Job overview
Location: Sutton (with cross-site responsibilities: Chelsea & Cavendish Square)
Hours: Full time (37.5 hours/week)
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is looking for an experienced and dynamic Lead Gastrointestinal Clinical Nurse Specialist to lead our dedicated GI nursing team. Based in Sutton, this is a pivotal cross-site role covering GI medical oncology, clinical oncology, and surgery. You will provide advanced clinical care as a clinical nurse specialist while line-managing a team of Clinical Nurse Specialists and support staff across our Sutton, Chelsea, and Cavendish Square sites.
Working closely with the Lead GI Nurse and divisional leadership, you will shape patient pathways, promote excellence in specialist nursing practice, and lead initiatives to enhance patient experience, service delivery, and team development. You'll be central to driving clinical innovation, quality improvement, governance, and workforce development while maintaining a visible clinical presence.
Main duties of the job
Key highlights:
1. Lead and support a highly skilled team across three sites
2. Manage complex caseloads across the GI cancer pathway
3. Drive strategic service improvements and champion patient experience
4. Influence divisional and Trust-wide nursing development and leadership
We are looking for a committed nurse leader with:
5. Experience in GI cancer care, with a strong understanding of the patient pathway across medical, surgical, and/or clinical oncology settings.
6. Leadership and management experience, including the ability to line-manage and support a multi-site team, promote professional development and lead on recruitment and workforce planning.
7. Advanced clinical skills, to manage a complex caseload and deliver expert care throughout the cancer pathway – from diagnosis through treatment and survivorship or end-of-life care.
8. Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to represent GI nursing at divisional and Trust-level meetings, influence service delivery, and work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams.
9. A passion for innovation and quality improvement, with ability to lead service development projects, contribute to audits and research, and deliver exceptional patient experience.
10. Experience in governance, education, and staff development, and a commitment to promoting a learning environment and evidence-based practice.
11. A flexible and proactive approach to cross-site working and service needs.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
12. Provide a clear focus for nursing, maintaining a highly visible and authoritative presence within the units. Ensure the delivery of high-quality care where patients’ needs are central, regardless of the care setting.
13. Offer strategic direction to ensure the nursing service remains responsive, forward-thinking, and adaptable to external changes and pressures.
14. Continue to undertake clinical duties and manage a personal caseload.
15. Ensure the CNS team operates at an advanced practice level, delivering timely, well-documented specialist care within their areas of expertise.
16. Ensure compliance with Trust policies and procedures within all nursing teams.
Person specification
Education/Qualifications
Essential criteria
17. First level registration
18. Degree in Nursing (Adult)
19. MSc or working towards in relevant subject
20. Relevant formal teaching / mentoring experience
21. Evidence of continued professional development
22. Post Registration qualification in cancer nursing
Experience
Essential criteria
23. Significant post-registration experience in GI oncology (medical, clinical and/or surgical), including experience as a Clinical Nurse Specialist to be confident and competent in using the required skills to do the job
24. Clinical management experience
25. Experience of managing staff
Desirable criteria
26. Demonstrable experience in a range of cancer care settings
27. Budget Management / management of resources
28. Experience in chemotherapy administration
Skills/Abilities/Knowledge
Essential criteria
29. Experience in a specialist GI nursing role
30. Evidence of good leadership qualities, including delegation, motivation, influencing skills and co-ordination of teams
31. The ability to communicate effectively in both written and spoken English to a wide range of people both internally and externally, often involving highly complex or sensitive information
32. Presentation skills
33. Ability to innovate and respond to change
34. Ability to interpret and implement new policies into workplace procedures
35. Evidence of commitment to patient & carer involvement in care
36. Knowledge of clinical governance issues and risk management strategies
37. Ability to make decisions, organise & prioritise
38. Excellent interpersonal skills with particular ability to liaise effectively with multidisciplinary team members
39. Evidence of working well in a team
40. Ability to demonstrate self-motivation
41. Experience and ability to manage conflict situations
42. Computer Literacy
Desirable criteria
43. Experience of disseminating work through presentation/publication
The Royal Marsden values diversity and is committed to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minority groups. We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates, LGBTQ+ candidates and candidates with disabilities.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we are working to create a workplace that enables all staff to reach their full potential. We are committed to this because we know that greater diversity and inclusion will lead to an even greater positive impact for the people we serve.
Due to the high volumes of applications we receive, we reserve the right to close any adverts before the published closing date once we have received a sufficient number of applications. We advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.
Flu Vaccination – What We Expect of our Staff
At The Royal Marsden we have an immune compromised patient population who we must protect as much as we can against the flu virus. Each year, seasonal flu affects thousands of people in the UK. Occurring mainly in winter, it is an infectious respiratory disease capable of producing symptoms ranging from those similar to a common cold, through to very severe or even fatal disease.
The wellbeing of our staff and patients is of the upmost importance to us, and it is the expectation of The Royal Marsden that all patient-facing staff have an annual flu vaccination, provided free of charge by the Trust.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.