Head of Education Solutions

Nursing and Midwifery Council

About the Organisation

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 organization, 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 protect 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. Within Education, our primary function is to ensure that education programmes across the UK consistently prepare professionals to deliver safe, effective, and kind care. We do this by setting clear standards, approving education programmes, and providing ongoing quality assurance and monitoring to uphold public protection.

About the role

As Head of Education Solutions, you will provide strategic leadership and accountability for the digital systems, data, and management information that underpin education regulation across the NMC. You will ensure that education standards, approval processes, and quality assurance and monitoring activities are enabled through robust, user‑centred digital systems, high‑quality data, and a clear end‑to‑end operating model. Acting as a key horizontal link across Education and Standards functions, you will translate regulatory and operational needs into effective digital products, meaningful data insight, and sustainable service design.

While this role does not carry professional or statutory decision‑making authority, it is critical in ensuring that professional judgement and regulatory decisions are consistently supported by reliable systems, trusted data, and proportionate, auditable operating models. Your work will directly influence how effectively education regulation is delivered and experienced by internal teams and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Standard Responsibilities:

• There are a number of standard duties and responsibilities that all employees, irrespective of their role and level of seniority within the NMC, are expected to be familiar with and adhere to.
• Comply at all times with the requirements of health and safety regulations to ensure their own well-being and that of their colleagues.
• Promote and comply with NMC policies, including diversity and equality, both in the delivery of services and treatment of others.
• Ensure confidentiality at all times, only releasing confidential information obtained during the course of employment to those acting in an official capacity in accordance with the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
• Comply with NMC protocols on the appropriate use of telephone, email and internet facilities.
• Comply with the principles of risk management in relation to individual and corporate responsibilities.
• Comply with NMC policies and procedures as compiled on the organisation’s intranet.
• In addition to your main areas of responsibility, our values (integrity, fairness, respect, equity and effectiveness) and behaviours are required from all our people for successful delivery of the NMC Strategy.

Strategic Leadership:

• Set and own the Education systems and data strategy (working with the Assistant Director for Education), aligned to Professional Practice priorities and corporate digital and data strategies.
• Act as the senior accountable owner for Education intelligence, governance and regulatory systems, ensuring they are resilient, scalable and support effective public protection.
• Ensure clear separation of accountability between professional judgement and the systems, data and processes that enable Education governance and regulation, so that regulatory decisions remain owned by professional leaders and are consistently supported by reliable, auditable systems and data.
• Act as the expert advisor on education-specific data and systems to the Assistant Director for Education and other Professional Practice colleagues as needed.

Data, Insight & MI:

• Own Education data, MI and insight, ensuring accuracy, consistency and fitness for decision-making at operational, tactical and strategic levels.
• Lead the development of insight on regulatory risk, provider performance, sector trends and assurance outcomes.
• Establish and maintain data standards, governance and quality controls across Education activity.
• Ensure Education data is used ethically, proportionately and transparently in support of public protection.

Operating Model & Service Enablement:

• Own and maintain the Education systems and data operating model, ensuring alignment between people, processes, systems and data.
• Define and document end-to-end service flows, controls and hand-offs to support auditability, assurance and continuous improvement.
• Identify and lead improvement opportunities that reduce manual workarounds, duplication and operational risk.
• Ensure Education services are scalable and resilient in response to policy change, service growth and external scrutiny.

Leadership & Collaboration:

• Act as the principal adviser to the Assistant Director of Education and Deputy Director, Professional Practice on Education systems capability, data insight and digital risk.
• Work as a peer with Heads of Standards, Education Concerns Management and EdQA to enable effective delivery of statutory and regulatory responsibilities.
• Support the Contract Manager for our Quality Assurance Service Provider to generate reliable data for the purpose of activity monitoring and financial accounting.
• Represent Education systems and data interests in the directorate and corporate governance forums.
• Build strong, collaborative relationships across Professional Practice, 
• Digital and Technology, Data, and Corporate Services.
• Ensure adverse events are identified and investigated, and that actions arising and learning points are addressed.
• Identify, review and communicate key risks for the directorate, including contributing to the maintenance of the Professional Practice risk register
• Contribute to and prepare papers for the Directors, Executive Board, QA Board, and Council as required
• Support the development of directorate budgets as needed, contributing to resource management and developing business cases relevant to education concerns management.

People Management:

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team including product, data and systems roles.
• Create a culture of accountability, learning and continuous improvement, utilising the organizational values. 
• Ensure the team has the capability, capacity and clarity of purpose to deliver high-quality outcomes.
• Develop a supportive and safe team approach for difficult situations, focus on building psychological safety, establishing structured reflection, and fostering a culture that views challenges as learning opportunities.
• Provide consistent performance management by providing regular feedback, conducting formal reviews, identifying and addressing business-focussed training and development needs.
• Promote best practices in data literacy and provide training to staff on the effective use of systems.
• Manage issues relating to conduct and capability, ensuring that such issues are dealt with in a focused and timely manner.
• Provide strategic leadership and direction in alignment with NMC values and behaviours and promote an inclusive culture that celebrates diversity and actively tackles discrimination.

Skills, Competencies, Experience & Attributes

Experience:

• Significant experience leading digital systems, data, product or service enablement functions in a complex, regulated or public sector environment.
• Experience of product ownership or working closely with agile or iterative delivery models.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and influencing senior stakeholders.

Technical Skills:

• Strong understanding of how systems, data and operating models support regulatory, assurance, and decision-making activity.
• Proven ability to translate complex regulatory or business needs into effective, user-centred solutions.
• Knowledge of data governance, MI frameworks and performance reporting.

Behaviours:

• Acting with Purpose Lead Behaviour: Ensures Education systems and data are deliberately prioritized to support public protection, regulatory effectiveness and clear professional accountability.
• Impactful Decision Making: Makes well-judged, evidence-based decisions on systems, data and delivery risks, escalating issues early where they affect regulatory outcomes.
• Collaborating and Including: Works horizontally across Education and corporate teams to co-design systems and data that meet user and regulatory needs.
• Achieving Results: Delivers measurable improvements in system reliability, data quality and service efficiency that strengthen Education regulation.

Compensation & Benefits

• 30 days of 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
• 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

Working locations

• Hybrid model, working in the London office and remotely

How to apply

• Apply to our website

Policies

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 with our internal pay policy.

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. 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.

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