Chief Strategy & Planning Officer

NHS; Preston; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent healthcare organization in the UK is seeking a Chief Strategy & Planning Officer to lead strategic vision and transformational change in health services. The ideal candidate will have a doctorate-level education, significant leadership experience in a regulatory environment, and a deep understanding of public health dynamics. This role focuses on optimizing resources to improve health outcomes and tackle health inequalities. Salary is dependent on experience.

Qualifications

• Commitment to continued professional and personal development.
• Extensive theoretical or practical knowledge of relevant policy areas.

Responsibilities

• Support a culture of public inclusion and involvement.
• Lead significant transformational change in healthcare services.

Skills

Extensive knowledge of health and local government landscape

Expert understanding of strategic commissioning

Education

Doctorate level education or equivalent experience

Formal management qualification

Job description

Chief Strategy & Planning Officer

The closing date is 08 January 2026.

We are looking for leaders who will bring strong professional expertise, knowledge, insights and credibility to their portfolios and the ability to think and operate strategically, underpinned by strong personal integrity and values.

Main duties of the job

We need leaders who enjoy delivering collaboratively through partnership and who will support a culture of public inclusion and involvement. They should be inspirational and compassionate, hold people to account for delivery, and possess the skills to effectively influence, supporting an open culture of continuous improvement that places the resident at the heart of all we do.

About us

We commission health and care services for the 1.8 million people living in Lancashire and South Cumbria, with responsibility for spending over £5 billion on services to meet their needs and support improvement in health and wellbeing. Our population is spread over a complex geography and is extremely diverse.

This is a challenging but exciting time to join our Integrated Care Board. Despite the difficult task of halving the running and programme costs of the ICB, our new leadership structure places us in an excellent position to move forward with a vision for delivering strategic and population‑health‑focused commissioning that streamlines how we deliver our vision to develop a community‑centric health and care system. We have a blueprint of how to reconfigure the way in which clinical services are provided across the system and we must work alongside our partners in local authorities, social care, education and the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector to increase the provision of care in the home and community, enabled by the best use of digital technology. Delivering this vision will improve outcomes and narrow the significant health inequalities that currently exist in our communities.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to a doctorate level or equivalent level or equivalent experience working at a senior level.
• Formal management qualification and/or proven and significant leadership experience.
• Able to demonstrate commitment to continued professional and personal development.
• Extensive theoretical or practical knowledge of the relevant policy areas.

Experience

• Substantial board‑level leadership experience and/or system leadership experience within a regulatory or similar environment leading significant transformational change.
• A career in healthcare or an equivalently complex, regulated, consumer‑facing environment in the portfolio area.
• Proven delivery of strategies that optimise resource use and achieve lasting improvement.

Skills

• Extensive knowledge of the health, care and local government landscape and of social determinants of health.
• Expert understanding of strategic commissioning, oversight and control of public funds.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Salary

Depending on experience. Salary is dependant on experience.