Head of Healthcare Planning | NHS England

The New Hospital Programme is more than building hospitals, it’s a once in a generation opportunity to shape the future of healthcare in England. We’re delivering over 40 new hospitals that will be modern, sustainable and built around the needs of patients and staff. We’re looking for people who care about purpose, who thrive in complex environments and who want to help deliver change at scale for future generations.

We are looking for an experienced Head of Healthcare Planning to support the Integration Director in delivering the New Hospital Programme.

In this key leadership role, you will help design and develop a high-performing team of healthcare planning specialists, fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement. You will lead a range of healthcare planning activities, with a particular focus on demand and capacity planning, data analysis, and model development to support service design and operational planning.

About You

• Experience in healthcare planning, demand and capacity modelling, or a related field.
• Strong analytical and numerical skills, ideally supported by experience in informatics, data analysis, or IT systems.
• Ability to interpret complex data and translate findings into practical solutions.
• Experience working collaboratively with clinical and operational stakeholders.
• Strong leadership and communication skills.

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.

We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.

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.

For more information on the NHP programme

Please note that this vacancy may close earlier than the advertised closing date due to the high volume of applications received.

Due to ongoing organisational change and developments, aspects of this role may be subject to change.

By applying for this position, you acknowledge and understand that NHS England is currently undergoing a consultation process to finalise its structure, which may impact this role.

This advert closes on Tuesday 22 Sep 2026