Job overview

The Central Financial Management Team in the NHS England Finance and Planning Directorate is now recruiting for a Senior Lead.

This is a fantastic opportunity to be at the heart of work to support the NHS. We:

·        work closely with government to agree NHS funding;

·        ensure the NHS lives within its annual budget;

·        decide how to distribute the funding to the different NHS services and parts of England;

·        support innovative programmes that improve the care and experience of NHS patients or people using NHS services;

·        set out the financial and performance priorities the NHS should be delivering each year;

·        report how much the NHS has spent on providing services each year;

·        explore how the NHS can make the best use of its money;

·        look at how spend on building or equipment can improve the care and experience of people using NHS services. 

·        consider how nationally we use these resources to improve healthcare outcomes, reduce inequality, improve health and support the NHS.

As a Senior Lead you will be helping to ensure that NHS England allocates, manages, and reports on it’s multi-billion pound budget to deliver excellent outcomes for patients. It is a great opportunity to build a broad range of experience and understanding across almost all areas of NHS activity.

Main duties of the job

The team offers high profile, fast-paced projects. This requires adaptability, rigor and innovation and provides exciting development opportunities for those developing their careers in the NHS, health or the public sector.

Below are the types of skills and experience that we are looking for. Even if you feel you only meet some of the criteria, we encourage you to apply.

·        Ability to manage and report on complex £m+ budgets and explain to senior stakeholders in an easy-to-understand way.

·        Interest in finance systems and the potential of robotics / AI and a passion for system and process improvement.

·        Strategic thinking – ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.

·        Technically strong accountant who enjoys being involved in a broad range of finance work.

·        Detailed understanding of wider NHS Finance.

Working for our organisation

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.