Job summary
- Main area
- Medicine
- Grade
- Head of School (HoS)
- Contract
- Secondment: 15 months (until 31 March 2027)
- Hours
- Part time - 4 sessions per week (4 PA = 16 hours per week)
- Job ref
- 990-MID-19158-E
- Employer
- NHS England
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- County Hall
- Town
- Leicester
- Salary
- In line with HoS sessional payments
- Closing
- 23/12/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Head of School – Medicine (East Midlands)
Head of School (HoS)
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
The role of Head of School is to work with and support the NHS England Postgraduate Dean in leading the delivery of a wide range of functions, aligned to the NHS England mandate.
The Head of School is professionally and managerially accountable to the Postgraduate Dean. The Head of School will focus upon improvement of learner supervision, assessment and experience, engagement of faculty and ensuring effective educational outcomes, both now and in the future. The role is evolving and will also focus on whole workforce transformation and developing multi-professional links mas well as innovative ways of curriculum delivery and workforce well-being strategies.
Main duties of the job
To support the Postgraduate Dean, Heads of Schools work across the spectrum of health and where relevant, social care, within the context of a team, so that the provision of education reflects changing service models. This will deliver an integrated workforce comprising individuals from a spectrum of professional and other backgrounds.
The Head of School will be expected to meet the challenges of leading the School and Education Providers to deliver the changing curricular in an evolving service landscape.
Although the main role is to lead and develop the Postgraduate School all senior clinicians within NHS England may have wider roles and projects as agreed with the Postgraduate Dean.
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
To work with the Postgraduate Dean:
- To provide effective clinical leadership, contributing to the strategic development of NHS England.
- To contribute to the vision of the local NHS and to enhance patient care by providing leadership and direction with respect to the quality of education and training.
- To be an advocate and a positive role model on behalf of NHS England, by promoting leadership that inspires, motivates and empowers all staff, and demonstrating the values of the NHS.
- To work on behalf of NHS England, providing expert advice on specialty-specific matters.
- To work locally with key groups and stakeholders, to attend and host events across the regions, to develop key liaisons and to ensure effective local engagement and responsiveness in line with the culture of NHS England.
- To review how multi-professional healthcare teams interact and identify opportunities for different healthcare professions to work more effectively together through education and training.
- To work with providers and others to support and capture innovation locally and ensure national and local conversations develop ‘best practice’.
- To manage the work of Training Programme Director(s) and other clinical faculty to ensure appropriate systems for assessment, rotational management, revalidation, trainee supervision and support and other functions within the School.
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
Behaviours and Values
Essential criteria
- Ability to make decisions autonomously when required on difficult issues.
- An academic interest in training and education across primary and secondary care.
Desirable criteria
- A transformation leadership style
- Management of transformation and change
- Sensitivity, tolerance and acceptance of criticism
- Perform all duties in a manner that supports and promotes NHS England commitment to equal opportunities
- Conduct all duties in a manner that safeguards the health and safety of yourself and your colleagues, trainees and staff. Note the special responsibility as a manager for assessing and minimising risks to staff.
- A continuing quest for personal and professional development
Skills and Abilities
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable leadership skills and an ability to influence and motivate others.
- Politically astute with an ability to sensitively manage complexity and uncertainty.
Desirable criteria
- A strong sense of vision and ability to innovate.
- Ability to problem solve and maintain objectivity.
- Strong interpersonal, communication, written and presentation skills.
- Excellent organisational and time management skills.
- Committed to own personal development and an ability to support others to develop and progress.
Qualifications and Training
Essential criteria
- Considerable and current experience at Consultant level in a relevant speciality.
- Primary clinical healthcare qualification.
- Membership/Fellowship of a College, Faculty, professional association and/or regulatory body.
Desirable criteria
- Attendance at courses aimed to support educational development (example: educator courses, Train the trainer, etc).
Experience and Knowledge
Essential criteria
- • Current clinical commitment in the School/specialty.
- • Considerable experience of working with learners or doctors in training in an educational context.
- • Experience of clinical and educational leadership and innovation, including managing a multi-professional team.
- • Demonstrable track record of delivery in service and education.
- • Understanding of developments involving the relevant Colleges/Faculties, professional bodies, related NHS organisations and regulatory bodies.
Desirable criteria
- • Understanding of the workforce transformation agenda.
- • Trained and experienced in recruitment, selection and Equality and Diversity in the last 3 years.
- • Active involvement in, and up to date with, appraisal processes.
- • Knowledge of the NHS, its structures and processes, including an understanding of healthcare/multi-professional workforce matters.
- • Applicants who are doctors require a Licence to Practise.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Caroline Brown
- Job title
- Deputy Postgraduate Dean - Midlands
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07976315004
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