Head of Complex Care and All Age Continuing Healthcare

NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board; Kettering; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 92,000; Full time

Job summary

NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board is seeking a Head of Complex Care and All Age Continuing Healthcare. You will lead strategic and operational delivery of CHC, FNC, CYPCC and related commissioning, ensuring compliance with national frameworks and robust governance.

You will work across multiple partners to achieve improved outcomes for individuals with complex health needs, balancing clinical leadership with effective resource stewardship.

Qualifications

• Masters level or equivalent experience in a relevant subject
• Evidence of leadership experience
• Experience in healthcare policy and NHS frameworks
• Strategic and operational leadership abilities
• Ability to manage complex care services across age groups

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership for CHC, FNC, CYPCC and complex care services.
• Oversee commissioning, brokerage and procurement of care packages to meet statutory timescales and quality standards.
• Ensure governance, performance monitoring and delivery against KPIs and financial targets.
• Lead on policy and operating model development aligned with national NHS guidance.

Job description

Main area Complex Care and All Age Continuing Healthcare Grade NHS AfC: Band 8c Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 086-8228160-B

Employer NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board Employer type NHS Site Haylock House Town Kettering Salary £79,504 - £91,609 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 30/10/2026 23:59

Head of Complex Care and All Age Continuing Healthcare

NHS AfC: Band 8c

Our vision for the future of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland’s health and care services is for a positive lifetime of health, wellbeing and care in our community.

Our mission in working together, the reason we do what we do, is to empower positive futures. Wherever we work and whatever our role we all want people in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland to be able to choose well, stay well, live well.

Each day our values will help to guide our decisions and what is most important to us:

• Our patients and our local population come first
• We work together in an open and accountable way
• We trust, challenge and support each other
• We do what we say we will do.

Job overview

The Head of All Age Continuing Care is responsible for the strategic leadership, operational management and delivery of Continuing Healthcare (CHC), Funded Nursing Care (FNC), Children and Young People's Continuing Care (CYPCC), Joint Funding Arrangements, Complex Care and associated commissioning functions across all age groups.

The post holder will ensure statutory compliance with the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care and relevant legislation, guidance and policy. They will lead the development of high‑quality, person‑centred services that meet the needs of individuals with complex health needs while ensuring effective stewardship of public resources.

The post holder will provide expert leadership across the Integrated Care Board and support partnership working with local authorities, providers, NHS organisations and independent sector partners to achieve improved outcomes for people requiring continuing and complex care services. The post holder will work with a high level of autonomy to provide robust oversight and management and will provide expert advice and strong clinical leadership across the team.

Provides strategic and operational leadership for Continuing Health Care (CHC) brokerage services.Ensurestimelysourcing and commissioning of care packages, compliance with procurement standards, and effective market engagement.

Main duties of the job

• Ensure robust arrangements for high‑dependency and bespoke care packages
• Support strategic planning for CHC service delivery and sustainability.
• Oversee sourcing and negotiation of CHC care packages.
• Ensure adherence to procurement regulations and governance.
• Monitor provider performance and address quality concerns.
• Manage brokerage team and resources effectively.
• Develop and implement the strategic vision for All Age Continuing Care services.
• Lead on the development of policies, strategies and operating models that support the delivery of
  high‑quality continuing care services.
• Ensure services align with national policy, NHS England guidance, Integrated Care System
  priorities and local commissioning intentions

Working for our organisation

Working for our Integrated Care Boards will require you contributing to a shared purpose of improving outcomes for the communities we serve as part of a wider health and social care system. The organisation’s ethos is rooted in integrity, collaboration and accountability, with a strong focus on putting its patient population at the centre of everything it does and delivering services to improve patient outcomes, patient experience and added years of optimised health. As part of the newly formed cluster bringing together NHS Northamptonshire ICB and NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB, staff are expected to work flexibly and collaboratively across organisational boundaries to support a joined‑up approach to strategic commissioning and service improvement. There is an expectation of 40% on patch working, with office bases at County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester and Haylock House, Kettering. Staff can choose which office is their primary base for contractual purposes and travel claims.

This role will require a minimum of 2 days ‘on patch’ working in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland in our 2 main offices or partner sites

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Provide overall operational leadership for Continuing Healthcare, Funded Nursing Care, Children'sContinuing Care and Complex Care services.
• Ensure effective management of assessment, eligibility determination, care planning,
  commissioning and review processes.
• Oversee the delivery of statutory assessments within required timescales and quality standards.
• Manage performance against key performance indicators, financial targets and statutory
  requirements.
• Ensure robust governance arrangements are in place to support safe and effective service delivery.
• Promote a culture of high‑quality, person‑centred care.
• Ensure compliance with the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-fundedNursing Care.
• Lead quality assurance processes relating to assessments, eligibility decisions and commissionedcare packages

Person specification

Knowledge, Training and Experience

• Educated to master’s level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience of working at a similar level in specialist area
• Extensive knowledge of and expertise in specialisms relevant to function and role
• Proven and significant leadership experience.
• Evidence of post qualifying continuing professional development
• Must have an understanding of the background to and aims of current healthcare policy and appreciate the implications of this on engagement
• Should have an appreciation of the relationship between the Department of Health, NHS England and individual provider and commissioning organisations
• Member of a relevant professional body – NMC – Nurse or Allied Health Professional AHP

Communication Skills

• Developed communication skills for delivering key messages to a range of stakeholders both internal and external (including outside the NHS) to the organisation, some at very senior level
• Good presentational skills for conveying complex concepts.
• Ability to use informed persuasion to influence others.

Analytical

• Ability to identify risks, anticipate issues, create solutions and resolve problems in relation to project or service delivery.
• Ability to understand a broad range of complex information quickly and make decisions where opinions differ/no obvious solution

Planning Skills

• Evidence of planning and delivering programmes and projects and services on time

Autonomy

• Ability to work without supervision, providing specialist advice to the organisation, working to tight and often changing timescales.
• Interpreting national policy for implementation

Management Skills

• Skills for direct line management and job management
• Skills for delivering results through managing others and using a range of levers in the absence of direct line management responsibility
• Skills for managing relationships with a range of different stakeholders

Physical Skills

• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office with intermediate keyboard skills

Equality and Diversity

• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of equality of opportunity and diversity taking into account and being aware of how individual actions contribute to and make a difference to the equality agenda.

Please note, there is an requirement for all positions at Bands 8b and above to be part of a On Call rota.

All new entrants to the ICB for a permanent position will be subject to a 6 month probationary period. For new entrants appointed on a fixed‑term basis, the probationary period is between 1 and 6 months.

We are an equal opportunities employer and all applications will be welcomed and considered regardless of a person’s age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.

We welcome applications from disabled candidates and those applicants need only meet the essential criteria to be invited to interview. We will also make any reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process, including the Job Description and Person Specification, to enable you to pursue your application, providing that you inform us of any special requirements.

L N R ICBs recognise that applicants may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to support the preparation of their application, for example to help with structure, grammar, or presentation. Applicants must ensure that all information submitted is accurate, authentic, and reflects their own skills, experience, and suitability for the role. Any use of AI in preparing an application must be clearly declared and may be explored or challenged as part of the interview and selection process.

If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system and other secure, internal NHS workforce systems in order to support and manage your recruitment and employment within the organisation.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.