Job summary
We are seeking an experienced and dynamic Matron for the Emergency Department to provide senior clinical and professional nursing leadership within our busy Emergency Department and soon to open Urgent Treatment Centre. This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated nurse leader to play a key role in delivering safe, high-quality, patient-centred care while driving continuous improvement and service excellence.

As Matron, you will be a visible and influential clinical leader, ensuring the highest standards of nursing practice, patient experience, and workforce development. You will work closely with multidisciplinary teams to support effective patient flow, maintain safe staffing levels, and lead quality improvement initiatives. The post holder will contribute to the strategic development of services, support regulatory compliance, and help shape the future delivery of emergency care across the organisation.

Main duties of the job

• Provide professional, operational, and clinical leadership across the Emergency Department.
• Ensure the delivery of safe, effective, and compassionate patient care, maintaining high standards of clinical practice and patient experience.
• Lead and support senior nursing teams, fostering a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Ensure safe staffing levels through effective workforce planning, recruitment, retention, and roster management.
• Oversee quality, safety, governance, infection prevention, safeguarding, and regulatory compliance within the department.
• Lead on service improvement, transformation programmes, and implementation of nursing and organisational strategies.
• Monitor and manage departmental performance, budgets, resources, and quality metrics.
• Work collaboratively with operational, clinical, and corporate colleagues to improve patient flow and reduce delays in care.
• Manage complaints, incidents, audits, and action plans to ensure learning and ongoing improvement.
• Act as a visible role model for nursing professionalism and deputise for the Deputy Divisional Director of Nursing when required.

This role offers an excellent opportunity to influence the future of emergency care, develop nursing practice, and make a meaningful difference to the experience of patients, families, and staff.

Please see attached job description and person specification for full details of roles and responsibilities

About us
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust (SFT) is an innovative hospital with a proud heritage and over 250 years of experience behind us. Here we're driven to deliver an outstanding experience for everyone and have been well regarded for the quality of care and treatment we continue to provide for our patients and also our staff.

We are an acute Trust, rated "Good" by the CQC, with a track record of high performance providing regional and super regional specialist services such as: Burns, Plastics & Reconstructive Surgery, Wessex Regional Genetics Laboratory, Wessex Rehabilitation, Spires Cleft Centre and the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre. We have about 470 beds and employ over 4000 staff.

We support flexible working and will consider requests taking into account the needs of the service. We think working here is pretty rewarding. You can access a range of NHS discounts, receive a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme. On-site benefits include car parking (fee applies), leisure centre, day nursery and holiday play scheme.

Salisbury is an attractive place to live and work and really gives you the best of everything. With easy access to London and local airports, the city of Southampton is only a short train or car journey away or if you prefer the sea, Bournemouth is also accessible. Don't just take our word for it, why not explore what Salisbury has to offer by visiting www.experiencesalisbury.co.uk

Job responsibilities
Please see attached job description and person specification for full details of roles and responsibilities

Person Specification
Education, Qualifications and Training
Essential

• Current NMC registration
• Degree-level qualification relevant to nursing practice
• Evidence of ongoing Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

Desirable

• Master's degree in a relevant subject
• Working towards Master's level qualification
• Leadership or management qualification
• Quality Improvement or Coaching qualification

ED experience
Essential

• Significant experience working within an Emergency Department
• Demonstrable understanding of urgent and emergency care pathways
• Experience managing operational pressures within emergency care services

Desirable

• Experience across both ED and Acute Medicine pathways

Senior Leadership Experience
Essential

• Minimum 2 years' experience at Band 7 or above
• Experience leading nursing teams and ward/department managers
• Experience managing performance, absence and workforce issues

Desirable

• Experience leading multiple wards/departments

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.

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

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.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration.