TPD General Surgery - Stoke & Staffs (WM) | NHS England in Birmingham

The role of Training Programme Director is to work with and support the Head of School in leading the delivery of a wide range of functions, aligned to the NHS England mandate. The Training Programme Director is professionally and managerially accountable to the Head of School. The role will focus on improving learner supervision, assessment and experience, engaging 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.

To support the Postgraduate Dean, Training Programme Directors will 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. NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high‑quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.

Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms—enabling us to design and deliver high‑quality NHS services. In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.

If you currently work within the NHS and 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 process. Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in our offices.

• Oversee School programme management and advise the Head of School on specialty‑specific matters and trainee/trainer concerns.
• Recruitment to training posts and programmes.
• Use educational resources to support learners within programmes to fulfil their full potential.
• Postgraduate programme management, including assessments, progression, rotations, support and remediation, OOP management, trainee management, careers support, less than full‑time training, inter‑deanery transfer, academic training, and other related work‑streams.
• Attend School meetings and other relevant meetings.
• Meet Code of Practice requirements, ensuring that rotational information is available to local teams to meet the 12‑week deadline, and support information sharing to track exceptions, noting contributions to NHS England (WTE Directorate) metrics.
• Undertake professional development identified for the role (attendance at required training days, online e‑learning packages, etc.).
• Assist the Head of School and Postgraduate Dean in early identification of trainees requiring additional support through local monitoring, escalation as required, and referral to appropriate services.
• Facilitate career management or provide access to career management skills or provision.

Additional Information

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. To find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification, please consult the attached Job Description and other supporting documents. This advert closes on Sunday 31 May 2026.