Interim National Priority Programme Director | NHS England

NHS England; City Of London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare organization in the UK is seeking a National Priority Programme Director for Maternity, Children and Young People and Women’s Health. You will lead strategic initiatives, engage with government ministers, and ensure the effective delivery of national healthcare priorities. Candidates should have significant leadership experience and a strong background in healthcare strategy and partnerships. This position requires regular attendance in London and is pivotal in driving improvements across the NHS.

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Opportunity for career advancement

Health benefits

Qualifications

• Experience in leadership roles within the NHS or healthcare settings.
• Proven track record of strategic planning and delivery.
• Excellent communication skills with experience in stakeholder engagement.

Responsibilities

• Set strategic direction for Maternity, Children and Young People and Women’s Health.
• Engage regularly with Ministers and government on priority areas.
• Ensure effective delivery of national priorities across systems.
• Develop partnerships for driving programme delivery.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic Planning

Partnership Development

Stakeholder Engagement

Communication

Education

Relevant Master's Degree

Job description

Overview

Our national priority programme director for Maternity, Children and Young People and Women’s Health provides senior, credible and visible leadership to the department and system on these topics — setting clear delivery priorities, breaking down silos, driving improvement out in the system and responsible for catalysing change across Maternity, Children and Young People and Women’s Health services.

You will be responsible for setting the strategic direction for Maternity, Children and Young People and Women’s Health in line with Ministerial expectations and then working with leads from across the department and NHSE to ensure robust delivery plans are in place and delivering.

You will act as the Secretary of State’s key advisor on this area, as the leading expert in this field and should expect regular engagement with the Secretary of State, wider ministerial teams and the rest of government – with particular emphasis on ensuring that our work on children and young people is aligned to and supported by the Department for Education’s Opportunity Mission and children’s agenda.

You will develop the strong partnerships required to drive forward delivery of your programmes, across the system and externally, and may spend a substantial amount of time speaking to systems – to understand risks and issues in their areas, support change in behaviours, galvanize partners, and use ‘soft’ levers to improve quality/performance.

As National Priority Programme Director you will provide key expertise on maternity, children and young people and women’s health to relevant Directors (for example the Performance and Delivery DG and Regional Directors (RDs)) and work with them to set plans and goals, design the parameters for regional & national performance, and the right improvement and support interventions, ensuring that these work effectively.

You will report into the NHS England Chief Executive, and crucially also act as an advisor to Ministers.

Key Responsibilities

• Ensuring the effective delivery of national priorities – the most critical programmes for Ministers. You will be responsible for setting the strategic direction for these programmes in line with Ministerial expectations and then working with leads from across the department to ensure robust delivery plans are in place.
• As the most senior lead for this area in Government, you will be a visible leader nationally and for all local health and care systems.
• You will develop the strong partnerships required to drive forward delivery of the programmes, across the system and externally.
• You will be the key advisor to Ministers and the Centre of Government on the priority areas and should expect regular engagement with the Secretary of State and wider ministerial team.

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. The aim is to create a smaller, more strategic centre that reduces duplication and eliminates waste.

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.

In the immediate term, you will help lead the organisation through transformation, working with the national executive of the Department and NHSE to design an effective approach to delivering national priorities in Maternity, Children and Young People and Women’s Health. You will ensure, the Department is equipped to meet Ministerial priorities and delivers the benefits envisaged through the organisational redesign. This will include a focus on efficiency savings and creating a new operating model that empowers local systems.

As National Priority Programme Director you will develop the strong partnerships required to drive forward delivery of your programmes, across Government, the system and externally, and may spend a substantial amount of time speaking to systems - to understand risks and issues in their areas, support change in behaviours, galvanize partners, and use ‘soft’ levers to improve quality and performance.

You will work with the executive teams to draw in specialist and technical expertise from the wider organisation in a matrix model, coordinating across different teams to deliver the strategic goals in your area. You will ensure delivery, working in partnership with regional teams to reach out into the system, connect with local delivery and ensure regional oversight and improvement/support functions.

This role is open to eligible civil servants, NHS England colleagues and will additionally be made available to eligible colleagues in the NHS.

Location

This role will require regular attendance at both DHSC and NHS England current headquarters in Leeds and London with travel to other locations as necessary. You can be based at any of the current regional sites, with the expectation of regular time in London each week.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

The selection panel will evaluate candidates at sift using your CV and personal statement, those shortlisted may be invited to a suitability discussion with the selection panel.

You must express your interest in the role by 11:59pm on 6th October 2025. You will be required to submit:

• A CV setting out your career history (no more than 2 sides) with key responsibilities and achievements. Please provide reasons for any gaps within the last three years.
• A personal statement (500 words) explaining your interest and how your personal skills, qualities and experience align with the person specification.

Applicants must have prior agreement that they can be released for the duration of this secondment.

Security

Successful candidates must hold or be willing to obtain higher clearance. The level of security needed is security check.

This advert closes on Monday 6 Oct 2025