Neonatal Nursing Lead

The Nursing and Midwifery Council; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 57,000 - 68,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 days annual leave

Hybrid working

Enhanced Pension Contributions

Life Insurance – 4 x salary

Cycle to Work Scheme

Perkbox membership

Subsidised restaurant – Portland Place

Job summary

The Nursing and Midwifery Council is seeking a Neonatal Nursing Lead to provide expert neonatal nursing advice across the NMC and contribute to standards, guidance, and regulatory projects. You will engage with senior leaders and a broad range of stakeholders across the UK, ensuring public protection through informed policy development.

Role requires registration with the NMC, a master’s-level qualification, and strong leadership and communication skills.

Qualifications

• Registered nurse with current NMC registration.
• Master’s-level qualification or equivalent specialist knowledge.
• Strong understanding of neonatal and paediatric care.
• Experience in a complex health, care, education or regulatory organisation.
• Evidence of contributing to policy, standards, guidance, education or practice improvement.
• Ability to work with senior professional and system leaders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• An inclusive, collaborative approach and the ability to work across professional boundaries.
• Resilience, sound judgement and the ability to remain calm when navigating complex or contested issues.

Responsibilities

• Providing current, authoritative advice on neonatal nursing and perinatal care.
• Contributing specialist expertise to corporate programmes and regulatory projects.
• Helping to develop and review standards for education, practice, conduct and behaviour.
• Supporting the implementation and evaluation of standards and guidance.
• Monitoring research, national policy, safety concerns and developments in neonatal care.
• Working with researchers and professional colleagues to strengthen our evidence base.
• Supporting meaningful consultation and engagement with professionals, employers, educators, parents and families.
• Developing relationships with government bodies, healthcare providers, education institutions, regulators and specialist networks across the UK.
• Representing the NMC in professional discussions and external forums.

Skills

Master’s degree

Neonatal/paediatric nursing

Regulatory knowledge

Policy development

Stakeholder engagement

Communication skills

Education

Nurse registration with the NMC

Master’s-level qualification

Job description

Neonatal Nursing Lead

Application Deadline: 21 October 2026

Department: Nursing and Midwifery Adviser Team

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: London or Edinburgh

Compensation: £57,317 - £68,481 / year

Description

About the team and what we do

As part of our perinatal regulatory team and reporting to the Senior Midwifery Advisor (Education), you will provide specialist neonatal nursing advice to colleagues across the NMC, including senior leaders, our Executive Board and Council.

Your role and impact

You will contribute to the development, review, implementation and evaluation of regulatory standards, guidance, policy and other tools relating to nursing education, practice and public protection. You will help us understand developments in neonatal and perinatal care, assess their regulatory implications and identify where the NMC can make the most effective contribution.

You will work with nursing and midwifery colleagues to connect professional perspectives across the perinatal pathway. You will also build relationships with neonatal leaders, educators, employers, professional bodies, regulators and system partners throughout the four countries of the UK.

Listening to parents, families and service users will be an important part of ensuring that our work is informed, credible and focused on public protection.

The role will involve:

• Providing current, authoritative advice on neonatal nursing and perinatal care
• Contributing specialist expertise to corporate programmes and regulatory projects
• Helping to develop and review standards for education, practice, conduct and behaviour
• Supporting the implementation and evaluation of standards and guidance
• Monitoring research, national policy, safety concerns and developments in neonatal care
• Working with researchers and professional colleagues to strengthen our evidence base
• Supporting meaningful consultation and engagement with professionals, employers, educators, parents and families
• Developing relationships with government bodies, healthcare providers, education institutions, regulators and specialist networks across the UK
• Representing the NMC in professional discussions and external forums.

What you’ll bring

You must be a registered nurse with current NMC registration and substantial specialist knowledge and experience in neonatal and/or paediatric nursing.

You will bring:

• A master’s-level qualification or equivalent specialist knowledge and experience
• A strong understanding of neonatal, paediatric, children’s and young people’s health and care services
• An informed understanding of the current perinatal landscape and neonatal nursing’s contribution to safety and quality
• Experience gained in a complex health, care, education or regulatory organisation
• Evidence of contributing to policy, standards, guidance, education or practice improvement
• The credibility and confidence to work with senior professional and system leaders
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• An inclusive, collaborative approach and the ability to work across professional boundaries
• Resilience, sound judgement and the ability to remain calm when navigating complex or contested issues.

Experience of neonatal education, workforce, safety or quality governance at regional or national level would be valuable. Knowledge of professional regulation and experience of engaging parents, families, carers, children or young people would also be welcome.

We recognise that candidates may have developed this expertise through different clinical, educational, leadership, policy or professional routes. We are interested in the depth and relevance of your experience, not simply your current job title.

Why join us?

You will help give neonatal nursing a stronger voice within professional regulation and connect our nursing and midwifery work across the perinatal pathway. Your expertise will influence national standards, regulatory policy and our response to emerging evidence—helping us protect babies, families and the wider public.

Notes

Please note that this role requires you to review and work with sensitive and distressing material relating to fitness to practice cases and you will be given the appropriate support to deal with this material.

Benefits

• 30 days annual leave
• Enhanced Pension Contributions via our attractive Pension Scheme – with a basic 8% employer contribution as standard which increases up to 14% with optional added Employee Contributions
• Life Insurance – 4 x current salary
• Hybrid working
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Leave
• 24 Hours Employee Assistance Programme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Perkbox membership
• Subsidised restaurant in our Portland Place office
• Season ticket loans

Additional Information

The role you are applying for is a flexible role, and whilst you will be posted initially to a team, this may require movement between teams as the flow of work dictates. You will of course understand that this flexible approach enables us to provide the best possible service to our registrants and reach the outcomes to our cases quickly and within a reasonable timeframe. This will not change your terms and conditions and will be discussed with you prior to you taking up the post.

Hybrid Working Policy

We are currently working to a policy of office attendance for two days per week with the rest of the time working from home. Before submitting your application, please ensure you are able to commit to working in one of our office locations twice per week. If you are applying for a part-time role, please pro-rata office attendance based on the number of days you would be working.

Our Pay Policy

It is expected that staff new to the NMC will ordinarily be appointed to the bottom of the relevant pay band. However in exceptional circumstances, it may be possible to offer a salary above the bottom of the relevant pay band but we may request proof of current earnings. Please note that we offer an annual review of salaries and adopt a generous progressive pay approach. Further details of which are available on request.

For our internal colleagues, you will be paid in accordance to our internal pay policy.

Reasonable adjustments

We will provide reasonable adjustments to support disabled candidates throughout the recruitment process. Please let us know if you need any additional support to enable you to make an application with us.

Screening and vetting

All of our roles are subject to pre-employment checks. We are in the process of introducing a vetting policy, and it is possible that this role may become subject to DBS and further vetting checks in future.