Clinical Educator Lead / Clinical Academic in PodiatryNHS

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced and enthusiastic Podiatrist to join a unique joint appointment between Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT) and the University of Brighton. This innovative role combines clinical excellence, education, leadership, and service development within the University's collaborative teaching clinic at Falmer.

The successful postholder will provide clinical and educational leadership, supporting the delivery of a high-quality, safe, and effective student-led podiatry service while ensuring students gain outstanding practice-based learning experiences. Working across both organisations, you will play a pivotal role in bridging clinical practice and academic education, mentoring the next generation of podiatrists and supporting the development of a dynamic learning environment.

This role offers a varied workload, with an anticipated split of approximately 60% clinical education/practice and 40% academic teaching activity, allowing you to make a meaningful impact across both healthcare and higher education settings.

You will embody the values of both organisations, demonstrating a commitment to compassionate care, partnership working, equity, excellence, innovation, and sustainability while helping shape the future podiatry workforce.

For queries relating to the University of Brighton/academic elements of this role please contact Lucy Redhead - [email protected]

Main duties of the job

Provide clinical and educational leadership within the University of Brighton's collaborative teaching clinic, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe, and effective podiatry services.

Maintain an active clinical caseload, delivering specialist assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with complex podiatric needs.

Lead, supervise, support, and assess undergraduate and postgraduate podiatry students in clinical practice, ensuring high-quality practice-based learning experiences.

Design, deliver, and assess teaching across podiatry programmes, contributing to curriculum development and the continuous improvement of student learning.

Develop and support practice educators and clinical supervisors to enhance the quality and consistency of clinical education.

Work collaboratively with academic colleagues, NHS partners, and external stakeholders to strengthen partnerships and ensure clinical learning opportunities meet professional and regulatory standards.

Participate in research, scholarship, and innovation activities that inform teaching, clinical practice, and service development.

Promote equality, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability, while upholding the values of both Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Brighton.

Maintain professional registration, clinical competency, and continuing professional development to support excellence in practice, education, and leadership.

Job description

As the Clinical Education Lead and Senior Podiatry Lecturer, you will provide clinical and educational leadership within the University of Brighton's collaborative teaching clinic, working in partnership with Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust.

This varied role combines specialist clinical practice, student supervision, teaching, and service development. You will ensure the delivery of a high-quality, safe, and effective student-led podiatry service while supporting students to develop the knowledge, skills, and professional behaviours required for contemporary podiatry practice.

Key responsibilities include:

Clinical Leadership and Practice

• Maintain an active clinical role, managing patients with complex podiatric needs and providing specialist assessment and treatment.
• Promote evidence-based practice and clinical excellence across the teaching clinic.
• Support clinical governance, quality improvement, risk management, and service development activities.
• Act as a clinical role model and source of expert advice for students, clinicians, patients, and carers.

Clinical Education and Student Support

• Lead and quality assure practice-based learning within the teaching clinic.
• Supervise, mentor, and assess undergraduate and postgraduate podiatry students in clinical settings.
• Support students' professional development through regular feedback, coaching, and pastoral guidance.
• Work collaboratively with practice educators and placement partners to provide outstanding learning experiences.

Teaching and Curriculum Development

• Contribute to the design, delivery, assessment, and evaluation of teaching across podiatry programmes.
• Support curriculum development and continuous enhancement of educational provision.
• Participate in student recruitment, admissions, assessment, and academic quality assurance processes.

Research, Scholarship and Service Development

• Contribute to research, scholarship, and innovation activities that enhance teaching and clinical practice.
• Use current evidence and professional guidance to inform education and service delivery.
• Develop partnerships with healthcare providers, professional bodies, and external organisations to support student learning and workforce development.

Leadership and Partnership Working

• Act as a key link between Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Brighton, and practice learning partners.
• Build effective relationships across clinical and academic environments.
• Contribute to strategic developments that enhance clinical education, patient care, and student outcomes.

The successful candidate will demonstrate a commitment to the values of both organisations and a passion for developing the future podiatry workforce through high-quality clinical education and patient-centred care.

About us

We are the main provider of NHS community services across East and West Sussex, with 6,000 staff serving 1.3 million people. We deliver essential care to adults and children, helping them manage their health, avoid hospital admissions, and reduce hospital stays.

Our Trust vision is to provide excellent care at the heart of the community. We offer opportunities across medical, clinical, support, and corporate services.

Why work for us?o Positive 2024 NHS Staff Survey results, highlighting compassionate leadership and wellbeingo Varied environments: community hospitals, patients' homes, and bases across Sussexo Flexible working options: part-time, flexi-time, annualised hours, and flexi-retiremento Excellent training, development, and research opportunitieso Accredited Living Wage Employer, we ensure fair pay for all our staffo Cost-effective workplace nurseries in Crawley, Hove, and Brightono Active EMBRACE, Disability & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+, and Religion & Belief networkso Level 3 Disability Confident Leader and Veteran Aware Trust

Our values--Compassionate Care, Working Together, Achieving Ambitions, Delivering Excellence--guide everything we do.

We embrace diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from ethnically diverse, disabled, and LGBTQIA+ individuals. We aim to create an inclusive environment and support reasonable adjustments during recruitment.

This post may close early if sufficient applications are received.