Head of Nursing Leadership

RCN UK HQ with hybrid working

Contract type: Permanent, Full-time

Salary range per annum: £79,482 - £89,238 plus £5,094 London Weighting

There is more to the RCN than you might think. We’re a trade union with a membership of over half a million nurses, midwives, nursing support workers and students. We support their practice, represent them, lobby on their behalf, and develop them. We exist to make a positive difference – to the working lives of our members and ultimately to standards in patient care.

At the Royal College of Nursing we’re an optimistic organisation. And we’ve got good reason to be. We all share the same voice when it comes to changing the shape of the health policies of the future. Join us and you will too.

We’re accredited with Investors in People Silver Standard. Our people are our greatest asset, and we want people who can contribute to our purpose in line with our values.

As a Head of Leadership, you will use your knowledge of nursing leadership and clinical practice and your ability to deliver the RCN Professional offer across the Institute of Nursing Excellence. You will lead on the design and delivery of a portfolio of leadership programmes, supporting nurses at all stages of their careers to strengthen and develop their leadership skills.

You will be responsible for building resources in mentorship and provide support to nurses in their early careers, encouraging them to access leadership development and mentorship. Within this role you will build a leadership network to support debate and dialogue, and use your skills in gathering evidence and data analysis to ensure the work of the Leadership Academy is evidence based and up to date.

As well as exceptional customer service, to join us you’ll need an in-depth knowledge of nursing leadership, commissioning and policy development across health and social care within the UK. You will also need to be able to lead stakeholder engagement, resource development and delivery of programmes of work and budget management. The ability to foster strong professional relationships and encourage close collaboration between departments, members and stakeholders is at the heart of this leadership role.

What we offer you:

• We expect you to look after our members and customers. And we expect you to be rewarded for it.
• We offer an impressive range of benefits, a broad range of learning development opportunities and an award-winning health and wellbeing programme.
• We offer annual leave up to 32 days plus bank holidays and three additional days for the Christmas break plus generous maternity, adoption, paternity, and shared parental leave packages.
• We offer a competitive pay structure with annual pay progression until you reach the top of the salary scale.
• We also know that to empower our people to do their best work, they must be able to balance the demands of work and home.

Our selection process:

Please submit a CV and answer the supporting questions demonstrating how you meet the criteria for this role. You may not be shortlisted if you don’t. Please ensure your CV is in a simple format with minimal tables and sections. Any identifying information in your application will automatically be anonymised for shortlisting purposes.

As a proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities.

For more information or for an informal discussion about the role please contact Chantal Nunes.

Closing date: 30 July 2025.

Selection date: 19 August 2025.