Head of Investigations

Our vision is for safe and effective nursing and midwifery practice across the four countries of the UK - regulated and supported by the NMC - a fit for the future organisation, with fairness and equity at the heart of everything we do.

Our role is to protect the public and maintain confidence in the nursing and midwifery professions. As the largest independent regulator in Europe of more than 860,000 nursing and midwifery professionals, we have a crucial role in making this a reality.

We do this by setting and promoting high education and professional standards for all future and registered nurses and midwives in the UK and nursing associates in England.

We also ensure every nurse, midwife and nursing associate on our Register meets clear standards of conduct and practice which protects the public and the reputation of our professions.

We have a duty to investigate concerns and to take steps to protect the public in the relatively rare instances where we need to limit or restrict a nurse, midwife or nursing associate's right to practise.

We are building a new NMC with integrity, fairness, respect, equity and effectiveness at its core.

We are determined to improve and modernise our culture and ways of working. This will ensure that the public and professionals feel confident in our work.

Head of Investigations Casework (Fitness to Practise)

Interim, full time 6-9 month fixed term contract

Location

London (Stratford) - office attendance at least two days a work, ideally flexibility to commit more due to senior management position. Will require travel to Scotland once a quarter.

Your role and impact

This is a pivotal leadership role for someone with a genuine passion for investigatory casework and a deep understanding of their importance in protecting the public.

You will set the direction and create the conditions for high performance across a large and complex, operational casework function-overseeing investigations, evidence gathering, case progression and risk management at scale. You will personally lead oversight on complex and high-risk cases, acting as a senior escalation point and ensuring decisions are fair, proportionate and grounded in sound regulatory judgement.

Your impact will be felt across several key areas:

• Operational leadership: Ensuring the delivery of high-volume, high-quality investigations within agreed timescales, with clear oversight of resources, performance and risk
• Decision-making: Taking personal responsibility for complex case decisions and guiding others to make confident, evidence-based judgements
• Continuous improvement: Driving innovation, efficiency and service development, challenging existing practices to improve outcomes
• Stakeholder engagement: Representing Fitness to Practise investigations at senior level, building strong relationships internally and externally
• Culture and leadership: Embedding an inclusive, high-performing culture aligned to NMC values, where teams feel supported, accountable and motivated

You will also play a key role in shaping directorate-wide performance, contributing to strategic priorities, managing budgets effectively and ensuring robust data, reporting and governance processes are in place.

This is an opportunity to lead meaningful, high-impact work in a role where your expertise in regulation and investigations will directly contribute to public protection and trust in professional regulation.

What you'll bring

You are an experienced senior leader with a strong track record in department management, regulatory investigations or a similarly complex environment-and, importantly, a clear passion for investigatory work and its purpose.

You will bring:

• Deep expertise in investigations: Significant experience leading complex investigative functions, ideally within a regulatory or disciplinary context, with the ability to navigate high-risk and sensitive cases
• Outstanding leadership capability: Proven success managing large, multi-disciplinary teams, including complex people issues, and creating a culture of accountability, inclusion and high performance
• Strong strategic and analytical thinking: The ability to interpret complex information, assess risk and make sound, timely decisions in a highly scrutinised environment
• Operational and financial acumen: Experience managing large-scale casework systems, budgets and operational risk, with a focus on efficiency and value for money
• Excellent communication and influence: Highly developed interpersonal and presentation skills, with the credibility to operate at senior level and engage a wide range of stakeholders
• A commitment to values and culture: A strong personal commitment to integrity, fairness, equality, diversity and inclusion, and continuous improvement

Above all, you will be someone who cares about public protection and is motivated to continually raise standards in how regulatory investigations are delivered.

Benefits

• 30 days annual leave
• Enhanced Pension Contributions via our attractive Pension Scheme - with a basic 8% employer contribution as standard which increases up to 14% with optional added Employee Contributions
• Life Insurance - 4 x current salary
• Hybrid working
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Leave
• 24 Hours Employee Assistance Programme
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Perkbox membership
• Subsidised restaurant in our Portland Place office
• Season ticket loans

Additional Information

The role you are applying for is a flexible role, and whilst you will be posted initially to a team, this may require movement between teams as the flow of work dictates. You will of course understand that this flexible approach enables us to provide the best possible service to our registrants and reach the outcomes to our cases quickly and within a reasonable timeframe. This will not change your terms and conditions and will be discussed with you prior to you taking up the post.

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.