Job vacancy: Medical Director (Regulation and Transformation), NHS Devon Integrated Care Board, Exeter

Job summary

Main area: Director
Grade: VSM
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref: 144-JW17-CPTD02-26

Employer: NHS Devon Integrated Care Board
Employer type: NHS
Site: NHS Devon ICB, Aperture House (Base can be Exeter Bodmin or Truro site)
Town: Exeter
Salary: up to £135,000
Closing: 15/07/2026 23:59

Medical Director (Regulation and Transformation)

VSM

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job description and person specification for full details of the role and responsibilities

Internal applications are welcomed and will be reviewed as priority

Eligibility to Work in the UK – Important Information
NHS Devon does not currently hold a sponsorship license to support visa applications. We have been able to successfully meet our recruitment needs without the requirement for visa sponsorship. As such, we are only able to consider applications from candidates who already have the appropriate legal right to work in the UK at the time of application. We are committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce and welcome applications from all qualified individuals who meet this requirement. Thank you for your understanding.

Person specification

Specific portfolio skills

Essential criteria

Develop comprehensive strategies that effectively address the diverse needs of patients and communities, ensuring alignment with statutory duties as well as national and local system priorities.
Demonstrate the ability to maintain a long-term strategic vision while achieving short-term objectives.
Consider the broader political, economic, social, and technological environments in which the cluster operates to inform strategic planning.
Prioritising initiatives within the constraints of available resources and guide others in strategic decision-making.
Ability to lead the cluster’s approach to strategy and establish a proactive and improvement-focused culture.
Champion initiatives that drive quality enhancements and foster an environment that prioritises patient safety and care excellence.
Ability to continually assess and understand the impact of strategic plans through quality and inequalities impact assessments. Establish robust evaluation and monitoring arrangements for key financial, quality, and performance indicators as part of strategic development.
Ability to foster and maintain productive partnerships, both within and outside the cluster, to enhance collaborative working. Engage with regulators and external partners to harness opportunities for improvement. Identify and clearly communicate priorities for financial, access, and quality improvements, working cohesively with system partners to align efforts where improvement is most needed.
Ability to assess and understand the necessity of working in partnership with other boards and organisations across the healthcare system. Focus on improving population health and reducing health inequalities through collaborative efforts and shared objectives.
Ability to ensure that the cluster consistently delivers the highest possible standard of care for patients. Create a culture that supports continuous improvement, applying systematic approaches across the cluster to enhance service delivery and patient outcomes.
Ability to participate actively in the implementation of agreed strategies, engaging in robust and respectful debate and providing constructive challenge to fellow board members.
Commit to collective decision-making based on objective evaluation of research, evidence, risks, and options.
Contribute to effective governance, risk management arrangements, and the evaluation and development of board effectiveness.
Ability to develop a supportive, just, and positive organisational culture that empowers all staff to work effectively for the benefit of patients, communities, and colleagues. Ensure that staff can take ownership of their work and participate in meaningful decision-making and improvement efforts. Enhance staff engagement, experience, and well-being in line with the NHS People Promise, focusing on equality, diversity, inclusion, and fostering a safe culture for speaking up.
Ability to stay informed about clinical best practices, relevant regulations, legislation, and national and local priorities. Consider risk and financial implications when developing strategies and delivery plans, ensuring compliance and alignment with broader healthcare objectives.
Ability to demonstrate a commitment to ongoing learning and understanding of the different parts of the healthcare system. Seek insights from patients, carers, staff, and public groups across the system, including partners, to inform strategic and operational decisions.
Ability to thoroughly assess the performance of the cluster and ensure that necessary actions are taken to drive improvement. Emphasise the efficient use of limited resources, striving to maximise productivity and value for money while delivering high-quality and safe services at the population level. Adopt a balanced and evidence-based approach when considering innovative solutions and improvements, in line with the board’s risk appetite.
Ability to contribute meaningfully as a board member in areas related to strategy, financial performance, statutory duties, and the delivery of high-quality and safe care. Promoting continuous and measurable improvement within the cluster.
Ability to challenge fellow board members to provide evidence and assurance on risks and their impact on decision-making. Proactively monitor risks using the Board Assurance Framework, risk management strategy, and risk appetite statements. Utilise intelligence and data from various sources to recognise and identify early warning signals and risks, including incident data, surveys, external reviews, and regulatory intelligence.

