Education Lead

NHS Ayrshire & Arran; West Virginia; Hybrid; USD 81,000 - 101,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

NHS pension

Annual leave 27 days + 8 bank holidays

Salary reviewed annually

Job summary

PSD Scotland is seeking an Education Lead - Optometry to deliver world-class education for general ophthalmic services across Scotland. The post requires ambitious, experienced optometrists with flexible working, travel and occasional evening/weekend commitments.

You will liaise with healthcare teams and senior professionals, develop national and local education opportunities, and lead activities within a regional budget framework.

Qualifications

• Registered healthcare practitioner with a postgraduate qualification (e.g., MSc) in Optometry.
• Extensive experience in a community or hospital setting.
• Experience planning, delivering and managing training programmes including undergraduate.
• Strong communication skills and experience with senior stakeholders.
• Willingness to travel across Scotland and occasional overnight stays.
• Ability to work on own initiative and meet deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Lead optometry education programmes at national level across Scotland.
• Collaborate with healthcare teams and stakeholders on education initiatives.
• Provide professional leadership, advice and support to colleagues.
• Develop activities at local, national or UK-wide levels and manage budgets.

Skills

Optometry

Education leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Training facilitation

Education

MSc in Optometry

Independent prescribing

Job description

Flexible Location:

PSD Scotland is a remote-friendly employer with staff based throughout Scotland. We support office-based and hybrid working arrangements. We welcome conversations about alternative working patterns-please get in touch during the application process to discuss.

Work Pattern:

Fixed Term, Part Time, 28 hours 48 minutes per week

Fixed-term or Secondment** for 12 months

• For NHS applicants, an NHS secondment will be offered in the first instance. For non-NHS applicants, a fixed-term or secondment would be considered.

You must have eligibility and entitlement to work in the UK which is required to be maintained throughout your period of employment.

Who We Are

PSD Scotland unites expertise from NES and NSS in a way that will allow us to accelerate national programmes to support the NHS to deliver better care, now and in the future.

We support staff with education and training, provide the tools and data that improve services, and run vital national functions such as procurement, logistics and blood, tissue and cell services.

Optometry sits within the Dental Directorate and supports the provision of General Ophthalmic Services community eyecare practices across Scotland. It supports up-skilling of eyecare practitioners, to facilitate delivery of safe, effective eyecare to the population of Scotland.

Optometry strives to provide education that:

• Is patient focused and improves patient care
• Is high quality and effective
• Optometry team members want to, and can attend

The Opportunity

The Education Lead - Optometry is part of a high calibre team, delivering world-leading education to primarily support general ophthalmic services within Scotland. This post requires ambitious, hard-working and very experienced optometrists who have the drive to support the PSD Scotland Optometry programme across the country. The post requires flexible working, considerable travel and the requirement to attend evening and weekend events.

Do you want to deliver an optometric education programme based on national and local priority needs, ensuring liaison with other senior professionals within the healthcare team and relevant stakeholders?

Do you want to contribute specialist expertise to national and regional PSD Scotland initiatives?

Do you want to liaise with other groups and individuals employed in NHS Boards engaged in supporting postgraduate education to develop local opportunities for inter-professional learning?

Do you want to provide professional leadership, advice, education and support to colleagues, devising key activities in specialist area. This may be at local, national or UK wide level?

Working within the delegated management of regional budgets, ensuring that PSD Scotland Optometry meet annual and longer term agreed targets

What We Love To See

• A registered healthcare practitioner with a postgraduate qualification e.g. MSc, independent prescribing optometrist.
• Extensive experience in a community or hospital setting
• Experience of planning, delivering and management of training programmes including undergraduate.
• Highly developed professional communication skills and experience of facilitation, consultation and negotiation with a wide range of stakeholders including at a high level of seniority
• A positive and enthusiastic approach to the development of community optometry in Scotland
• A willingness to travel throughout Scotland where overnight stays are required on occasion and a flexibility to support evening and weekend deliveries.
• Demonstrate honesty, integrity, care and compassion when dealing with others, utilising tact and persuasion skills when necessary
• Ability to work on own initiative, to organise and prioritise own workloads, to meet strict deadlines

Benefits Which Matter

• Life-work balance - with opportunities for flexible working and hybrid working
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Annual incremental salary progression (up to the maximum of the salary band) plus annual NHS salary scale review
• Annual Leave - 27 Days increasing in line with service plus 8 days public holiday
• NHS discounts and more

Diversity and Inclusion

Developing a successful national service for Scotland means considering the diverse needs, perspectives, and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland. We are focused on hiring the very best talent and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds. Our aim to ensure that everyone is treated fairly, with respect, and has a positive recruitment experience—regardless of the outcome.

We welcome applications from all under-represented groups, including racially minoritised people and disabled people. It is not essential to be in an Educational Lead role right now—you may be returning from a career break (e.g., maternity, paternity, caring) or coming from another field. Your experiences can bring a fresh perspective to our work.

If you are considering applying and would like to discuss the opportunity, any adjustments or alternative work patterns, please contact James Graham, Senior Educator, [e-mail]

Next Steps

• NHS candidates will be considered firstly on a secondment basis, and so are strongly encouraged to discuss this with their current NHS employer at the earliest opportunity, ideally prior to application.

All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.

In person OR online interviews (including a presentation) will take place on Monday 19th October 2026. The presentation topic will be sent to candidates selected for interview.

For further information please refer to the Job Information Pack below.

Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date.

• Please be advised that if you are successful in being offered the role following the recruitment process, you will be expected to attend the office prior to your start date to complete face-to-face pre-employment checks. If you require any adjustments to support this, please let us know.
• To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.

As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.

For specific types of post, if you do not have the necessary eligibility to work in the UK, it might be possible (though not guaranteed) to secure sponsorship via a UK Skilled Worker/Health & Care Worker Visa. However, this is only possible if the employer is a licensed Sponsor, and if the post does not fall below the current minimum salary threshold or ‘going rate’. Further information on these criteria can be found here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

If you have any queries regarding the NHS Scotland National Recruitment Portal or the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to contact our recruitment partners, the East Region Recruitment Service, at: [e-mail]