Job summary
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Job Title: Senior Midwifery Practitioner - Recruitment and Retention Lead

Contract Type: Fixed Term

Purpose for Fixed Term: Short term funding

Main duties of the job
This is an exciting opportunity to join our team an an enthusiastic and innovative Recruitment & Retention Midwife. This exciting role offers the opportunity to lead and influence initiatives that attract, develop and retain a skilled, compassionate and diverse maternity workforce.

At UHS we know that excellent care for women, birthing people, babies and families starts with excellent staff experience. We are committed to creating an environment where our colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered to achieve their full potential. As our Recruitment & Retention Midwife, you will play a key role in making this vision a reality.

This is a highly visible role where you will engage with staff at all stages of their careers, helping to ensure that maternity remains a great place to work, learn and develop.

You will use staff feedback, workforce data and organisational priorities to develop innovative approaches that improve retention, enhance staff wellbeing and strengthen workforce sustainability.

This is a fixed term opportunity for a 12 month period of 30 hours per week.

About us
As one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in England, we offer learning and development opportunities to help you achieve the career you aspire to. UHS is rated 'Good' by the CQC and in the latest national NHS Staff Survey, we were in the top 10 acute trusts for staff engagement and for staff recommending the hospital as a place to work or receive care.

We support flexible working and will consider requests taking into account the needs of the service. UHS employees are able to access a range of NHS discounts, are entitled to a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme.

Southampton is an attractive place to live and work situated on the south coast, with an international airport and direct trains to London. The New Forest National Park and beaches of the Jurassic coast are also right on our doorstep. The city offers living costs 30% lower than London and 17 schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.

We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalising your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.

Job responsibilities
The successful candidate will be responsible for;

• Ensure that midwives provide a high standard of practice based on current guidelines, policies, protocols and standards and are involved in the development and review of these.
• Actively support junior staff and students and be a resource for research-based information on midwifery practice.
• Assist the Midwifery leadership team in building a dynamic workforce, contributing new and practical ideas to improve efficiency and make effective use of resources.
• Maintains effective working relationships with all staff including medical staff, general practitioners, health visitors, independent midwives and staff from other Trusts.
• Promotes a positive team spirit across all areas of the midwifery service.

We are looking for:

• An excellent communicator who can adapt their communication skills according to the audience.
• Ability to be flexible, adaptable and able to work flexible hours and fulfil service requirements including on-call commitments.
• Relevant and recent clinical experience or with the ability to demonstrate significant experience in midwifery practice and responsibility for managing a clinical team.
• A positive role model with a good level of self-awareness and personal resilience.
• Able to demonstrate behaviours that meet the Trust Values.

Person Specification
Qualifications, knowledge and experience
Essential

• Registered Midwife on relevant part of the NMC register
• Significant clinical experience
• Evidence of continual professional development
• Associate/mentorship qualification or equivalent experience
• Relevant and recent clinical experience or with the ability to demonstrate significant experience in midwifery practice and responsibility for managing a clinical team
• Have ability to network, initiate and develop sound relationships with senior colleagues within and external to the Trust
• Expert clinical skills relevant to speciality and achievement of all midwifery competencies
• Synthesise information quickly and able to communicate and escalate

Desirable

• Experience of writing protocols, guidelines and integrated care pathways
• High dependency course
• Team leadership role
• Evidence of audit
• Experience of leading change management programmes
• Examination of the newborn qualification
• Willingness to teach practice in a formal setting
• Understanding of local and national NHS initiatives

Trust Values
Essential

• Patient First
• Working Together
• Always Improving

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.

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.

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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.