Senior Investigator in Edinburgh

About the Team

The Investigations team plays a vital role in supporting the NMC’s regulatory responsibilities. The team manages investigations from initial casework through to progression, ensuring all activity is carried out in line with regulatory rules, operational standards, and performance measures. Their work is essential to meeting service standards and maintaining public confidence, with a strong focus on accuracy, consistency, and timely delivery.

About the role

As a Senior Investigator, you will lead and deliver robust, fair and proportionate investigations into regulatory concerns raised about nurses and midwives. You will gather and analyse evidence to assess whether a registrant is safe to practise and whether their fitness to practise may be impaired, ensuring risks to patients and the public are appropriately identified and managed.

You will hold a complex caseload, often involving sensitive issues, multiple parties and competing lines of enquiry. Your work will directly inform key regulatory decisions and contribute to timely, defensible outcomes that protect the public while upholding the rights of those involved.

In addition to your own casework, you will play a senior role within the team. You will mentor and coach Investigators, share expertise, and promote consistent, high-quality investigative practice. You will provide managerial support and deputise where required.

This role may be required to work as part of our New Ways of Working (NWOW) pilot team, in which you will work directly on live fitness to practise investigations, while also helping to design and refine the future of our casework processes. This time‑limited project brings together a multidisciplinary in‑house team and an external delivery partner to test new case pathways, evidential standards and quality frameworks. You’ll play a role in progressing cases while shaping more efficient, proportionate and sustainable ways of working that will improve outcomes and experiences across Investigations.

There is both permanent and fixed term position available.

About You

You will bring substantial experience of conducting and leading complex investigations, with a proven ability to manage a demanding and sensitive caseload while balancing competing priorities. You are confident taking ownership of high-risk or high-profile matters, demonstrating strong analytical skills. You can quickly grasp complex issues, identify the relevance and weight of key evidence, and make clear, logical findings. You will have excellent drafting skills and be able to produce clear, accurate and balanced reports that reflect all evidential material.

Your written and verbal communication is professional, precise and accessible to a range of audiences and you are able to communicate sensitively and effectively in complex and emotive situations, including where individuals may be distressed or vulnerable.

You will have demonstrable investigative experience, ideally within a regulatory or similarly structured environment, and must hold accreditation under the Investigations Department scheme. You understand the importance of procedural fairness, proportionality and evidential integrity in reaching sound conclusions.

You will have supported or supervised others to deliver investigations in line with defined procedures, performance targets and high-quality standards and are confident providing constructive challenge, guidance and support to colleagues.

**If you are successfully shortlisted, you will be required to complete an online assessment. This assessment will be sent to you on 27 October. Further details about the assessment will be provided closer to the time.

Candidates who successfully complete the assessment will be invited to the next stage of the recruitment process, which will be an in-person Experience Day at our office in 10 George Street, Edinburgh. This is scheduled to take place on 27th November.

Please note that the Experience Day may take several hours, so please ensure you are available for the full day. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer alternative dates, so please ensure you can attend before progressing with your application**.

Our core role is to regulate. First, we promote high education and professional standards for nurses and midwives across the UK, and nursing associates in England. Second, we maintain the register of professionals eligible to practise. Third, we investigate concerns about nurses, midwives and nursing associates - something that affects a tiny minority of professionals each year. We believe in giving professionals the chance to address concerns, but we’ll always take action when needed.

To regulate well, we support our professions and the public. We create resources and guidance that are useful throughout people’s careers, helping them to deliver our standards in practice and address new challenges. We also support people involved in our investigations, and we’re increasing our visibility so people feel engaged and empowered to shape our work.

Regulating and supporting our professions allows us to influence health and social care. We share intelligence from our regulatory activities and work with our partners to support workforce planning and sector-wide decision making. We use our voice to speak up for a healthy and inclusive working environment for our professions.

Check out our NMC LinkedIn page here for an insight into the NMC, our vacancies and the world of healthcare regulation.

Successful candidates will be appointed to a particular NMC Office, but you may be required to travel to other NMC locations, that are reasonable daily commute from your home office.

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.