Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust for a permanent Head of Nursing within the newly formed Specialist Ambulatory Medical Services (SAMS) Directorate. This innovative directorate unites Medical Specialties and Specialist Ambulatory Services, including Dermatology, Rheumatology, Neurology, Diabetes, Endocrinology, and more — all focused on delivering expert, compassionate care across inpatient and outpatient settings.
As Head of Nursing, you’ll be a core member of the leadership team, driving excellence in nursing practice and patient experience. You’ll lead on clinical quality, patient safety, workforce development, and the delivery of innovative, patient-centred care pathways for long-term conditions and early diagnosis.
Reporting to the Clinical Director and professionally accountable to the Clinical Group Director of Nursing, this is a key role in delivering the Trust’s Nursing and Midwifery Strategy and promoting a culture of continuous improvement and professional pride.
We’re looking for a dynamic, experienced nurse leader with a passion for innovation, collaboration, and compassionate care — someone ready to inspire teams, influence at scale, and help shape the future of specialist nursing.
Main duties of the job
The Head of Nursing works as a full member of the Directorate Management team. This team is led by the Clinical Director, who is a full member of the Trust Management Executive. The post holder is accountable to the Clinical Director and works in partnership with the General Manager to ensure the Directorate delivers on all of their objectives across a range of clinical services. They are responsible for providing the Directorate leadership on a range of issues and initiatives and will deputise for the Clinical Director as required.
The Head of Nursing provides strategic, professional and operational nursing leadership across the Directorate and the wider organisation through effective role modelling. The post holder is accountable for the delivery of high quality, cost effective nursing patient care within budget constraints. They provide strong leadership to enable the services to respond effectively to the challenges they will face whilst providing efficient clinical services and sustained improvements.
Working for our organisation
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK’s best known hospitals – Guy’s, St Thomas’, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield – as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.
We are among the UK’s busiest, most successful foundation trusts. We provide specialist care for patients including heart and lung, cancer and renal services as well as a full range of local hospital and community services for people in Lambeth and Southwark
We have a long tradition of clinical and scientific achievement and – as part of King’s Health Partners – we are one of England’s eight academic health sciences centres, bringing together world-class clinical services, teaching and research. We have one of the National Institute for Health Research’s biomedical research centres, established with King’s College London in 2007, as well as dedicated clinical research facilities.
We have around 22,700 staff, making us one of the largest NHS Trusts in the country and one of the biggest employers locally. We aim to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve and continue to develop new and existing partnerships with local people, patients, neighbouring NHS organisations, local authorities and charitable bodies and GPs.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached job description and person specification documents for further details of the role and requirements
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. Registered Nurse on the NMC register
2. Relevant Masters/MBA qualification or equivalent experience.
Experience
Essential criteria
3. Demonstrate a successful track record of delivering effective nursing services as a senior nurse manager responsible for staff management, financial management and change management.
4. Experience of managing a large, complex professional workforce and associated budgets.
5. Evidence of delivering operational performance across a range of services
6. A strong track record of managing complexity and risk whilst maintaining high standards of nursing care.
Skills
Essential criteria
7. Able to articulate a clear vision/plan for nursing which will enable the Directorate to meet all of its objectives.
8. Ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team to solve problems and deliver change
9. A comprehensive understanding of the changing NHS environment and the challenges it faces and the role and contribution nurses can make.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study’s at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.