Head of Midwifery – Quality Assurance, Governance and Compliance

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Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Head of Midwifery – Quality Assurance, Governance and Compliance

The closing date is 30 September 2026

Apply for this job

Job summary

We are seeking an exceptional Head of Midwifery - Quality Assurance, Governance and Compliance to join our maternity senior leadership team and help shape the next phase of safe, equitable and continuously improving care for women, birthing people, babies and families.

The opportunity

Working with delegated authority from the Director of Midwifery, you will provide strategic and operational leadership for maternity quality governance, patient safety, risk management, regulatory compliance and assurance. You will bring together intelligence from incidents, complaints, claims, inquests, audit, patient feedback, workforce indicators, training, clinical outcomes, inequalities data and external reviews to identify emerging risks, set improvement priorities and provide clear assurance from ward to Board.

You will lead the development of robust governance systems, evidence packs, dashboards and improvement plans; oversee preparedness for external scrutiny; and ensure national maternity standards and recommendations are translated into sustained improvements in practice. As a visible, compassionate and authoritative leader, you will provide expert advice and constructive challenge to senior clinical and operational colleagues, represent maternity services at Trust, regional and external forums, deputise for the Director of Midwifery as required and participate in the senior midwife on-call rota.

Main duties of the job

• Lead the design, implementation and continuous development of the maternity governance and assurance framework, ensuring clear accountability, escalation, reporting and evidence of improvement across all maternity services.
• Provide senior expert leadership for clinical governance, regulatory compliance, quality assurance, risk management, incident oversight, audit, effectiveness, patient experience, complaints learning, claims and inquest themes and external review preparedness.
• Deputise for the Director of Midwifery as required, including representing maternity services at directorate, divisional, level and external assurance forums.
• Provide authoritative professional advice, constructive challenge and senior decision-making support to the maternity triumvirate, heads of midwifery, matrons, governance leads and multidisciplinary teams on quality, safety, compliance and assurance matters.
• Ensure triangulation of complex intelligence from incidents, complaints, claims, inquests, audit, patient feedback, workforce indicators, training compliance, clinical outcomes, inequality data and external reviews to identify themes, risks and improvement priorities.
• Lead the development of high-quality assurance reports, dashboards, evidence packs and improvement plans for senior internal and external scrutiny, ensuring actions are clear, measurable, owned and delivered within agreed timescales

About us

At Imperial College Healthcare you can achieve extraordinary things with extraordinary people, working with leading clinicians pushing boundaries in patient care.

Become part of a vibrant team living our values - expert, kind, collaborative and aspirational. You'll get an experience like no other and will fast forward your career.Benefits include career development, flexible working and wellbeing, staff recognition scheme. Make use of optional benefits including Cycle to Work, car lease schemes, season ticket loan or membership options for onsite leisure facilities.

We are committed to equal opportunities and improving the working lives of our staff and will consider applications to work flexibly, part time or job share. Please talk to us at interview.

Environmental sustainabilityClimate change and poor air quality is a health emergency that harms people's health and wellbeing and widens health inequalities. The Trust is also committed to reducing its impact on the environment by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to Net Zero by 2045. All our employees have a role to play, and we have an active green network that supports staff to act in ways that ensures that our services are efficient, sustainable and reduce our impact on the environment www.imperial.nhs.uk/about-us/our-strategy/green-plan.

Details

Date posted

16 September 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8c

Salary

£88,250 to £100,355 a year pa inclusive

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

290-WCCS-2713

Job locations

Trust Wide

London

W6 8RF

United Kingdom

Job description

Job responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. For both overviews please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.

Job description

Job responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and knowledge required. For both overviews please view the Job Description attachment with the job advert.

Person Specification

Education

Essential

• NMC registered midwife
• Masters level education or equivalent experience
• Post registration qualification with relevant Master's degree or equivalent and or working towards that includes leadership in the areas of Quality Assurance, Governance, Audit and Quality Improvement
• Trained in Root Cause Analysis with ability to analyse aggregated management systems. A sound understanding of principles of safety, quality assurance and governance framework pertinent to maternity services
• Ability to analyse information to extract key messages from complex national standards and develop an action plan within a specified timeline.

Desirable

• Recognised qualification in the field of quality assurance, compliance and governance
• Professional coach within the scope of Governance and Quality Improvement
• Recognised Leadership/management qualification
• Specialist knowledge in clinical governance and risk management
• Evidence of clinical research

Experience

Essential

• Leading and developing a large team
• Budget management
• Quality assurance
• Change management
• Complaints handling
• Experience of supporting a transparent and open culture
• Minimum of three years' experience at a senior midwifery leadership role

Desirable

• Involvement in committees external to the Trust
• Understanding of Medico-legal processes relating to maternity claims and inquests
• Spoken at national conferences

Skills

Essential

• Ability to build excellent relationships to support a culture of safety, compassion and equity
• Detailed knowledge of national maternity safety reports and frameworks
• Capable of working strategically
• Budget management
• Supporting development and growth of workforce
• National midwifery agenda

Desirable

• Involvement in committees external to the Trust
• Understanding of Medico-legal processes relating to maternity claims and inquests
• Spoken at national conferences

Person Specification

Education

Essential

• NMC registered midwife
• Masters level education or equivalent experience
• Post registration qualification with relevant Master's degree or equivalent and or working towards that includes leadership in the areas of Quality Assurance, Governance, Audit and Quality Improvement
• Trained in Root Cause Analysis with ability to analyse aggregated management systems. A sound understanding of principles of safety, quality assurance and governance framework pertinent to maternity services
• Ability to analyse information to extract key messages from complex national standards and develop an action plan within a specified timeline.

Desirable

• Recognised qualification in the field of quality assurance, compliance and governance
• Professional coach within the scope of Governance and Quality Improvement
• Recognised Leadership/management qualification
• Specialist knowledge in clinical governance and risk management
• Evidence of clinical research

Experience

Essential

• Leading and developing a large team
• Budget management
• Quality assurance
• Change management
• Complaints handling
• Experience of supporting a transparent and open culture
• Minimum of three years' experience at a senior midwifery leadership role

Desirable

• Involvement in committees external to the Trust
• Understanding of Medico-legal processes relating to maternity claims and inquests
• Spoken at national conferences

Skills

Essential

• Ability to build excellent relationships to support a culture of safety, compassion and equity
• Detailed knowledge of national maternity safety reports and frameworks
• Capable of working strategically
• Budget management
• Supporting development and growth of workforce
• National midwifery agenda

Desirable

• Involvement in committees external to the Trust
• Understanding of Medico-legal processes relating to maternity claims and inquests
• Spoken at national conferences

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Address

Trust Wide

London

W6 8RF

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

Address

Trust Wide

London

W6 8RF

United Kingdom

Employer's website

https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Divisional Director of Midwifery

Susan Barry

[email protected]

Details

Date posted

16 September 2026

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 8c

Salary

£88,250 to £100,355 a year pa inclusive

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

290-WCCS-2713

Job locations

Trust Wide

London

W6 8RF

United Kingdom

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