There is more to the RCN than you might think. We’re a trade union with a membership of over half a million nurses, midwives, nursing support workers and students. We support their practice, represent them, lobby on their behalf, and develop them. We exist to make a positive difference – to the working lives of our members and ultimately to standards in patient care. Our employees are drawn from many walks of life – we are nurses, marketers and communicators, administrators, IT professionals, policy and finance experts, lawyers… together we are so much more. We couldn’t do what we do without our people.

The role

As a Senior RCN Officer for the Eastern Region, you’ll bring energy, positivity and strong leadership to support and guide our officer team. You will be supporting members in Cambridge and Bedfordshire but will be expected to support work across the Eastern region. You’ll champion truly integrated working across the professional and trade union elements of the RCN, collaborating closely with colleagues across departments to ensure a seamless and high‑quality service for members.

As a core member of the regional team, you’ll play a vital role in shaping and delivering the region’s services. You’ll ensure that members receive exceptional advice, support and representation, while modelling inclusive leadership and driving our commitment to challenge discrimination wherever it occurs.

You’ll lead and develop a small team of Regional Officers and oversee the work and growth of our reps and activists. Working with fellow regional leaders, you’ll help drive member and activist recruitment, retention and engagement across the East of England.

Every day will bring new opportunities to support, coach and strengthen your team. While championing the needs of our existing members, you’ll also recognise the potential of new ones—bringing fresh ideas, insight and innovation to help us grow and extend our reach.

The person

As an nurse activist, you’ll bring a solid understanding of contemporary nursing and the wider health and social care landscape. You’ll also have a strong grasp of best practice in employment matters, including equality, diversity, human rights and fair workplace practice.

Central to your success will be your ability to build effective professional relationships and foster genuine collaboration across teams and departments.

A commitment to trade union values and to protecting and advancing workers’ rights is essential. Equally important is your personal dedication to promoting and embedding equity, diversity and inclusion in everything you do.

To succeed at the Royal College of Nursing all you need to do is think bigger, better and brighter. And with an attitude like that, anything’s possible.

What we offer you

We expect you to look after our members. We expect you to be rewarded for it. We offer an impressive range of benefits, a broad range of learning development opportunities and an award-winning health and wellbeing programme. We offer annual leave up to 32 days plus bank holidays and three additional days for the Christmas break plus generous maternity, adoption, paternity, and shared parental leave packages.

*We offer a competitive pay structure with annual pay progression until you reach the top of the salary scale. We normally offer new employees the first point of the salary range, although you may be able to negotiate a higher starting salary depending on your skills, experience and current salary.

We are a diverse organisation and understand everyone has different needs and many of our employees enjoy flexible working enabling them to deliver results whilst having a good work life balance. Our hybrid working model allows for up to 60% of your working time to be carried out from home. At least 40% of your working time will be spent working in person.

Our selection process

Please click the ‘apply now’ button to apply and answer the supporting questions online demonstrating how you meet the criteria for this role. You may not be shortlisted if you don’t. Any identifying information in your application will automatically be anonymised for shortlisting purposes.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) – candidates are expected to complete applications using their own knowledge, skills and experience, and that whilst AI may be used for basic support such as spelling, grammar and formatting, applications must accurately reflect the candidate's own work and genuine work experiences. Where AI has been used to generate, fabricate or substantially create application content, the application may be withdrawn from the recruitment process.

We want your experience applying for a job with us to be the best it can be. We may hold our interviews and assessments in person or by video call. If you foresee any problems, please let us know.

Equal opportunities for everyone

Equity, diversity and inclusion are a priority for us and we aim to foster an inclusive environment so our people can bring their authentic selves to work. This is integral to our mission to enable you to support our members and ensure their voice is heard by all UK governments to get the best outcomes for them and their patients.

As proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities.

Opening date: 04 September 2026

Closing date: 11.59pm on 1st October 2026

Selection dates: 12 October 2026