Job vacancy: Deputy Head of School - Thames Valley, NHS England, Reading

Job summary

Main area: Deputy Head of School of Primary Care
Grade: Deputy Head of School (GP05)
Contract: Fixed term: 12 months (until 30 September 2026)
Hours: Part time - 1 session per week (4 hours per week 1EMC)
Job ref: 990-SE-16751-E

Employer: NHS England
Employer type: NHS
Site: Premier House
Town: Reading
Salary: £135,277 pro rata
Salary period: Yearly
Closing: 03/09/2025 23:59

Deputy Head of School - Thames Valley

Deputy Head of School (GP05)

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

NHSE is expected to cease as a separate entity on 31/10/2026 with the merger into DHSC, therefore extensions and new appointments can only be guaranteed up until this date. We anticipate educator roles being required beyond this point and further arrangements to be made once the new structure becomes clearer. We recognise this will create some uncertainty and will do our best to keep any potentially impacted informed of future plans as they come available.

1 EMC has been allocated for this role. The number of EMCs indicatively equates to the number of PAs for job planning; however, the level of funding for EMCs is fixed and may not equate to your individual personal salary with your employer in relation to your planned activities.

Prior to applying, please ensure you have discussed this role with your local Director of Medical Education to ensure that this work functions as a secondment with time freed up in your job plan to fulfil expectations. The financial contribution to the Trust is then to backfill any clinical time. This will be followed up at interview to ensure support is in place.

The Trust Director of Medical Education will be asked to provide a reference in support of your application.

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

Essential criteria

Primary clinical healthcare qualification
Fellowship of College/Faculty: professional association and/or body

Desirable criteria

Attendance at courses aimed to support educational development

Employment/Experience

Essential criteria

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 of service and education
Understanding of developments involving the relevant Colleges/Faculties, professional bodes related to NHS
Understanding of the workforce transformation agenda
Trained and experienced in recruitment, selection and E&D in the last 3 years.
Active involvement in and up to date with appraisal process
Knowledge of the NHS, its structures and processes, including understanding workforce educational context
Applicants who are doctors require a licence to practise

Desirable criteria

Previous or current appointment as a leader in healthcare education
Awareness of funding streams for healthcare education
Understanding of current health and social care and education policy

Skills and Abilities

Essential criteria

Demonstrable leadership skills and an ability to influence and motivate others
A strong sense of vision and an ability to innovate
Politically astute with an ability to sensitively manage complexity and uncertainty
Ability to problem solve and maintain objectivity
Strong interpersonal, communication, written and presentation skills
Ability to quickly establish personal and professional credibility with colleagues and other key stakeholders
Excellent organisational and time management skills
Committed to own personal development and an ability to support others to develop and progress

Desirable criteria

Ability to rapidly establish academic credibility

Our commitments to you

We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better patient outcomes. We strive to ensure our people feel trusted, valued and empowered. We’re passionate about nurturing and developing people. When you join us, we want you to grow and excel, and we offer many opportunities for you to do that. We welcome your talent and enthusiasm irrespective of age, disability, neuro-divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. We have policies and procedures to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability and/or who are neuro-divergent.

We welcome applications from disabled candidates. If you meet all the essential criteria, you will be guaranteed an interview.

If applying for this role on a secondment basis, please make sure you have obtained prior agreement from your current line manager to apply for this position.

Please note that we currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies.

To comply with the HM Government Functional Standard GovS 007, and specifically the Personnel Security Standards 2024, individuals employed or contracted by NHS England may be required to undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standards check, dependent on the role.

The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is attached to advise you on how we will process your personal data.

If you have applied via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through NHS Jobs, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any emails sent to us via NHS Jobs. If you have a query relating to your application, please contact the recruitment team on [email protected] or 0300 330 1369. You can view our Privacy Notice here.

NHS England