Maternity Ward Manager

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust; Tees Valley; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is seeking an experienced Ward Manager to lead the postnatal maternity ward, ensuring safe, effective and compassionate care for women, babies and families.

You will manage a multidisciplinary team, coordinate staffing, governance, risk and patient flow, and drive improvements across maternity services within a progressive NHS trust.

Qualifications

• Registered midwife with current practising certificate required.
• Experience in leadership roles within a maternity setting preferred.
• Strong clinical experience in postnatal/maternity care is essential.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational leadership of the postnatal ward and ensure safe, high-quality maternity care.
• Oversee workforce planning, staffing, governance and risk management to meet service demands.
• Lead on recruitment, appraisal, staff development and attendance management.
• Promote a positive culture with a focus on patient safety and staff wellbeing.
• Collaborate with Matron and maternity leadership to improve service delivery.

Skills

Leadership

Staff management

Communication

Clinical leadership

Staff wellbeing

Maternity care

Education

Registered Midwife

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced, dynamic, and compassionate midwifery leader to join our maternity team as a Ward Manager. This pivotal leadership role is responsible for the operational management and professional leadership of the maternity ward, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective, and high-quality care for women, babies, and families.

As Ward Manager, you will lead and support a multidisciplinary team, promoting a positive culture that places patient safety, quality improvement, and staff wellbeing at its centre. You will be accountable for workforce management, resource utilisation, governance, risk management, and the achievement of key clinical and operational objectives. Working closely with the Matron and wider maternity leadership team, you will drive improvements in patient experience, professional standards and service delivery while ensuring compliance with local and national maternity standards.

We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated registered midwife with strong leadership skills, significant clinical experience, and a passion for supporting teams to deliver outstanding care. This is an excellent opportunity to influence and shape maternity services while developing your leadership career within a progressive and supportive organisation.

The Ward Manager is responsible for the operational leadership and day-to-day management of the postnatal ward, ensuring the safe, effective, and compassionate delivery of maternity care. The post holder will coordinate clinical activity, manage staffing, skill mix, and resource allocation, and maintain oversight of patient flow, bed capacity, and service demands. They will provide visible clinical leadership, supporting staff to deliver high-quality, evidence-based care while responding to changing priorities and periods of increased clinical activity.

The role includes responsibility for staff management, recruitment, appraisal, professional development, attendance management, and workforce planning. The Ward Manager will support and motivate the multidisciplinary team, foster a positive and inclusive culture and address performance, behavioural and professional issues appropriately.

You must be able to produce ALL certificates stated essential in the person specification or you will not be able to complete pre-employment checks.

We provide hospital services from two acute sites - Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham. We have a centre for planned care in Bishop Auckland and provide care from community hospitals in Chester-le-Street, Shotley Bridge, Barnard Castle, Sedgefield and Weardale as well as over 80 other community based settings and providing care in patients' homes.

We particularly welcome applications from disabled and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as BAME and disabled people are currently under-represented.

Full Job Descriptions can be found in the adverts supporting documents.

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