Job overview

At East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, we are committed to providing safe, compassionate and high-quality care for the women, babies and families we serve. We are now seeking an outstanding Director of Midwifery to join us at a critical and purposeful moment in our maternity improvement journey.

This is a pivotal leadership role within our organisation and an opportunity to shape maternity and gynaecology services across one of the largest NHS Trusts in England, serving a diverse population of around 700,000 people across three acute hospitals and community sites.

As the most senior midwife in the Trust, the Director of Midwifery will provide strategic and operational leadership for maternity and gynaecology services, working as part of the Women and Children’s Care Group leadership quadrumvirate and reporting directly to the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer.

Main duties of the job

You will bring visible, compassionate and values-led leadership, setting professional standards, shaping culture and ensuring that the voice of midwifery is strong, confident and influential at sub-board and board level. Our maternity services are currently rated Good by the Care Quality Commission, and we are ambitious to build on this through continuous learning, listening and improvement.

A key priority for the incoming Director of Midwifery will be to lead restorative action for families and staff following the Reading the Signals report. This work requires sensitivity, courage and integrity and sits alongside responsibility for workforce leadership, quality governance, maternity safety initiatives and professional development.

You will work in genuine partnership with women, birthing people, families, staff and our Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership, ensuring services are co-produced, inclusive and responsive, and that health inequalities and poorer outcomes are actively understood and addressed.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and warmly welcomes applications from candidates from all backgrounds.

Working for our organisation

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is 'great healthcare from great people'. Everything we do is guided by our values: 'People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference’. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called 'We care'. It's about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day-to-day. We're looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for roles Band 5 and above.

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.