Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Governance and Accountability

The Chair is responsible for ensuring robust governance structures are in place to support safe, compliant, and effective delivery of the ICB’s statutory functions. They must foster a culture of transparency, inclusion, and good governance at board level, ensuring the ICB is properly constituted and capable of fulfilling its strategic commissioning responsibilities in line with national objectives and the NHS Long Term Plan.

Strategic Leadership

The Chair leads the Board in setting and assuring delivery of strategic priorities, including:

• Overseeing the transformation to the Model ICB.
• Delivering 2025/26 operational plans.
• Reducing running costs.
• Strengthening neighbourhood health foundations.
• Managing local redesign, including collaboration and clustering opportunities.

 They ensure the transformation is well-governed, accountable, and aligned with system-wide goals.

Board Oversight

The Chair establishes and leads the unitary board, which holds collective accountability for the organisation’s performance and the appropriate deployment of NHS resources. They ensure the board governs effectively, maintains financial balance, and builds public and stakeholder confidence in the safety and quality of care.

Collaborative Leadership

A strong, collaborative relationship with the Chief Executive is essential. Many responsibilities are shared, and clarity around individual and joint roles is key to effective board leadership

Roles and Responsibilities

•       leads the Board in setting a vision, strategy and clear objectives for the ICB in delivering on the four core purposes  in support of the 10-year health plan including the three strategic shifts (analogue to digital, hospital to community and treatment to prevention)

•       holds the Board to account for delivery of the strategy

•       responsible for leading the Board and ensuring it has the necessary constitutional and governance arrangements (e.g. committee and collaborative structures) in place to ensure legal compliance, transparency and public accountability.

•       ensures clinical and information governance mechanisms and effective financial and risk management systems are adopted and aligned with best practice commissioning and quality assurance processes.

•       supports the Board and organisation in working towards commissioning excellence, learning from successful international models.

•       ensures effective system leadership, working in partnership, ensuring engagement and codesign with local government and fostering strong relationship with the places and across neighbourhoods within the ICB footprint to tackle population health challenges and enhance services across health and social care.

•       responsible for appointing the ICB Chief Executive (with approval from NHS England) and Non-Executive Members (NEMs), and ensuring they are supported and developed to maximise their contribution. Responsible for approving the appointment of all ordinary members of the ICB Board, including the ICB Partner Members. Responsible for approving or appointing members of committees or subcommittees of the ICB which exercise commissioning functions.

•       together with the Chief Executive, provides visible leadership in developing a healthy and inclusive culture for the organisation which promotes diversity, encourages and enables partnership working and which is reflected and modelled in their own, the Board’s and the ICB’s behaviour and decision-making.

•       together with the Chief Executive owns the culture of the ICB, and oversees conduct and implementation of the Fit and Proper Persons framework on behalf of the organisation

•       promotes the values of the NHS Constitution and role models the behaviours embodied in Our People Promise and Our Leadership Way to ensure a collaborative, inclusive and productive approach across the system.

Essential person specification

Personal values

•       personal commitment to the Nolan principles of public life, values of the NHS, the NHS People Plan and the Fit and Proper Persons framework.

•       lives by the values of openness and integrity and has created cultures where this thrives

•       a collaborative leader, able to build productive working relationships across organisational, geographic and sector boundaries

•       personal resilience in the face of change and fast-moving demands

Skills

•       proven ability to think strategically and demonstrate excellent problem-solving skills and a breadth of vision beyond organisational, geographic and sector boundaries

•       the capacity to deal effectively with multiple stakeholders, with exceptional communication skills which will engender community confidence, strong collaborations and partnerships

•       strong critical thinking and strategic problem-solving: the ability to anticipate and frame issues to drive effective strategy, problem resolution and action

•       ability to steer an organisation through significant legislative and policy reform, at pace.

Knowledge

•       extensive knowledge of the health, care and local government landscape and an understanding of the social determinants of health.

•       deep understanding of the principles of healthcare value, of strategic commissioning, of contract management.

•       excellent business acumen with knowledge of effective governance, including an understanding of mechanisms to ensure clinical and financial risk management and collaboration, while ensuring appropriate accountability.

Experience

•       previous experience as Chair of an organisation of similar size and complexity whether in a private, public or voluntary sector

•       significant experience as an executive director of a large, complex, consumer facing organisation.

•       evidence of exercising independent judgement.

Competencies

Being an NHS board member means holding an extremely demanding yet rewarding leadership responsibility. NHS board members have both an individual and collective role in shaping the vision, strategy and culture of a system or organisation, and supporting high-quality, personalised and equitable care for all now and into the future.

The NHS Leadership Competency Framework is for Chairs, Chief Executives and all board members in NHS systems and providers, as well as serving as a guide for aspiring leaders of the future. The six leadership domains:

•       driving high quality and sustainable outcomes

•       setting strategy and delivering long term transformation

•       promoting equality and inclusion, and reducing health and workforce inequalities

•       providing robust governance and assurance

•       creating compassionate, just and positive culture

•  building a trusted relationship with partners and communities