Associate Chief Nurse

Practice Plus Group Holdings Limited; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A national healthcare organization is looking for an experienced Associate Chief Nurse to provide strategic leadership to nursing and clinical staff across various services. You will ensure compliance with clinical standards, lead quality improvement initiatives, and enhance patient care pathways. The ideal candidate is a registered nurse with substantial senior leadership experience in clinical governance and a strong commitment to patient safety. This role offers a competitive salary, benefits, and opportunities for professional development.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Wellbeing and lifestyle benefits

25 days annual leave

Professional development opportunities

Qualifications

• Significant senior leadership experience across clinical settings.
• Deep understanding of patient safety and safeguarding.
• Proven ability to influence diverse stakeholder groups.

Responsibilities

• Lead nursing and clinical colleagues across the Secondary Care division.
• Provide strategic direction for clinical governance and quality improvement.
• Ensure compliance with CQC and regulatory requirements.

Skills

Leadership

Clinical governance

Quality improvement

Communication

Change management

Education

Registered Nurse with current NMC registration

Job description

If you're an experienced senior nursing leader ready to shape the future of clinical excellence across a national healthcare organisation, this is your opportunity. Our Associate Chief Nurse plays a pivotal role in driving professional standards, leading transformational change, and ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality care across all Practice Plus Group Secondary Care services. Working closely with the Chief Nursing Officer, you'll provide strategic leadership to our nursing and clinical workforce, deputising across her full professional remit. This high-impact role spans hospitals, surgical centres, MSK services, urgent treatment centres and ophthalmology units across the country. With a blend of remote working and planned travel to sites, you'll influence national priorities and help guide the organisation's professional and regulatory agenda. This is an exceptional position for a senior nurse who thrives on visibility, collaboration, and driving innovation that genuinely improves patient experience, safety and clinical outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Acting as a senior professional leader for nursing and clinical colleagues across the Secondary Care division, deputising for the Chief Nursing Officer.
• Providing strategic direction around clinical governance, quality improvement, safeguarding (as a level 5 trained safeguarding lead), regulation, patient experience and risk.
• Ensuring clinical standards are implemented consistently and effectively across all sites, supporting compliance with CQC and other regulatory requirements.
• Leading, supporting and developing Heads of Nursing, Heads of Clinical Services and the wider Central Governance team.
• Partnering with operational leaders to enhance patient care pathways, strengthen safety cultures and support transformation across hospitals and treatment centres.
• Representing Practice Plus Group at professional, regulatory and cross-system forums, acting as an ambassador for excellence in nursing and AHP practice.
• Supporting incident, risk and quality governance processes, ensuring learning is embedded and shared across services.
• Leading strategic workforce planning, professional development, role modelling leadership behaviours and celebrating best practice across all care settings.
• Acting as Freedom to Speak Up Guardian and contributing to organisation-wide culture, engagement and improvement programmes.

Qualifications and experience required

• Registered Nurse status with current NMC registration.
• Significant senior leadership experience across clinical governance, quality improvement, professional regulation or system-wide nursing leadership.
• Deep understanding of nursing strategy, patient safety, safeguarding, and regulatory frameworks.
• Proven ability to lead change, influence diverse stakeholder groups and shape organisational priorities.
• Strong political and organisational awareness, excellent communication and the confidence to represent the organisation externally.
• Experience working across multiple care settings or integrated care systems.
• The ability to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on leadership when needed.
• A values‑driven approach that champions teamwork, inclusion, transparency and continuous learning.

Benefits

• A competitive salary based on skills and experience.
• A wide range of wellbeing and lifestyle benefits.
• 25 days annual leave (increasing with service) plus bank holidays.
• Ongoing professional development and in‑house training opportunities, free access to Reward Gateway discount scheme.

You get to know people over the weeks and months, and you can see them start to improve when they are having treatment…it's really nice, you can make a difference and help someone overcome difficulties.