Work in an environment that offers:
* Lead a culture of innovation and continuous improvement across a broad portfolio
* Influence system-wide outcomes while remaining close to clinical practice and community impact
* A vibrant regional city with excellent schools, arts, food and cultural life and easy access to Melbourne
The Position
Job Reference: 3537
Position Title: Chief Quality Officer / Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer
Classification: Executive Position
Salary: $233 - $250k
Hours per fortnight: 76
Employment Status: Fixed Term Full Time
Closing date: 06/02/2026
Shape the future of regional healthcare. Lead with purpose. Live well.
Bendigo Health is one of Victoria's leading regional health services, delivering tertiary-level care to the Loddon Mallee region and beyond. With more than 6000 staff, 750+ beds and a growing clinical footprint, we are proud of our role as both a major health provider and a trusted community partner.
We are now seeking an outstanding Chief of – Nursing, Midwifery, Quality, Safety, Risk & Innovation to join our Executive Team and play a pivotal role in shaping the next chapter of Bendigo Health's journey.
The Position
Bendigo Health seeks to appoint a collaborative, innovative and visionary Chief Nursing and Midwifery officer, Quality, Safety, Risk & Innovation, to champion high-quality care, strengthen clinical governance and patient experience and to support nurses and midwives to thrive as professionals, leaders and advocates. As a core member of the executive team, the role will work in partnership with the CEO, Chief Medical Officer, senior clinicians and corporate leaders to ensure Bendigo Health delivers safe, high-quality, patient-centred care. With responsibility across a broad portfolio, the role will provide strategic and operational leadership across nursing and midwifery governance and practice, quality, clinical governance and patient safety, risk management and legislative compliance, patient experience and consumer partnership, innovation, and continuous improvement.
The successful candidate will be a respected senior health executive with the credibility, warmth and courage to lead in a complex environment. Demonstrating extensive clinical leadership and experience in best-practice nursing and midwifery, combined with a contemporary leadership approach to quality, safety and risk, the incumbent will be adept at building high-performing, values-driven teams and have a passion for patient advocacy, learning and service excellence. Strategic acumen, sound financial management capability and the ability to influence across disciplines, as well as the confidence to engage with Boards, government, clinicians and communities will be key. Registration as a Registered Nurse with AHPRA and Postgraduate qualification in health, business or management will be essential. Registration as a Registered Midwife is highly desirable.
As part of our Executive Team, you will have the opportunity to make a lasting impact—locally, regionally and across the Victorian health system.
What you will bring
You are a respected senior health executive with the credibility, warmth and courage to lead in a complex environment. You bring:
* Extensive executive leadership experience in nursing and/or midwifery within a complex healthcare system
* A proven ability to lead quality, safety, risk and clinical governance at an organisational level
* Strong people leadership skills, with a track record of building high-performing, values-driven teams
* Strategic acumen, sound financial management capability and the ability to influence across disciplines
* Exceptional communication skills and the confidence to engage with Boards, government, clinicians and the community
* A passion for patient advocacy, learning, innovation and service excellence
Why Bendigo Health?
At Bendigo Health, our vision is clear:
To be a trusted regional healthcare service, recognised for exceptional care, a great place to work, and deep community connection.
We are investing in academic excellence, research, innovation and integrated models of care—offering executives the rare opportunity to influence system-wide outcomes while remaining close to clinical practice and community impact.
"At Bendigo Health, everything we do begins and ends with our community. We exist for our community and by our community—a philosophy reflected not only in the care we provide, but in the way we lead, partner and work together every day. As a values-based organisation, our commitment to caring, accountability, trust and passion shapes our decisions and guides how we show up for our patients, families and each other." Eileen Hannagan, CEO Bendigo Health
Why Bendigo?
Bendigo offers the best of both worlds:
* A vibrant regional city with excellent schools, arts, food and cultural life
* Easy access to Melbourne (just over 90 minutes)
* Affordable housing, short commutes and genuine work–life balance
* A strong sense of community and purpose
For senior leaders seeking meaningful work without the pressures of metropolitan living, Bendigo is an outstanding choice.
Your New Division
Quality and Risk provides leadership and support for quality, compliance, risk, patient safety, consumer experience and engagement and improvement and innovation across the organisation. The division has responsibility for overseeing the risk management framework and compliance to various accreditations and legislative requirements and to ensure improvements are undertaken through our responses to recommendations arising from assessments. There is a strong strategic and operational focus of promoting and advancing continuous improvement, partnering with consumers, and supporting the organisation to review incidents, data and systems to improve patient outcomes and efficiency of the business. The division collaboratively provides high quality clinical governance support and advice, both internally and when supporting health services in the Loddon Mallee Health Services Network.
Interested?
We'd love to hear from you Please ensure that you attach a cover letter and an up-to-date copy of your resume.
Need more information? Please contact Sandra Kerr at Future Leadership via the following link to arrange a confidential discussion.
Diversity and Inclusion
Bendigo Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We embrace diversity and social inclusion and encourage people from a diverse cultural background, people with disabilities and or Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people to apply.
Position Description: HERE
Act with RespectX | We are proud to be a RespectX Accredited Employer. We have zero tolerance for sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination in our organisation. Learn more:
If you are an existing Bendigo Health employee, please ensure you apply with your Bendigo Health email address.