Associate Director of Nursing for Education

Job overview

We are looking for an inspirational and credible senior leader who can demonstrate:

• Significant demonstrable senior leadership experience in clinical education, workforce development, organisational learning, or professional practice within the NHS or a similarly complex healthcare organisation.
• Extensive proven knowledge of NHS England education priorities, workforce transformation, professional regulation, and healthcare education policy.
• A successful track record of leading strategic change and delivering large-scale education and workforce initiatives.
• Demonstrable experience of developing collaborative partnerships across professional groups, higher education institutions, and external stakeholders.
• Exceptional leadership, influencing, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to inspire multidisciplinary teams and lead through change.
• A passion for developing people, promoting inclusion, and creating learning environments where every member of staff can thrive.

If you are an ambitious, collaborative, and forward thinking leader who is passionate about education, innovation, and workforce excellence, we would welcome your application.

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.***

Advert

The post holder will provide strategic leadership for the development, implementation, and delivery of a high-quality, inclusive, and future-focused clinical education and professional development portfolio. Working in alignment with the Trust's Clinical Strategy, People Plan, and organisational priorities, the role will ensure that learning and development opportunities maximise the capability, potential, and performance of the multidisciplinary workforce, enabling the delivery of safe, effective, efficient, and compassionate patient care.

The post holder will strengthen and lead the collaborative education framework across medical and non-medical professions, embedding a truly integrated, multi-professional approach to education, training, and workforce development throughout the Trust.

The role will provide strategic direction, expert professional leadership, and specialist advice to Clinical Education Leads, ensuring the effective interpretation and implementation of national policy, professional standards, statutory requirements, and current legislation relating to medical and non-medical education. The post holder will oversee compliance with NHS England (NHSE) education priorities, Higher Education Institution (HEI) partnerships, and relevant Service Level Agreements.

Working for our organisation

We are a people business – where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment. We offer all of this in a vibrant, modern city with a historic reputation for adventure. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY. If you have any issues with applying online and need additional support including reasonable adjustments with the application process please contact the recruitment manager for this post who will put you in touch with the recruitment team. We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants around less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. Please contact the recruiting manager to discuss this prior to your application submission. We commit to giving this full consideration in each case. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply for our roles, as diversity strengthens our teams. It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Provide strategic and expert leadership in the design, delivery, and evaluation of clinical education, ensuring alignment with best practice, workforce capability requirements, and patient safety priorities.

Ensure all education programmes are evidence-based, competency driven, and compliant with professional, regulatory, and statutory standards.

Oversee the development and implementation of curricula, assessment frameworks, and training methodologies across all healthcare professions.

Lead innovation in education delivery, including the adoption of advanced technologies such as simulation, virtual reality, and augmented reality.

Establish robust quality assurance mechanisms to ensure all internal and externally commissioned education meets defined standards of excellence.

Develop targeted workforce development initiatives aligned to service needs, funding streams, and organisational priorities.

Ensure effective systems are in place to evaluate programme impact, including KPIs, outcome measures, and return on investment.

Lead the Trust’s preparedness for external inspections, ensuring all required evidence and documentation is maintained and accessible.

Contribute to the development of postgraduate education strategy, including strengthening partnerships with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).

Oversee study leave governance and equitable access to professional development opportunities with a budget of over £1 million

Monitor clinical incidents linked to workforce capability and ensure learning is translated into education and training interventions.

Lead the annual education review across the organisation, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities, feedback from national and local surveys and supporting workforce planning, reporting to NHSE.

Develop and deliver a comprehensive contracted education plan, including commissioning, performance management, and evaluation.

Establish and maintain strategic partnerships with HEIs and external providers to maximise collaborative learning opportunities.

Negotiate and manage contractual agreements for education provision, ensuring value for money and quality outcomes.

Promote a culture of continuous professional development and lifelong learning across Nursing, Midwifery, and AHP workforce groups.

Provide regular performance and impact reports, including financial and quality metrics.

Innovative and creative approach to addressing workforce challenges.

Use workforce information to inform education strategy.

Contribute to and lead elements of the Trust-wide Education Strategy, ensuring alignment with corporate objectives and national policy.

Review and develop education-related policies, ensuring compliance with regulatory frameworks and funding agreements.

Establish robust governance systems for quality assurance, reporting, and continuous improvement.

Ensure full organisational compliance with external regulatory and inspection requirements.

Develop business cases and secure external funding to enhance education provision and infrastructure.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY INCLUDING YOUR JUNK FOLDER.

If you need support with the online application process or require reasonable adjustments with the application and/or interview process please contact the Recruiting Manager for this post.

We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants about less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. We recommend contacting the manager of the role prior to applying and we commit to giving requests full consideration.

We welcome and encourage applicants who identify with all protected characteristics to apply for our roles. We believe that diversity strengthens our teams and improves our patients' experience. At UHP we aim to create an inclusive workplace and hospital where everyone feels they belong and included.

It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

Providing false information is an offence & could result in the application being rejected or summary dismissal/police action if an applicant is successful.

Please note that if you are successful in your application & accept the position you agree that the Staff Health and Wellbeing Department can access your health records from your current/previous employer in order to check the status of your inoculations & screening tests. This is an automated process & the information will only be used for these purposes prior to your taking up the position with us.

For Doctors Roles:

Unsolicited CVs and Candidate Profiles/Details
University Hospitals Plymouth has a commitment to sourcing candidates directly and as such we do not accept speculative CVs from agencies.

We do, however, work with a defined list of preferred HTE Framework suppliers who may be invited to support us in sourcing candidates for particular roles.

In line with our preferred supplier list, we only pay agency fees where we have a signed agreement in place and an agency has been instructed by a member of the Trust’s Medical Workforce team.

We do not pay agency fees where speculative and unsolicited CVs are submitted to the Trust or Trust employees by any other means than the official route above. Where this is not observed the Trust reserves the right to contact these candidates directly and initiate discussions without payment of any agency fee.

Any candidate details (whether written or spoken) or CVs that are referred directly will not constitute an introduction. The Trust will under no circumstances be responsible for any recruitment fees in relation to these contacts.

Submission of any unsolicited CVs, candidate’s details and/or proposals to the Trust will not be considered further and will be deemed evidence of full and unlimited acceptance of this Agency Protocol.

In order to establish and maintain good working relationships with the Trust’s agency suppliers, we ask that this Protocol is adhered to and thank you for your co-operation.