Heather Finlay is Deputy Chief Nursing Officer at the Department of Health in Northern Ireland and has lead professional responsibility for nursing and midwifery education, workforce and regulation, alongside providing deputy support to the Chief Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland. Heather has held a range of clinical, managerial and leadership posts throughout a career spanning 34 years.

Following nurse training in the late eighties, and midwifery training a few years later, Heather moved to community to develop her career in District Nursing. After a decade in community clinical practice, she held a number of managerial and leadership positions in community nursing and older peoples services. In 2015 she was appointed Project Manager for a Community Turnaround Team to improve discharge delays from hospital, before taking up a secondment to the Department of Health as a Nursing Officer. In January 2020, she was promoted to the position of Deputy Chief Nursing Officer.

Over the course of her career Heather has undertaken a range of post graduate study. She holds a Masters Degree in Public Administration and recently added a Post Graduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership to her qualifications. In 2021 she has embarked on a Senior Leaders Scholarship awarded by the Florence Nightingale Foundation and plans to use the opportunity to further develop her networks and influence.