Head of School

NHS ENGLAND; Leicester; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in the UK is seeking an experienced individual for the role of Head of School. This position requires strong leadership in clinical settings and the ability to enhance patient care through education and training. The ideal candidate will be accountable for developing multi-professional links and innovative curriculum delivery strategies, while ensuring compliance with healthcare standards. The role supports flexibility in working arrangements and invites applications that reflect the organization's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Accredited Living Wage Employer

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a leadership role within the health sector.
• Capacity to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong understanding of educational frameworks and curriculum.

Responsibilities

• Provide effective clinical leadership for NHS England.
• Enhance patient care through quality education and training.
• Foster collaborative relationships with healthcare professionals.

Skills

Leadership

Clinical expertise

Strategic development

Communication

Education

Relevant professional qualification

Experience in education or training

Job description

The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive - and we all have our part to play.

As employers we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities.

As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that's a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern. In addition, although the role advertised may have a 'home' office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

We are an accredited Living Wage Employer which means that every colleague working for our organisation and third‑party contractors will earn a real Living Wage. We are one of over 15,000 organisations, who voluntarily chose to pay the real Living Wage.

The Head of School is professionally and managerially accountable to the Postgraduate Dean. The Head of School will focus upon improvement of learner supervision, assessment and experience, engagement of faculty and ensuring effective educational outcomes, both now and in the future. The role is evolving and will also focus on whole workforce transformation and developing multi‑professional links mas well as innovative ways of curriculum delivery and workforce well‑being strategies.

To support the Postgraduate Dean, Heads of Schools work across the spectrum of health and where relevant, social care, within the context of a team, so that the provision of education reflects changing service models. This will deliver an integrated workforce comprising individuals from a spectrum of professional and other backgrounds.

The Head of School will be expected to meet the challenges of leading the School and Education Providers to deliver the changing curricular in an evolving service landscape.

Although the main role is to lead and develop the Postgraduate School all senior clinicians within NHS England may have wider roles and projects as agreed with the Postgraduate Dean.

• To provide effective clinical leadership, contributing to the strategic development of NHS England.
• To contribute to the vision of the local NHS and to enhance patient care by providing leadership and direction with respect to the quality of education and training.
• To be an advocate and a positive role model on behalf of NHS England, by promoting leadership that inspires, motivates and empowers all staff, and demonstrating the values of the NHS.
• To work on behalf of NHS England, providing expert advice on specialty‑specific matters.
• To work locally with key groups and stakeholders, to attend and host events across the regions, to develop key liaisons and to ensure effective local engagement and responsiveness in line with the culture of NHS England.
• To review how multi‑professional healthcare teams interact and identify opportunities for different healthcare professions to work more effectively together through education and training.
• To work with providers and others to support and capture innovation locally and ensure national and local conversations develop 'best practice'.
• To manage the work of Training Programme Director(s) and other clinical faculty to ensure appropriate systems for assessment, rotational management, revalidation, trainee supervision and support and other functions within the School.

You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.

Secondments

Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.

Our commitments to you

We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better patient outcomes. We strive to ensure our people feel trusted, valued and empowered. We're passionate about nurturing and developing people. When you join us, we want you to grow and excel, and we offer many opportunities for you to do that. We welcome your talent and enthusiasm irrespective of age, disability, neuro‑divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We have policies and procedures to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability and/or who are neuro‑divergent.

We welcome applications from disabled candidates. If you meet all the essential criteria, you will be guaranteed an interview.

Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate to us how you meet the requirements of the role. Whilst we appreciate that you may have had support with your application (e.g., using AI technology or guidance from a trusted individual), it's important that the information contained within your application reflects your own knowledge, skill, and experience and we trust that you apply on that basis.

If applying for this role on a secondment basis, please make sure you have obtained prior agreement from your current line manager to apply for this position.

Please note that we currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies.

To comply with the HM Government Functional Standard GovS 007, and specifically the Personnel Security Standards 2024, individuals employed or contracted by NHS England may be required to undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standards check, dependent on the role.

The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is attached to advise you on how we will process your personal data.

If you have applied via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred third‑party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

The role of Head of School

The role of Head of School is to work with and support the NHS England Postgraduate Dean in leading the delivery of a wide range of functions, aligned to the NHS England mandate.

Our work supports the NHS to deliver high quality services for patients and best value for taxpayers.

Our staff bring expertise across hundreds of specialisms - including clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial - enabling us to design and deliver high‑quality NHS services.

We lead the NHS in England by:

• Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities.
• Making the NHS a great place to work, where our people can make a difference and achieve their potential.
• Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care.
• Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation.
• Delivering value for money.

Earlier this year, the Government announced that NHS England will gradually merge with the Department of Health and Social Care, leading to full integration.

If successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the recruitment process.