Job summary
- Main area
- Public Health Commissioning
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 9
- Contract
- Fixed term: 9 months (Maternity Cover until 31 October 2026 - Secondment only for current NHS employees)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 990-SE-18773-E
- Employer
- NHS England
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Wellington House
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £117,645 - £134,103 per annum (inclusive of London Weighting)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 29/12/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Programme Director
NHS AfC: Band 9
Our Organisation
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.
Job overview
Are you an experienced and inspiring senior leader with a passion for improving vaccination outcomes and reducing health inequalities?
We are offering an exciting opportunity for a Programme Director (Band 9) in the South East until 31st of October 2026 (with an expected extension to April 2027, subject to approvals).
Main duties of the job
Key responsibilities
Provide strategic oversight & assurance of vaccination commissioning across the SE, ensuring safe, high-quality & effective service delivery.
- Lead the commissioning & contracting strategy for S7A immunisation services, aligning with national policy & local population needs.
- Oversee provider performance management, quality improvement, equity & outcomes - using contractual levers & robust analytics to address variation.
- Implement nationally determined programme changes at pace & scale, with clear governance, risk management & benefits realisation.
- Lead senior multidisciplinary teams (incl S&I Leads/COVID Vac Prog leadership) & managing significant budgets & contract portfolios.
- Build strong partnerships with ICSs, LAs, UKHSA, primary care, community providers & voluntary sector to increase coverage & tackle inequalities.
- Use insight, data and rigorous programme management to prioritise, evaluate and evidence impact for patients/public.
Seeking a candidate with:
- A proven track record of senior leadership in public health commissioning and/or immunisation programmes.
- Strong strategic thinking, ability to influence across complex systems & multiple stakeholders.
- Experience of large-scale programme delivery, provider performance management, contracting and financial stewardship.
- Commitment to equity, inclusion, co-production & improving outcomes -particularly underserved communities.
- High levels of political acuity, resilience, ability to operate at pace.
Working for our organisation
Our work supports the NHS to deliver high quality services for patients and best value for taxpayers.
Our staff bring expertise across hundreds of specialisms — including clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial — enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.
We lead the NHS in England 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
- Delivering value for money
Earlier this year, the Government announced that NHS England will gradually merge with the Department of Health and Social Care, leading to full integration. The aim is to create a smaller, more strategic centre that reduces duplication and eliminates waste.
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 recruitment process.
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.
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.
Person specification
Qualifications/Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Master’s degree or equivalent senior experience
- Leadership of S7A immunisation commissioning at scale Evidence of setting strategy and delivering measurable improvements in coverage/quality/equity.
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to analyse highly complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources (verbal, written and numerical)
Experience & Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Commissioning & contracting with provider performance management Using contractual levers to recover performance and deliver value for money.
- Programme/change delivery at pace Implementing nationally determined changes with clear governance, risk and benefits realisation.
- Financial stewardship Managing large budgets with demonstrable efficiency gains without compromising outcomes.
- System partnership & influence Proven collaboration across ICSs, local authorities, UKHSA and providers; credibility with senior clinical/operational leaders.
Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Jacqui McCarthy
- Job title
- Business Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
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