Head Nurse - Tunbridge Wells
Purpose-built tech, a beautiful brand-new clinic in Tunbridge Wells and a nursing team for you to build and lead. Come be our Head Nurse and help build the vet group of the future.
We are rebuilding the veterinary experience from the ground up, making access to care seamless, joyful, and genuinely personal for every pet and their owner.
With beautifully designed clinics and purpose-built technology, we are transforming how veterinary care is accessed and delivered. Our clinics combine modern design with first-class clinical care, creating spaces that vet teams, clients, and pets genuinely want to be in.
Our purpose is simple: healthier, happier pets and vets. We believe in a model that benefits everyone: our clinical teams, our members, our local communities, and our investors. That means competitive compensation, sensible caseloads, genuine career development, and a culture where people feel supported to do their best work.
We are building the vet group of the future. If you share our passion for doing things differently, we would love to hear from you.
Role Overview
As Head Nurse, you will hold a key role within the practice leadership team. You are responsible for ensuring the highest clinical nursing standards, driving team engagement and client satisfaction, and sharing joint responsibility for overall clinic performance. You understand and are passionate about what Creature Comforts is building, and you promote this to your team and clients. Within the Creature Comforts clinical framework, you will lead the day-to-day delivery of nursing standards in your clinic, shaping how the strategy comes to life on the ground and contributing your clinical expertise to how we continue to develop it. You will directly manage, develop, and support the RVNs, PCAs, and SVNs where applicable.
Clinical Excellence
Understand and implement all clinical practice protocols, maintaining the highest standards of nursing care
Take an active part in clinical duties for approximately 80% of your working hours
Lead team communications, ensuring all protocols and new guidance are shared and understood
Lead, develop, and manage the nurse consult rota and delivery of nurse consultations
Ensure accurate patient record keeping and that all patient care instructions are followed by the nursing team
Implement and maintain RCVS Practice Standards Scheme and ISFM standards across the practice
Use and promote VetSafe reporting to target training and maintain a no-blame learning culture
Clinical Coaching (if applicable)
Support nursing students by keeping your clinical coaching qualification current (annual standardisation) in clinics where SVNs are employed
Make time for SVN practical skills development, including NPL and e-portfolio tasks on the rota
Ensure SVNs have a clear development plan, with regular opportunities to ask questions and reflect on their progress
Team Leadership and People Management
Lead by example, always promoting the culture and ethos of Creature Comforts
Develop direct reports through regular 1:1s and performance development reviews
Ensure there is a clear induction and training for all new nursing team members
Manage disciplinary, attendance, and performance matters within the nursing team fairly and professionally
Foster a culture of respect, inclusion, and psychological safety that is open, honest, and no-blame
Advocate for team wellbeing, identifying issues early and working with your line manager to resolve them
Business Performance
Ensure membership remains a consistent focus for the nursing team, fully training and supporting them to deliver our messaging
Work alongside the Practice Manager to achieve membership and client acquisition targets
Understand the clinic P&L and the KPIs that drive financial performance
Work within the allocated budget to deliver financial targets
Oversee and support nursing team recruitment
Efficiently discuss estimates with clients and provide coaching and support to the nursing team to ensure consistency and client satisfaction in this process
Compliance and Governance
Ensure all equipment is appropriately maintained and serviced
Report and summarise critical incidents in line with the Practice Clinical Governance Policy
Ensure GDPR compliance and confidentiality across all clinical and business information
Be fully aware of all Health & Safety requirements and ensure the nursing team meets them
Candidate Requirements:
Essential
Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN)
At least 4 years of clinical nursing experience in veterinary practice
Previous leadership experience, including direct line management
Awareness of budgets and finances
Knowledge of the RCVS code of conduct
Confident using IT across clinical and practice management systems
Excellent spoken and written communication
Self-motivated and self-directed
Strong time management
Leadership and people management skills
High emotional intelligence
Project management skills
Committed to continuous learning
Integrity and honesty
Able to multitask effectively
A fair, kind and inclusive leadership style
An entrepreneurial approach to growing the practice
Desirable
Experience in training, coaching or clinical mentoring
Mental health first-aid qualification
Certificate in a clinical area, such as emergency and critical care, anaesthesia, oncology or feline nursing
Clinical coaching qualification (useful in clinics with student nurses)
Internal medicine or advanced nursing qualification
Knowledge of performance management, Health & Safety, GDPR and VetSafe
A logical, practical approach to problem solving
What We Offer
210 hours' annual leave plus bank holidays, and your birthday off after one year's service
Salary sacrifice pension scheme (5% employee, 3% employer contribution)
£1,500 CPD allowance and 5 days of dedicated study leave
Access to our healthcare incentive after one year of employment
Genuine career progression as we grow across London and beyond
A supportive, inclusive culture where your development is taken seriously
Regular team and company social events
Upon successful completion of your probationary period, you may become eligible to participate in the Creature Comforts share options scheme, subject to the scheme rules and eligibility criteria in place at the time
The opportunity to be part of something genuinely different in veterinary care
Employee Assistance Programme and Mental Health First Aiders
Free snacks and lunch in clinic
Monthly peer recognition schemes
Celebrating clinic milestones
Equal Opportunities
At Creature Comforts, we believe the best teams are built from diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. We are committed to creating an environment where everyone feels genuinely welcome, respected, and able to do their best work, and we actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.
- Department
- Clinic - Nurse
- Role
- Registered Veterinary Nurse
- Location
- Tunbridge Wells