Programme Manager

Our Organisation

We share the core values set out in the NHS Constitution, which all colleagues are expected to demonstrate.

We support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you and your colleagues. 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.

Job overview

The Frontline Productivity programme is a nationally significant programme, providing £2bn over four years to support regional investments that release productivity benefits across the NHS. As the programme moves into delivery, the Enterprise Programme Management Office (EPMO) will provide the central coordination, governance, assurance and reporting function needed to support effective delivery and demonstrate progress against programme objectives.

We are seeking to recruit a Band 8b Programme Manager to play a key role in establishing and maintaining a high-quality EPMO service for the programme. The postholder will lead and support core governance, assurance and reporting activities, including delivery against Department Major Projects Portfolio (DMPP) requirements and reviews. They will also ensure that lessons learned and closure actions from the previous Frontline Digitisation programme are embedded into the new delivery arrangements, helping to strengthen programme controls, decision-making and benefits realisation.

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• Lead the planning, coordination and delivery of key EPMO activities for the Frontline Productivity programme, ensuring programme governance, assurance and reporting arrangements are robust, effective and aligned to national requirements.

• Support delivery against Department Major Projects Portfolio (DMPP) requirements, including coordinating evidence, preparing high-quality reports and supporting readiness for reviews, assurance checkpoints and senior decision-making forums.
• Develop, maintain and improve the programme plan and associated plan on a page, including resourcing requirements, risks and dependencies.
• Develop, maintain and improve programme controls, including delivery plans, milestone trackers, risk and issue logs, dependency management, action tracking, decision logs, highlight reports and dashboards.
• Provide high-quality analysis, insight and reporting to senior stakeholders, ensuring progress, risks, issues, dependencies, benefits and resource requirements are clearly presented and escalated where appropriate.

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Working for our organisation

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with regional teams, policy leads, finance, commercial, clinical and digital colleagues to coordinate programme activity, resolve delivery barriers and support consistent implementation of programme processes.
• Embed lessons learned and closure actions from the previous Frontline Digitisation programme into Frontline Productivity delivery arrangements, ensuring continuous improvement in programme management practice.
• Support benefits realisation and value-for-money reporting by ensuring productivity benefits, delivery milestones and investment outcomes are tracked, evidenced and reported consistently.
• Line manage and/or matrix manage colleagues as required, supporting team priorities, development, workload management and the delivery of a high-performing, responsive EPMO service.
• Prepare clear briefings, papers and recommendations for programme boards, senior leaders and external stakeholders, translating complex programme information into concise and actionable outputs.
• Promote best practice in programme and project management, contributing to the development of standard tools, templates, processes and ways of working across the programme.

If you like what you have read and think you have the skills and experience, we need then don't delay, apply today! We get lots of applications for our roles and so we sometimes have to close our posts early. Don't miss out!

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.

You can find further details about the job, in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.

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. 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 ensure all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process. This includes considering 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.

Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the role. While we appreciate you may have had some support with your application (for example, using AI technology or guidance from a trusted individual), it’s important all the information you provide in it reflects your own knowledge, skills and experience and we trust that you apply on that basis.

If you’re applying for this role on a secondment basis, please get agreement from your current line manager before you apply.

We don’t accept applications via recruitment agencies, and we cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.

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.

NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for processing your application; our privacy can be accessed directly on the application page when you select to apply.

If you are appointed to a post, your information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.

If you have a query about your application, please contact the recruitment team: [email protected] or 0300 330 1369.

NHS England