Director of Strategy and Deputy Chief Strategy Officer in Northampton

• Director of Strategy and Deputy Chief Strategy Officer
• The closing date is 24 July 2026

We are seeking a highly motivated, dynamic and delivery-focused senior leader to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of health and care across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) and Northamptonshire.

This is an exceptional opportunity to influence at scale – leading major strategic programmes, driving system transformation, and helping to embed a new strategic operating model across a complex, ambitious Integrated Care System.

As Director of Strategy & Deputy Chief Strategy Officer, you will provide senior leadership across a wide portfolio including strategic commissioning, population health management, system development, and large-scale service transformation.

You will work at the heart of a system committed to improving outcomes, reducing inequalities, and delivering new ways of working that reflect the ambitions of the Model ICB and NHS 10‑Year Plan.

Main duties of the job

• Lead the development and delivery of major strategic programmes, including our five‑year Commissioning Strategy and system‑wide transformation priorities.
• Shape and implement the new LNR Operating Model, ensuring alignment with national policy, regional blueprints, and the ambitions of the Model ICB and NHS 10‑Year Plan.
• Provide visible, adaptive, and inclusive leadership across organisational boundaries, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and accountability.
• Drive population health management, research, digital transformation, and neighbourhood models of care to improve outcomes and reduce inequalities.
• Represent the ICB with authority and credibility at regional and national levels, influencing senior stakeholders and securing alignment across complex partnerships.
• Analyse highly complex issues, navigate ambiguity, and support the development of shared visions and coalitions capable of delivering meaningful change.
• Act as formal Deputy to the Chief Strategy Officer, providing strategic oversight, operational leadership, and high‑level decision‑making when required.
• Build and sustain trusted relationships with senior leaders across providers, local authorities, NHS England, and wider system partners.

About us

To be successful, you will bring

• Substantial senior leadership experience within the NHS or wider public healthcare environment.
• A proven track record of leading complex change, strategy development and system‑wide transformation in politically sensitive contexts.
• Expertise in commissioning, strategic planning, service reconfiguration, IC development and Population Health Management.
• The ability to analyse complex, conflicting information and develop clear, compelling strategic responses.
• Emotional intelligence, independence of thought, and the ability to work through conflict, ambiguity and organisational boundaries.
• Highly developed communication and influencing skills, with experience engaging stakeholders at Board and executive level.
• A commitment to inclusive leadership, partnership working and improving outcomes for the populations we serve.
• Job responsibilities

For full duties and responsibilities, see the attached job description and person specification.

Person Specification Knowledge, Training and Experience

• Educated to master's level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience of working at a similar level in specialist area
• Extensive knowledge of and expertise in specialisms relevant to function and role
• Proven and significant leadership experience
• Significant evidence of continued professional development
• Demonstrated expertise in a healthcare environment
• Significant management experience at senior level in the NHS or other public healthcare related industry
• Proven Board level experience of leading and delivering complex change and strategy development programmes in a politically sensitive and complex environment
• Proven record in transferring processes and roles between locations
• Commissioning expertise in healthcare environment
• Significant experience and understanding of proven implementation of project management methodologies
• Member of a relevant professional body
• Education sector knowledge
• Experience and/or understanding of the wider Health Economy
• Commercial expertise
• Awareness of relevant public and private sector business management best practice
• Experience of successfully operating in and delivering priorities in a partnership environment
• Development and delivery of strategy and planning
• Communication Skills
• Dynamic personality and the ability to build trusted stakeholder relationships and wide support networks in a political context
• Strong external communications skills in a politically sensitive environment and experience in handling media
• Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required
• Extensive experience of delivering presentations to large groups of stakeholders in often pressured and politically sensitive environments
• Commitment to listen to different views and opinions to drive better results
• Analytical
• Ability to analyse highly complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources
• Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making
• Ability to analyse numerical and written data, assess options and draw appropriate conclusion to inform initiatives
• Planning Skills
• Leadership, vision, strategic thinking, and planning with highly developed political skills
• Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium, and long‑term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly
• Experience of managing and prioritising a large budget
• Ability to provide informative reporting on finances and impact to Board management
• Experience of project and programme management techniques and tools such as Prince 2 or Managing Successful Projects
• Autonomy
• Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales.
• Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues
• Management Skills
• Experience in leading a major change initiative with entrepreneurialism in a challenging organisational environment.
• Experience of creating a new team and motivating and inspiring staff to work together to achieve a common objective.
• Ability to work effectively between strategic and operational activities where required
• Physical Skills
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office with intermediate keyboard skills
• Equality and Diversity
• Will consider the most effective way to promote equality of opportunity and good working relationships in employment and service delivery and has the ability to take actions which support and promote this agenda
• Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

• Employer name
• NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board
• #J-18808-Ljbffr