Deputy Director of Midwifery

Ekhuft; Canterbury; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

A large NHS trust in England is seeking a Deputy Director of Midwifery to lead dynamic maternity services. This senior role requires strong clinical leadership and a commitment to quality improvement across services. The successful candidate will manage workforce issues, oversee clinical quality, and drive strategic service transformation to ensure safe, compassionate care for women and families. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape maternity services in a key leadership position, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in clinical leadership within a maternity setting.
• Experience in strategic planning and service transformation.
• Knowledge of national maternity and neonatal landscape.

Responsibilities

• Lead maternity and gynaecology services with a focus on quality improvement.
• Support staffing, recruitment, and performance initiatives.
• Act as a key leader in strategic planning and service redesign.

Skills

Clinical leadership

Evidence-based practice

Operational management

Workforce planning

Compliance with CQC standards

Education

Relevant clinical qualifications in midwifery or nursing

Job description

We are seeking an inspiring, visible Deputy Director of Midwifery to help lead a dynamic, progressive maternity and gynaecology service. This senior role requires a confident clinical leader with deep knowledge of the national maternity and neonatal landscape, a commitment to evidence-based practice, and the ability to drive improvement across complex services. Working alongside the Director of Midwifery, you will shape the future of care for women, birthing people and families, ensuring safe, high‑quality pathways across acute and community settings. You will lead innovation, champion inclusion, promote a culture of civility and professional excellence, and support our teams to deliver outstanding experiences. As part of one of England’s largest hospital trusts, you will contribute to strategic planning, service redesign and improvement programmes, ensuring our maternity, neonatal and gynaecology services continue to move forward with compassion, ambition and integrity.

Reporting to the Director of Midwifery, you will hold operational responsibility for workforce, clinical quality, financial stewardship and delivery of Trust‑wide objectives. You will lead governance across maternity and gynaecology, oversee incident management, strengthen learning systems and ensure compliance with CQC and regulatory standards. The role includes driving continuous quality improvement, embedding evidence‑based practice, reducing variation and supporting safe staffing through robust workforce planning. You will provide visible leadership to midwives, gynaecology nurses and neonatal teams, manage senior staff, and support performance, recruitment, retention and culture initiatives. You will contribute to strategic planning, lead service transformation, ensure effective reporting to divisional and Trust committees, and deputise at internal and external meetings. On‑call responsibilities will be required, and you will act as a key leader in building safe, compassionate, high‑performing services.

We are one of the largest hospital trusts in England, with five hospitals and community clinics serving a local population of around 800,000 people. Our vision is ‘great healthcare from great people’. Everything we do is guided by our values: ‘People feel cared for, safe, respected and confident that we are making a difference’. We have a new way of working at East Kent Hospitals, called ‘We care’. It’s about empowering frontline staff to lead improvements day‑to‑day. We’re looking for compassionate people to be part of our improvement journey for the patients, families and carers we care for every day.

Please note that if you require a Certificate of Sponsorship to work in the UK you must declare this on your application form, even if you currently have a certificate of sponsorship or a work permit for another role and are already working in the country. Please note we are only able to sponsor candidates on a Skilled Worker Visa applying for roles Band 5 and above.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Jo Andrews Job title: EA to Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Email address: [e-mail]