Qualifications

Essential criteria

Registered medical practitioner with the regulatory body and General Council (GMC), with a highly competent level of professional expertise and knowledge.
Master’s degree level education or equivalent level of specialist knowledge and experience.
Evidence of relevant continuing professional development.

Desirable criteria

Membership of Royal College of General Practice

Experience

Essential criteria

Very senior manager level leadership experience and/or system leadership experience in performance improvement, operational planning and strategic commissioning or similar.
Experience of providing strategic leadership, mentorship, and professional development at a very senior level with demonstrable outcomes.
Experience of delivering large scale change and improvement programmes, preferably across multiple organisations and within the health or social care sector, developing and building teams to improve outcomes.
Experience of managing highly sensitive situations with stakeholders.
Experience of managing relationships with the media and political stakeholders.
Experience of leading highly complex and contentious quality improvement/ transformational change at significant scale, working with patients and people with lived experience.
Substantial senior medical leadership experience at provider, system, or commissioning level.
Experience of medical workforce leadership and system collaboration.
Proven expertise in clinical effectiveness, audit, and evidence-based practice.
Experience of mortality and morbidity governance, including leading learning from deaths.
Experience of mortality and morbidity governance, including leading learning from deaths.
Experience of chairing or participating in Individual Funding Request Panels (IFR), with responsibility for ensuring fairness, transparency, and alignment to policy
Track record of providing senior credible clinical advice into statutory or political forums.
Experience of engaging with clinical networks and leading reference groups.

Skills

Essential criteria

Exceptional communication skills which engender community confidence, strong collaborations, and partnership.
Demonstrate presence, dynamism, energy, vision and passion; engaging people by the way they communicate, behave and interact with others.
Strong critical thinking and strategic problem solving; the ability to contribute to a joint strategic plan and undertake problem resolution and action. Analytical rigour and numerical excellence.
Highly sophisticated leadership and influencing skills; building compassionate cultures where individuals and teams thrive at cluster, partnership, and system levels.
Determination, perseverance and resilience to react flexibly and operate in a complex, rapidly changing and often ambiguous environment.
Demonstrate independence of thought, emotional intelligence, the ability to work through conflict and the ability to demonstrate a range of leadership styles to secure results.
A high level of political astuteness with a natural ability to thrive in complex political environments whilst always acting in a manner consistent with their values.
Ability to network and recognise key influencers; engaging them effectively to enable agreed outcomes to be delivered.
The ability to influence and persuade others articulating a balanced, not personal, view and to engage in constructive debate without being adversarial or losing respect and goodwill.
Self-aware and an ability to understand personal strengths and weaknesses to optimise leadership impact; seeking advice when required and securing a full range of management expertise to enable achievement of strategic objectives to optimise leadership impact.
Think conceptually and plan flexibly for the longer term and continually seek ways to improve.
The confidence to question information and explanations supplied by others, who may be experts in their field.
The ability to take an objective view, seeing issues from a wide number of perspectives and especially external and user perspectives.
Leads by example to demonstrate a commitment to the NHS People Promise.

Knowledge

Essential criteria

Extensive knowledge of the health, care and local government landscape and an understanding of the social determinants of public health.
Current evidence and thinking on practices which reduce health inequality, improve patient access, safety and ensure organisations are ‘Well-led’.
Extensive knowledge of health and care financial planning and budgeting at a board and/or system level.
In-depth understanding of commissioning and assurance in the NHS.
Knowledge of NICE, clinical effectiveness frameworks, and quality standards.
Strong understanding of population health and health inequalities
Knowledge of data governance and confidentiality, with ability to discharge Caldicott Guardian responsibilities.
Excellent influencing and communication skills across clinical, political, and public forums.
Ability to lead across professional boundaries, aligning medical, nursing, and AHP leadership.