations
* Able to use computerised systems and media including Microsoft office and health related tools
* Able to fulfil the Occupational Health requirements for the post (with reasonable adjustments if necessary) including clearance on blood borne viruses in compliance with Trust Policy
Experience
Essential
* Extensive experience of senior professional leadership and operational management across a range of clinical specialities and care settings
* Extensive experience of leading operational delivery of safe, effective and compassionate care across a large and complex organisation.
* Extensive senior experience in an acute trust.
* Experience of leading change and improvement on a trust wide basis
* Experience leading and managing staff and teams and budgets
Desirable
* Experience of working with Executive and Non Executive Directors
Qualifications
Essential
* Current NMC registration : Registered Nurse (Adult) level 1
* First degree in Nursing or evidence of practical application of expertise at this level
* Masters degree in Nursing leadership or management or relevant subject or evidence of practical application of expertise at this level
* Post-graduate management qualification or evidence of practical application of expertise at this level
Desirable
* Second registerable qualification
* Post registration qualifications relevant to role
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).
Additional information
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
Leeds Teaching Hospitals
Address
St. James's University Hospital
Beckett Street
Leeds
LS9 7TF
Employer's website
(Opens in a new tab)
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Employer details
Employer name
Leeds Teaching Hospitals
Address
St. James's University Hospital
Beckett Street
Leeds
LS9 7TF
Employer's website
(Opens in a new tab)
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