Senior Development Nurse

The Senior Development Nurse (Pre-Registration Nursing Practice Lead) is a senior leadership role within the Nursing Development Team (NDT), providing strategic, professional and operational leadership for the Trusts pre-registration nursing workforce and associated early career pipelines. The postholder is accountable for the development, delivery, governance and continuous improvement of all pre-registration nursing practice learning activity across the organisation, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements, workforce strategy and Trust priorities. This includes strategic oversight and management of the Student Experience (SE) workstreams, Band 24 Nursing Workforce Development programmes, and Newly Qualified Nurse (NQN) and Nursing Associate (NA) recruitment pathways. The postholder holds overall responsibility and accountability for the leadership, performance and management of the Band 7 Development Nurses and their respective portfolios. The Senior Development Nurse will ensure that all work programmes relating to student experience, placement governance, practice assessor and supervisor preparation and training, nursing apprenticeship pathways, and recruitment pipelines are strategically aligned, outcome-focused and delivered to a high standard. Clear direction, performance oversight and governance assurance will be provided to ensure delivery against key performance indicators, contractual obligations and quality standards. A core focus of the role is to strategically develop, embed and quality assure a coherent professional development pathway from entry into the nursing workforce through pre-registration education and transition into registered practice. The role ensures that workforce pipeline development, recruitment, retention and sustainability are fully integrated within education planning and workforce strategy, using workforce intelligence, quality metrics and data to inform forecasting, placement capacity planning and service alignment. The postholder is responsible for ensuring that practice learning environments across the Trust are safe, inclusive, high-quality and fully compliant with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards for Student Supervision and Assessment (SSSA), the Standards Framework for Nursing and Midwifery Education and NHS England Education Funding Agreement requirements, including the Education Quality Framework (EQF) and Safe Learning Environment Charter (SLEC). The Senior Development Nurse Pre-Registration Nursing Practice Lead) is responsible for ensuring that robust governance systems will be established and maintained to monitor placement capacity, supervision and assessment compliance, learner experience, audit activity, risk management and quality improvement outcomes, providing assurance to the Associate Director of Nursing Education, Development & Quality and the Chief Nurse. In collaboration with the Band 7 Development Nurses, the postholder is accountable for the design, implementation and evaluation of key workforce development programmes, including the Care Certificate Programme (CCP), HCA Development Programmes, Nursing Associate (NA) and Registered Nurse (RN) Top-Up apprenticeships, Student Experience (SE) workstreams and NQN/NA recruitment pathways. The role integrates education, clinical expertise, governance, quality improvement and system partnership working to uphold the highest standards of professional practice and patient care across the Trust. Working closely with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), NHS England, South London Partnership providers and a wide range of internal stakeholders, the postholder will act as a senior professional representative for pre-registration nursing education, contributing to contract performance reviews, curriculum developments and system-wide workforce initiatives. Through visible professional leadership, strong governance oversight and the application of quality improvement methodologies, the Senior Development Nurse (Pre-Registration Nursing Practice Lead) will embed a culture of learning, psychological safety, professional accountability and continuous improvement across practice learning environments, directly contributing to improved patient safety, enhanced quality of care and long-term workforce sustainability within SWLStG Trust.