Head of Nursing & Quality - London & Home Counties

NHS; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare charity is seeking a Head of Nursing & Quality to enhance end-of-life care across London and Home Counties. The candidate will provide leadership, improve quality assurance frameworks, and engage with key stakeholders to drive service delivery excellence. Requires a registered professional with extensive senior leadership experience and a track record in clinical governance. The role offers hybrid working and a chance to make a meaningful impact in healthcare.

Benefits

27 days annual leave plus 8 public holidays

Competitive parental/sick leave policy

Industry leading training programs

Pension scheme

Season ticket loan for commuting

Life assurance for all employees

Qualifications

• Registered professional with extensive senior leadership experience in health or social care.
• Proven track record in service delivery with operational and quality accountabilities.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide professional and operational leadership for nursing across services.
• Lead the development of clinical governance and patient safety frameworks.
• Engage with stakeholders to drive service transformation and quality improvement.

Skills

Leadership

Clinical Governance

Stakeholder Management

Strategic Thinking

Change Leadership

Education

Degree in Nursing, AHP, or Social Work

Educated to Masters level

Job description

Head of Nursing & Quality - London & Home Counties

Join MarieCuries senior leadership team as our new Head of Nursing & Quality andmake a real difference in end-of-life care across London & the HomeCounties.

Main duties of the job

We are seeking an experienced, visionary leader to take on the role of Head of Nursing & Quality for our London & Home Counties operations. In this pivotal position you will:

• Provide strong professional and operational leadership for nursing, allied health professionals (AHPs) and clinical teams across our community and inpatient services in London and the Home Counties.
• Lead the development, implementation and continuous improvement of clinical governance, quality assurance, patient safety and experience frameworks.
• Ensure that our services meet regulatory standards, best-practice guidelines and the expectations of commissioners, regulators and partners.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders including ICBs, PCNs, independent care providers, NHS trusts and other health & care boards.
• Drive a culture of service delivery excellence, operational resilience and continuous improvement delivering safe, high-quality, person-centred care pathways.
• Shape and influence service transformation, workforce strategy, service design and quality improvement across the region, ensuring the voice of patients, families and carers is central.
• Serve as a trusted senior leader in the London and Home Counties leadership team, contributing to strategy, performance and organisational culture.
• Act as the CQC Registered Manager for all services in London and Home Counties.

About us

Marie Curie is the UKs leading end-of-life charity. We are the largest non-NHS provider of end-of-life care in the UK, the only provider across all 4 nations, delivering community nursing and hospice care across the country, while providing information and support on all aspects of dying, death, and bereavement. Our leading research pushes the boundaries of what we know about good end-of-life, and our campaigns fight for a world where everyone gets to have the best possible quality of life while living with an illness, theyre likely to die from.

The care and support we provide is highly valued by the people we care for and their loved ones, but at present we are only reaching around 10% of dying people at the end of life. Right now, one in four people in the UK with a terminal illness, do not get the care or support they deserve at the end of their lives.

We want a different society than the one we live in now. Our mission for the next five years is to close the gap in the number of people missing out on what they need at the end-of-life, through 3 ways:

• Growing and transforming our direct care and support
• Delivering more practical information and support
• Leading in shaping the end-of-life experience

Job responsibilities

Services and Geography

We have various services across East of England, Southeast England and Greater London including Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Our services are within primary care, community care and acute hospital settings.

What were looking for

Our ideal candidate will bring:

• Registered professional, i.e. Registered Nurse, AHP, Social Worker plus extensive senior leadership experience in a large, complex health or social care setting.
• Proven track record of service delivery of nursing and/or AHP services across community, primary or independent care settings with strong operational and quality accountabilities.
• Demonstrable experience in clinical governance, risk management, regulatory compliance, patient safety, quality improvement and service redesign.
• Strong network and established relationships across primary care, independent sector and ISC/ICB/PCN structures able to engage external partners and influence change.
• Excellent strategic thinking, change leadership, communication and stakeholder management skills able to lead and inspire multidisciplinary teams.
• A commitment to putting people at the heart of care, embedding patient, carer and family voice in designing, delivering and improving services.

What we offer

• The opportunity to make a meaningful impact in a leading national charity with a strong reputation and values-driven culture.
• A senior leadership role in a dynamic, collaborative London environment, with high visibility and influence allowing the chance to shape the future of nursing and quality in end-of-life care across London & the Home Counties.
• Annual leave allowance 27 days plus 8 public holidays (pro rata)
• Competitive Policy for parental/sick Leave
• Industry leading training programmes
• Season ticket loan for travelling to and from work
• Defined contribution schemes for Pension
• Loan schemes for bikes; computers and satellite navigation systems
• Introduce a friend scheme
• Help with eyecare cost
• Entitled to Marie Curie Blue Light Card
• Entitled to Benefit-Hub Discount Scheme
• Life assurance for all employees

Contract: Permanent

Based: Hybrid between Roy Shaw and Home with an expectation to travel throughout the region and occasionally attend our London Head Office

Application Process

• To view our full job description please click here
• Close date for applications: Sunday 30th November 2025
• As part of your online application, you will be asked for a CV. Please review both the advert and job description and outline your most relevant skills, experience and knowledge for the role.

Person Specification

Experience

• Demonstrates in-depth knowledge and understanding of current policy and regulatory requirements, and ability to interpret into practice.
• Demonstrates a clear understanding of how to manage effectively, making best use of resources and creating a workforce focused on quality and care.
• Demonstrable experience of governance/clinical governance, quality and continuous improvement. Evidence of managing clinical and nonclinical risk.
• Demonstrable experience of the management of complaints and patient and family experience.
• Experience of working with regulators and commissioners and other external bodies.
• Experience of working with a wide range of clinical and non-clinical staff in a healthcare environment.
• Experience of planning over short, medium and long-term timeframes, adjusting plans and resources accordingly.
• Experience of managing and motivating a team and reviewing performance of individuals.
• Experience of researching best practice, interpreting its relevance and processes/ practices which could be implemented successfully to achieve system reform.
• Experience of using patients and public engagement in service development practice.
• Demonstrable experience of governance/clinical governance, quality and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience of working at a senior level in a Health and Social care in the Private, Public or Voluntary sector
• Senior professional with a proven background in managing quality and governance within a complex health or social care system.
• Registered professional e.g. Registered Nurse, AHP, Social Worker
• Commitment to continued professional development
• Relevant qualifications required to undertake the Responsible Individual / Registered Manager role as outlined by the relevant regulator.
• Educated to masters level or equivalent experience of working at a senior level in a Health and Social care in the Private, Public or Voluntary sector

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.