Workforce & Capability Director

The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive – and we all have our part to play. As employers, we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities.

As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern. In addition, although the role advertised may have a ‘home’ office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

We are an accredited Living Wage Employer which means that every colleague working for our organisation and third-party contractors will earn a real Living Wage. We are one of over 15,000 organisations, who voluntarily chose to pay the real Living Wage.

The New Hospital Programme is more than building hospitals; it’s a once in a generation opportunity to shape the future of healthcare in England. We’re delivering over 40 new hospitals that will be modern, sustainable and built around the needs of patients and staff. We’re looking for people who care about purpose, who thrive in complex environments and who want to help deliver change at scale for future generations.

Main duties of the job: The New Hospital Programme (NHP) is recruiting for the Workforce & Capability Director to lead the people agenda for one of the most ambitious healthcare infrastructure programmes in a generation. You’ll shape and deliver the workforce strategy across NHP, Delivery Partners and Trusts building a collaborative, inclusive and high performing culture. We’re seeking a bold, strategic HR leader with experience in complex, large-scale programmes, who can influence at the highest levels and deliver real, system-wide change. This role will help shape the hospitals and workforce of the future.

Key skills and experience:

• Proven leadership in large scale workforce or programmes
• Deep understanding of HR strategy, workforce planning, and organisational development
• Strong stakeholder management and governance experience
• Ability to influence across complex, multi-agency environments
• Passion for social value, inclusion and long-term system impact

Working for our organisation: The NHS England board have 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

Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person. Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band. If you are successful at interview, we will run an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) in the Electronic Staff Record system (ESR). This transfer gathers valuable information from a previous or current NHS employer to support the onboarding process, including; statutory and mandatory competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You will have the opportunity throughout the recruitment process to inform us if you do not consent.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities: You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents. Please note that the grade for this post is ESM 1. Due to ongoing organisational change and developments, aspects of this role may be subject to change.

Person specification:

Qualifications:

• Educated to master’s level in relevant subject or equivalent level or equivalent experience of working at a similar level in across the entire range of HR and OD specialist area
• Experience of project and programme management techniques and tools such as Prince 2 or Managing Successful Projects
• Fellow/Member of Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development or equivalent experience at a senior level

Knowledge & Experience:

• Significant experience of working at a senior leadership level in a public sector major infrastructure or manufacturing programme environment
• Significant experience of working with commercial/private sector delivery partners and supply chains
• Experience of designing and delivering people strategies, across complex systems with multiple stakeholders
• Experience of large-scale delivery of transformation and people change management
• Strategic experience of developing the infrastructure and leading complex major programmes and new build projects
• Analytical rigour coupled with pragmatic problem-solving in addressing complex situations
• A high level of relevant professional, technical skills and knowledge of workforce, talent management and HR & EDI
• Extensive knowledge of workforce design, redesign, relevant legal frameworks and regulations
• Extensive knowledge of quality standards including the KLOE and fundamental standards set out by the CQC and how to translate this into practice
• In depth knowledge of performance management and accountability frameworks
• Senior level experience within an NHS organisation
• An understanding of innovative approaches to achieve long-term sustainability and positive impacts from NHS or other industries

Skills, & Attributes:

• Recognised credible senior leader who is able to form and manage high performance, output driven teams
• Highly developed negotiation and political skills and awareness and experience of operating at Board level
• Consensus builder with the ability to work constructively with, and advise, local health systems
• Strong external 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

Our commitments to you: We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better patient outcomes. We strive to ensure our people feel trusted, valued and empowered. We’re passionate about nurturing and developing people. When you join us, we want you to grow and excel, and we offer many opportunities for you to do that. We welcome your talent and enthusiasm irrespective of age, disability, neuro-divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We have policies and procedures to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability and/or who are neuro-divergent. We welcome applications from disabled candidates. If you meet all the essential criteria, you will be guaranteed an interview. Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the UK under the Skilled Worker route are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.

If applying for this role on a secondment basis, please make sure you have obtained prior agreement from your current line manager to apply for this position. Please note that we currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies. In order to comply with the HM Government Functional Standard GovS 007, and specifically the Personnel Security Standards 2024, all individuals employed or contracted by NHS England are now required to undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standards check. All existing post-holders within NHS England will be required to complete the check as part of the wider roll out plan.

The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is attached to advise you on how we will process your personal data.