The Workforce, Training and Education (WT&E) directorate in the East of England (EoE) are recruiting to an exciting and vital post that forms a key part of the senior leadership team and will deputise for the Regional Director of WT&E as and when required.
The post-holder will be accountable for working collaboratively across the Directorate, with Executive Director regional colleagues including the System Co-ordination Director, and with Executive Director system colleagues, including Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and Chief People Officers (CPOs). The work undertaken by the team will be done with and through the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and will enable a clear pathway to maturity of the 6 ICBs within the EoE region.
The post-holder will lead the People and Culture sub-directorate, working collaboratively with the other teams within the Directorate to create and maintain a fair and supportive working environment and culture where contributions are fully recognised and valued by all and where our people feel empowered to carry out their duties to the very best of their abilities.
The post-holder will have a key role in supporting the NHS with senior level employee relations, appointments at the Executive level in Trusts and ICBs and acts as a key contact with the regional HRD network, Regional SPF and NHS Employers. Given this we are looking for someone with current or recent experience at Executive or Deputy level within an NHS provider setting.
The main priorities of the role are to enable our systems via high accountability and responsibility partnerships to:
Recruit and retain more people
To enable those people to work differently and productively
To ensure those people are working in a compassionate and inclusive culture
Key accountabilities of this role will be to lead staff to:
Grow and reshape the workforce – educate and train more healthcare professionals and widen access routes into the NHS
Optimise the use of international supply, ethically and in-line with service need
Attract, recruit and retain more staff through improved work offers and culture
Expand return to work practice to boost numbers, skills and experience
Manage, reform and quality assure education and training - for the benefit of learners, educators and patients
Integrate service, workforce and financial planning to support new ways of working and workforce redesign
Optimise digital technology, research, knowledge and innovation to increase the time to care
Maximise the potential of the health professions, support workforce, volunteers and carers
Enhance staff engagement, experience and culture through the implementation of the People Promise, especially health and wellbeing activity
Improve NHS leadership and talent management practices, implementing the findings of the Messenger and Hewitt Reviews
Reduce health inequalities by widening access and participation and implementing the EDI Strategy
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.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
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.
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.
