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Director of Nursing - Professional & System Development

NHS England

Any North East and Yorkshire Region, S66 1YY £100,000 – £113,625 a year Fixed-Term Posted 28 August 2026 Apply by 13 September 2026

Home Office register entry: NHS England, Leeds

Visa sponsorship

This role is listed by an employer that holds a live Home Office sponsor licence on the Skilled Worker route.

Closest occupation match: SOC 2134, Programmers and software development professionals. Home Office going rate for this occupation: £54,700 a year.

NHS roles fall under the Health and Care Worker route. Public reference figures for that route: the general salary minimum is £25,000 a year, and salaries set by national pay scales (NHS bands) at or above the relevant band rate typically meet the occupation's requirement. Individual eligibility depends on personal circumstances. These figures are public reference information, not advice or a verdict on this job.

Role description

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Nursing and Quality Directorate in the North East and Yorkshire region as Regional Director of Nursing Leadership and Systems.

Reporting to the Regional Chief Nurse, the postholder will provide senior professional leadership across the region, lead key regional and national portfolios, and support quality improvement, assurance, transformation, and system partnership working. The role will also oversee the regional quality framework and support Integrated Care Systems to maintain a clear and consistent focus on quality, safety, and patient experience.

We are seeking an experienced and influential nursing leader with significant senior or Board-level NHS experience, current Nursing and Midwifery Council registration, and a strong understanding of quality, professional regulation and the wider health and care system. Please see the Job Description and Person Specification for further details.

Main duties of the job

Aligned with the region, the Regional Director of Nursing Leadership and Systems will lead at regional level on:

Regional portfolios

Supporting Quality Improvement, surveillance and assurance, including safety, safeguarding and patient experience, with providers and commissioners

Supporting clinical sustainability e.g. transformation

Professional leadership across providers and commissioners

System relationships and partnerships

Driving improvements

The post holder will deputise for the Regional Chief Nurse as required.

As Regional Director of Nursing Leadership and Systems will be expected to use expert knowledge of quality care combined with a robust knowledge of the health and care service working in collaboration with relevant colleagues, they will take the regional leadership responsibilities in one or more of the following areas: clinical and professional leadership for nursing and midwifery staff, patient safety (in conjunction with the Medical Directors), patient experience; and support the delivery of national priorities of NHS England, as well as the relevant national strategies e.g. The 10 year Plan.

The post holder will oversee the quality framework across the region and ensure that Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) have a clear and consistent focus on quality and patient experience.

About us

NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.

Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms -- enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.

In March 2025,the Government announcedthat NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.

If you currently work within the NHS and if successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR).This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.

Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.

We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.

Details

Date posted

28 August 2026

Pay scheme

Very senior manager (VSM)

Salary

£100,000 to £113,625 a year ESM1

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

2 months

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Job share, Flexible working

Reference number

990-NEY-EC4883-E

Job locations

Any North East and Yorkshire Region

Any North East and Yorkshire Region

S66 1YY

United Kingdom


Job description

Job responsibilities

You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.

Secondments

Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Current registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council
  • Relevant Master's degree or equivalent
  • Significant senior or Board-level nursing leadership experience within the NHS.
  • Extensive knowledge of quality, patient safety, safeguarding, professional regulation and the wider NHS system.
  • Proven ability to influence and build effective relationships across organisations, leading system-wide improvement and transformation

Desirable

  • Management qualification
  • Experience across community, mental health, ambulance, or maternity services.
  • Experience in education and workforce development.
  • Experience leading large-scale change and transformation.

Experience and skills

Essential

  • Significant experience as a senior nurse at board level or equivalent within a provider NHS trust/ foundation trust, SHA, or PCT or an Arm's length body.
  • Experience of working with regulators
  • High level of understanding of the NHS and care system, political environment and evidence-based approach to decision making
  • Understanding of the political and cultural complexity of the NHS
  • Significant board / senior management level experience in the NHS

Desirable

  • Experience or knowledge of training and education

Knowledge

Essential

  • Knowledge of the regulatory clinical frameworks, including nursing, and experience of managing complex professional regulatory issues
  • Knowledge of clinical, including nursing, practice and education policy
  • Knowledge of safety systems, including reporting and monitoring systems and associated policies / guidelines.
  • Knowledge of quality assurance and improvement methods and their application
  • Knowledge of the FT application processes, NHS I compliance regime and quality framework and CQC compliance framework
  • Knowledge of adult and child safeguarding
  • Knowledge of IPC practice and policy
  • Knowledge of how to apply different approaches to change across the health service
  • Extensive knowledge of clinical, including nursing, practice and a strong understanding of the concepts which underpin approaches to improving the delivery of compassionate care to patients within health and social systems
  • Knowledge of national and international developments in improvement, and large-scale change
  • Knowledge of the national compassionate care agenda, and levers for change in the NHS system
  • Extensive experience of developing and delivering national strategies
  • Experience of leading and managing disparate multidisciplinary staff including virtual and home working employees
  • Extensive networks across the NHS
  • Extensive experience of developing and successfully implementing regional and or national strategies and initiatives
  • Experience of working with local/national politicians and national media, particularly in times of crisis

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

NHS England

Address

Any North East and Yorkshire Region

Any North East and Yorkshire Region

S66 1YY

United Kingdom


Employer's website

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/working-for/

Job description

Job responsibilities

You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.

Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.

Apply now

Last verified against our ingestion on 31 August 2026; sponsor register dataset 2026-08-25.