Head Strategic Planning

The Finance and Planning Directorate in NHS England is looking for talented, diverse, highly motivated people to join the Planning team.

This is a fantastic opportunity to be at the heart of shaping the priorities of the NHS. The team collaborates with colleagues across NHS England and the NHS to:

1. Agree and set out the priorities for the NHS, to best meet the needs of patients and deliver value for taxpayers.
2. Develop NHS England's business plan in response to its mandate from government.
3. Implement and continuously improve the national planning framework for the NHS.

Main duties of the job

As Head of Strategic Planning, you will work with senior leaders across NHS England and with government to shape the priorities for the NHS and join up national approaches to longer-term strategic and shorter-term operational planning. You will build relationships with national, regional and external stakeholders and provide expert planning advice to senior leaders across NHS England.

Key Skills and Experience

The key skills and experience that we are looking for are:

• The experience to work with and influence senior colleagues to prioritise and translate key national ambitions and policies into strategic and operational plans for the NHS.
• Highly numerate with experience of joining up strategic, financial and operational planning, including demand and capacity planning.
• The ability to support the development and effective operation of a joined-up planning leadership community across NHS England.
• The ability to interpret, explain and present complex and technical information and concepts to senior leaders in a clear and concise format.

The team offers high profile, fast-paced projects. This requires adaptability, rigor and innovation and provides exciting development opportunities for those developing their careers in the NHS, health or the public sector.

About us

The NHS England board has set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose 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.

Job Responsibilities

Please see attached job description for further information about the responsibilities of this role. You can find further details about the role, a letter from the Deputy CFO and advice on completing your application in the Document to download section.

Please email Iain Eaves, Director of Planning on if you would like to find out more about our team and the work we do.

Person Specification Qualifications

• Educated to Masters level or equivalent level or equivalent experience of working at a senior level in specialist area.

Knowledge

• Leading the development and implementation of strategic and operational planning frameworks at senior level within the NHS or similarly complex environment.
• Approaches to understanding medium and long-term service demand and capacity.
• Policy development within the NHS or similarly complex environment.
• Detailed grasp of the full range of current NHS issues and the underlying factors shaping local and national realities of health services.

Skills

• Proven leadership ability with strong strategic thinking and political skills.
• Ability to deal with challenging situations in a formal setting.
• Strong communications skills in a politically sensitive environment.
• Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required.
• Highly numerate with a proven ability to analyse numerical and written data, assess options and draw appropriate initiatives.

Values

• Commitment to equality of opportunity, focused on removing barriers to full participation and values diversity and difference.
• Embrace change, viewing it as an opportunity to learn and develop.
• Demonstrates honesty and integrity and promotes organisational values.

Employer Name

NHS England

Address

London Wellington House / Leeds Wellington Place

Salary

£88,168 to £101,677 a year exclusive of London Weighting

Contract

Permanent

Working Pattern

Full-time

Reference Number

990-CFO E

Job Locations

London Wellington House / Leeds Wellington Place