Job summary
- Main area
- Neonatal ODN
- Grade
- Band 8a
- Contract
- 2 years (Fixed term/Secondment)
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 180-E-267027
- Employer
- Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Addenbrookes Hospital-Division E
- Town
- Cambridge
- Salary
- £55,690 - £62,682 p.a. pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 15/02/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 04/03/2026
Employer heading
Roald Dahl CMC Neonatal Nurse (Children with Medical Complexity)
Band 8a
Job overview
The East of England Neonatal Operational Delivery Network (ODN), in partnership with Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, is seeking an exceptional Band 8a Neonatal Nurse Specialist to lead and develop care for neonates with complex medical needs (CMC) across the region.
This is a unique, pioneering role, offering the opportunity to shape and deliver care that intervenes earlier than ever—supporting babies and families from antenatal diagnosis, birth, and neonatal intensive care, through transition into children’s services.
As the Roald Dahl Neonatal CMC Nurse Specialist, you will provide expert clinical leadership and specialist nursing care for neonates with complex, life-limiting, or long-term conditions across the East of England Neonatal ODN.
Who We’re Looking For:
You will be a highly experienced neonatal nurse with:
• Current NMC registration.
• Significant experience in neonatal intensive care, including caring for babies with complex or long-term conditions.
• Credibility to work at Band 7/ 8a level, demonstrating clinical leadership, autonomy, and strategic influence.
• Excellent communication skills and a commitment to family-centred, compassionate care.
• Experience working collaboratively across services and professional boundaries.
• Experience working within networks or ODNs, with postgraduate or advanced practice qualifications considered advantageous.
Main duties of the job
Key Responsibilities
Working at a senior, autonomous level, you will:
• Act as a clinical expert and system leader for neonatal medical complexity.
• Build trusted relationships with families from the earliest stages, including antenatal diagnosis where appropriate.
• Bridge neonatal and children’s services, ensuring safe, compassionate, and seamless transitions of care.
• Lead network-wide education, quality improvement, audit, and clinical effectiveness initiatives.
• Collaborate across neonatal units, maternity, paediatrics, community services, social care, and voluntary sector partners.
• Champion family-centred, coordinated, and compassionate care, aligned with NHS values and the Roald Dahl nursing model.
Specifically, you will:
• Provide advanced specialist neonatal nursing care across the three NICUs in the East of England and the wider ODN.
• Act as a single point of expertise and coordination for families, supporting parallel planning and shared decision-making.
• Lead and influence care pathways, guidelines, and standards for neonatal CMC care across the ODN.
• Support multidisciplinary teams through consultation, education, and mentorship.
• Develop and lead network meetings, education programmes, and quality improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to data collection, audit, and service evaluation to shape future care models.
• Work closely with Roald Dahl Nurse Specialists nationally to share learning and best practice.
Working for our organisation
Come Nurse with us…
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the country. It comprises Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Rosie Hospital. We provide accessible high-quality healthcare for the local people of Cambridge and regional and national specialist services. It’s a great place to nurse, work and live.
You will work on a vibrant hospital campus with a friendly community feel; we have excellent facilities to practise your skills and abilities to support your career pathway and development. Our values of Together – Safe, Kind, Excellent support the delivery of outstanding care. We have a fully electronic patient record system that is improving health-care quality; this is transforming services, improving patient safety and clinical outcomes.
Why choose Cambridge University Hospitals?
• Our values and reputation for outstanding care
• Opportunities to experience a range of specialities
• Career and development opportunities
• Preceptorship and mentoring programmes delivered by a dedicated clinical education support team
• Research experience and opportunities
• Lovely location and quality of life
• Excellent schools/colleges and transport links (road, rail and air)
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached Applicant Information Pack (combined Job Description and Person Specification) for key duties and responsibilities.
Please note:- Internal applicants on permanent contracts can apply for this post as a secondment. For secondments you must have the approval of your line manager before applying. If you are an internal applicant currently on a fixed term contract you are able to apply for this as a fixed term position.
For NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough based roles, all applicants from NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who have identified that they are at risk of redundancy will be prioritised over those not at risk. However, interviews cannot be guaranteed.
This vacancy will close at midnight on 15 February 2026
Interviews are due to be held on 4 March 2026
Benefits to you
At Cambridge University Hospitals, we want to do all we can to support good working days. We offer development opportunities and a wide range of benefits, including on-site leisure facilities, shopping concourse and day nurseries. Our good work programme currently includes providing reduced cost Stagecoach bus travel to and from Cambridge University Hospital site. Park and Ride bus journeys between Babraham Road and Trumpington sites are free, as is the route to and from Cambridge train station and our hospitals. We also subsidise the cost of parking on site for eligible staff.
On CUH campus, hot food is available 24/7 and at a reduced cost for colleagues. Recently we launched the first of our staff pod break spaces. Located in the Deakin Centre, we have a purpose-created colleague-only café, with free tea and coffee, a break space and private outside area for colleagues to rest, refuel and recharge. Just one of the ways we are working hard to support good working days at CUH.
CUH is committed to assisting employees in achieving a good work-life balance irrespective of role or personal circumstances. Flexible arrangements may include, but are not limited to, part-time working, job-share, term-time working and flexible start and finish times.
Please note if you would like to discuss the required hours of this role further, you should approach the contact given. In some cases, alternative working hours will be considered.
We welcome applications from the Armed Forces.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Registered Nurse with Qualification in Speciality either Paediatric or Neonatal
- Masters level education or equivalent significant experience in relevant subject
- Teaching & mentoring qualification
- Evidence of professional continuous development
- Leadership or management module
Desirable criteria
- Previous experience working with families with complex needs.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant clinical experience paediatric/ neonatal critical care
- Clear understanding of relevant local and national policies, nursing issues and statutory frameworks
- Experience in project management
- Evidence of leading service change
- Managing a budget
- Managing and or leading a team
- Experience of designing and delivering training
Desirable criteria
- Analysing complex problems to develop practical solutions
- Experience of publishing in professional journals
Knowledge/Skills
Essential criteria
- Familiarity in application of technology enabled learning for the acute clinical setting
- Knowledge of team dynamics and own role in team
- Knowledge of quality assurance processes and their application
- Evidence of own professional development and life-long learning
- Ability to deal with difficult or sensitive situations with discretion and professionalism
- Able to work independently and as part of a team
- Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines
- Ability to lead and make decisions
- Negotiating and influencing skills
- Managing conflict
- Excellent communication skills written and verbal
- Excellent time management and organisational skills
- Ability to teach competently using adult teaching and learning strategies
- Good IT skills
- Self-motivated and ability to motivate others
Desirable criteria
- Expertise in assessment and evaluation methods and quality monitoring processes
Additional Requirements
Essential criteria
- The ability to understand and behave at all times, towards patients, visitors and colleagues according to the Trust values of safe, kind, excellent
- Highly motivated
- Committed to continuous service development and quality improvement
- Ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines and targets
- Reliable and supportive
- Ability to synthesize information, consider and evaluate risks and options when making difficult decisions
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Claire O'Mara
- Job title
- Senior Lead Nurse/Deputy Director
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Additional information
Elizabeth Langham
Director Neonatal ODN
[email protected]
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