Practice Development Midwife

Job summary Working Full time: 37.5 hours per week We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced Practice Development Midwife to lead the education, training and professional development agenda within our maternity service. This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated midwife with a passion for learning, quality improvement and patient safety to influence and support the development of a highly skilled maternity workforce. The successful candidate will work closely with the multidisciplinary team to design, deliver and evaluate education programmes, ensuring staff maintain the skills, knowledge and competencies required to provide safe, effective and evidence-based care. You will play a key role in supporting mandatory training, induction, preceptorship, clinical competency assessment, implementation of national guidance and learning from incidents, complaints and audits. This role offers the opportunity to drive innovation, support workforce development and contribute to service improvements that positively impact women, babies and families. If you are an experienced midwife with excellent communication, teaching and leadership skills and are passionate about developing others, we would love to hear from you. Main duties of the job Lead the planning, delivery and evaluation of mandatory and specialist maternity education programmes. Develop and maintain clinical competencies and skills assessments for maternity staff. Support staff induction, preceptorship and ongoing professional development. Monitor and improve compliance with mandatory training and professional requirements. Facilitate training needs analyses and develop annual education plans aligned to service priorities. Design and deliver teaching programmes, study days and simulation training. Support implementation of national maternity safety initiatives, guidelines and best practice. Lead educational responses to incidents, complaints, audits and quality improvement programmes. Work collaboratively with ward managers and clinical leaders to improve standards of care. Support policy, guideline and pathway development across maternity services. Promote evidence-based practice, research, audit and service improvement activities. Provide expert advice and professional leadership on workforce development issues. Evaluate education programmes and produce reports demonstrating outcomes and impact. Support workforce planning and contribute to maternity service objectives and business planning. Ensure compliance with NMC standards, CQC requirements and Trust policies About us The Trust's services are provided from three locations: o The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 473 general and acute beds.o Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 60 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility.o Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population. The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs 5,964 staff (headcount) to provide care and treatment to a population of over 400,000 people living in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System. Due to its location on the border with North Wales, the Trust also works closely with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust treats patients from England and some parts of Wales. During 2024/2025, there were approximately 643,000 patient attendances (inpatient, A&E, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery Details Date posted 15 October 2026 Pay scheme Agenda for change Band Band 7 Salary £49,387 to £56,515 a year pa Contract Fixed term Duration 12 months Working pattern Full-time Reference number 210-2026-704 Job locations Countess of Chester Hospital Liverpool Road Chester CH2 1UL United Kingdom Job description Job responsibilities See Job Description for further details. Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values. An applicant guide to help and support you through your recruitment journey can be accessed at the bottom of this page. If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the essential criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer YES to the question: Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme? Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes. The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post. If a DBS is required for your role, you are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee applies which is payable to the DBS Service.Please note applica