General Practice Nursing Specialist Lead

NHS Scotland; Scotland; Hybrid; GBP 42,000 - 58,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Hybrid working

NHS pension

Annual leave 27 days + 8 holidays

Salary progression

NHS discounts

Job summary

NHS Scotland is seeking a Senior Educator to lead and develop the General Practice Nursing (GPN) Education function, coordinating education provision across Scotland. You will work within a national framework to design, deliver and evaluate education programs that meet workforce needs and policy priorities.

The role is fixed-term or secondment until 31 March 2027, with flexible, remote-friendly, and hybrid working arrangements.

Qualifications

Responsibilities

• Experience leading and developing education programmes within complex healthcare systems.
• Understanding workforce planning, career pathways, and evolving educational needs of the GPN workforce.
• Experience aligning educational provision with national policy, service priorities, and emerging models of care.
• Leadership ability to influence, coordinate, and drive strategic improvement across a national education portfolio.

Job description

On 1 April 2026, NSS and NES became one national organisation, focused on continuity today and a stronger, more connected service for tomorrow.

As part of this transformation, NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) and NHS Education for Scotland (NES) have joined to form a new organisation: PSD Scotland (Public Services Delivery Scotland). This new organisation will play a pivotal role in supporting the renewal and ensuring the long-term sustainability of health and care services across Scotland.

Flexible Location:

PSD Scotland is a remote-friendly employer with staff based throughout Scotland. We support office-based and hybrid working arrangements. We welcome conversations about alternative working patterns - please get in touch during the application process to discuss.

Work Pattern:

Fixed Term, Part Time, various hours: 2x 0.6 WTE & 1x 0.4 WTE.

Fixed-term or Secondment until 31st March 2027

• For NHS applicants, an NHS secondment will be offered in the first instance. For non-NHS applicants, a fixed-term or secondment would be considered.

You must have eligibility and entitlement to work in the UK which is required to be maintained throughout your period of employment.

Who We Are

PSD Scotland unites expertise from NES and NSS in a way that will allow us to accelerate national programmes to support the NHS to deliver better care, now and in the future.

We support staff with education and training, provide the tools and data that improve services, and run vital national functions such as procurement, logistics and blood, tissue and cell services.

The General Practice Nursing (GPN) Education team within PSDS provides strategic leadership, development, and delivery of education and training for nurses working in general practice. It supports the full GPN career pathway, from entry-level roles through to advanced and specialist practice, ensuring that education provision is structured, accessible, and responsive to service needs. The function works in close partnership with health boards, primary care stakeholders, and national programmes to identify learning needs, design relevant educational frameworks, and support workforce planning across Scotland.

These activities directly contribute to PSDS objectives by enabling a sustainable, skilled, and adaptable primary care nursing workforce. By aligning education with national priorities, service redesign, and evolving models of care, the function helps ensure that practitioners are equipped to deliver safe, effective, and person-centred care. The establishment of a Senior Educator post strengthens leadership, improves coordination of educational provision, and enhances the strategic impact of GPN education, ensuring consistency, quality, and long-term workforce stability across Scotland.

The Opportunity

• Do you bring demonstrable experience in leading and developing education programmes within complex healthcare systems
• Do you have a well-developed understanding of workforce planning, career pathways, and the evolving educational needs of the general practice nursing workforce
• Do you have experience in aligning educational provision with national policy, service priorities, and emerging models of care?
• Do you possess the leadership capability to influence, coordinate, and drive strategic improvement across a national education portfolio?

Working within the General Practice Nursing (GPN) Education function at NHS Education for Scotland, you will play a key role in shaping and delivering a coherent, high-quality approach to nursing education across primary care.

Does this sound like you?

What We Love To See

• Proven experience in leading, developing, or delivering education within a healthcare or complex organisational setting
• Strong understanding of workforce development, career pathways, and practice-based learning, ideally within primary care or general practice nursing
• Demonstrate honesty, integrity, care and compassion when dealing with others, utilising tact and persuasion skills when necessary
• Ability to work on own initiative, to organise and prioritise own workloads, to meet strict deadlines

Benefits Which Matter

• Life-work balance - with opportunities for flexible working and hybrid working
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Annual incremental salary progression (up to the maximum of the salary band) plus annual NHS salary scale review
• Annual Leave - 27 Days increasing in line with service plus 8 days public holiday
• NHS discounts and more

Diversity and Inclusion

Developing a successful national service for Scotland means considering the diverse needs, perspectives, and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland. We are focused on hiring the very best talent and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds. Our aim to ensure that everyone is treated fairly, with respect, and has a positive recruitment experience - regardless of the outcome.

We welcome applications from all under-represented groups, including racially minoritised people and disabled people. It is not essential to be in specialist lead role right now—you may be returning from a career break (e.g., maternity, paternity, caring) or coming from another field. Your experiences can bring a fresh perspective to our work.

If you are considering applying and would like to discuss the opportunity, any adjustments or alternative work patterns, please contact Christopher Rice (Head of Programme) [e-mail].

Next Steps

• NHS candidates will be considered firstly on a secondment basis, and so are strongly encouraged to discuss this with their current NHS employer at the earliest opportunity, ideally prior to application.

All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.

In person OR online interviews

will take place, date to be confirmed.

For further information please refer to the Job Information Pack below.

Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date. Please note, CVs will not be accepted.

• Please be advised that if you are successful in being offered the role following the recruitment process, you will be expected to attend the office prior to your start date to complete face-to-face pre-employment checks. If you require any adjustments to support this, please let us know.
• To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.

As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.

For specific types of post, if you do not have the necessary eligibility to work in the UK, it might be possible (though not guaranteed) to secure sponsorship via a UK Skilled Worker/Health & Care Worker Visa. However, this is only possible if the employer is a licensed Sponsor, and if the post does not fall below the current minimum salary threshold or ‘going rate’. Further information on these criteria can be found here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

If you have any queries regarding the NHS Scotland National Recruitment Portal or the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to contact our recruitment partners, the East Region Recruitment Service, at: [e-mail].