Job Overview
We are looking for an experienced Programme Manager to lead our work with voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations and communities across the West of England.
This is a senior, purpose-driven role with the opportunity to build influential partnerships and lead complex programmes that tackle inequalities and improve people’s lives.
You do not need to have worked in the NHS. We welcome applicants with senior programme leadership experience from voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, local government, social care, public health, housing, education or other purpose-led settings.
We welcome applications from candidates seeking to work between 0.6 whole-time equivalent and full-time hours; please state clearly in your application the hours or working pattern you are seeking.
Main duties of the job
You will lead a developing portfolio focused on community partnership, equity and co-production. You will ensure communities and people with lived experience are equal partners in designing and delivering our work.
A significant part of the role will be providing strategic leadership for our Black Maternity Matters programme. You will work with communities, maternity and neonatal (perinatal) services, local authorities and voluntary and community organisations to support anti-racist improvement and reduce inequalities.
You will also work closely with the Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships & Delivery, and other members of Leadership Team, to explore further opportunities for our organisation to understand and meet the innovation needs of the VCSE sector working in health & care. This will include joining and convening collaborative discussions with VCSE sector leadership and working closely with front-line organisations to scope collaborative projects for HIWE, informing future business planning.
You Will
- Lead complex, high-profile programmes from strategy through to delivery and evaluation working with colleagues across Health Innovation West of England.
- Develop trusted partnerships across communities, voluntary organisations and wider health and care services.
- Turn community insight, evidence and data into clear recommendations and action.
- Influence senior leaders, executives, boards and national partners.
- Embed equity, co-production and anti-racist practice across our work.
- Manage programme budgets, risks, outcomes and reporting.
- Lead, support and manage colleagues.
- Represent Health Innovation West of England locally, regionally and nationally.
About You
You will bring:
- Significant experience of leading complex programmes, partnerships or portfolios.
- A strong understanding of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector or community-led approaches.
- Experience of working alongside communities and people with lived experience.
- The ability to influence senior decision-makers and work across organisational boundaries.
- Strong programme, financial and people management skills.
- Excellent communication, facilitation and relationship-building skills.
- A clear commitment to equity, inclusion, co-production and anti-racist practice.
Experience relating to health inequalities, maternity, public health or anti-racist practice would be valuable. However, we recognise that relevant expertise can come from many sectors and career paths.
Working for our organisation
At Health Innovation West of England, you will have the autonomy to shape an evolving area of work and build partnerships that create lasting change.
We particularly welcome applicants whose experience has been developed outside traditional NHS career pathways.
Health Innovation West of England embraces a hybrid working model, offering the flexibility to work from home and in our office in Bristol. However, this role requires a firm expectation to attend regular meetings in our Bristol offices, and to be able to work from the office on a regular basis. You would also be required to travel occasionally to other locations within our geography and nationally for in-person meetings and events.
Before applying, please make sure you would be able to meet these requirements if successful in the role.
Working for your organisation
The Health Innovation West of England is one of 15 organisations within the Health Innovation Network, established and commissioned by NHS England and the Office of Life Sciences.
Our role is to deliver positive health and care outcomes in the West of England and nationally by supporting the discovery and development of promising innovations and the deployment of proven innovations. We achieve this by first understanding and then responding to local system priorities, placing a strong emphasis on reducing health inequalities. In this way we can make sure that innovations benefit more patients more quickly, enabling people to play an increasing role in their own care and prevention of ill health.
Our work programme aligns with the UK governments 3 shifts for healthcare:
- Hospital to community
- Analogue to digital
- Treatment to prevention
We are an NHS organisation and employment with Health Innovation West of England is through the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, and as an NHS organisation we value diverse backgrounds and experiences to foster innovation and reflect the population we serve.
Find out more about the Health Innovation West of England at https://www.healthinnowest.net/
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
Please find attached a detailed person specification and job description for further information about this role.
Person specification
- Qualifications and Training
Essential criteria
- Meets essential criteria for the role (Educated to Masters level or appropriate professional qualification or significant equivalent experience at a senior level. Evidence of continuous professional development.)
Desirable criteria
- Meets desirable criteria for the role (Postgraduate qualification in public health or equivalent. Project or programme management, quality improvement or change management training.)
- Knowledge and experience
Essential criteria
- Meets essential criteria for the role around practical experience delivering programmes focused on health inequalities, maternity, public health or community engagement.
- Meets essential criteria for the role around sound knowledge of the NHS, VCSE, social care, current government policies and change / innovation programmes.
- Meets essential criteria for the role around strategic stakeholder engagement across complex health and care systems with senior clinical and operational leaders and community partners.
- Meets essential criteria for the role around programme governance, finance and improvement (Record of achievement of delivering objectives and finding innovative solutions to problems
- Financial planning and budget management.
- An “eye” for detail and evidence of a completer/finisher approach to delivery
- Knowledge of, and experience in using, a range of change /improvement programmes & project models including the use of risks, issues, and project change control.)
Desirable criteria
- Meets desirable criteria for the role (
- Experience in leading anti-racism or equity focused programmes.
- Experience in working with communities racialised as Black and Brown or other seldom heard groups, including lived experience engagement.
- Policy and strategy development.
- Experience of providing advice to senior managers and consultants.
- Using coaching skills or delivering training.
- Experience in working across organisational boundaries and of delivering projects across multi-disciplinary sites working with multiple stakeholders..
- Experience of working with commercial or industry partners, or external suppliers.
- Knowledge and experience of patient safety, improvement and innovation, coaching, effectiveness/related field – e.g. research, audit, evidence-based practice, quality improvement
- Knowledge of Project Management software e.g. Verto.
- Knowledge of a wider range of useful tools used during the implementation of change.
- Knowledge and experience of implementing major changes to working methods and evaluating their effectiveness.
- Knowledge of the psychology of change and human factors.) 0 = No evidence 1 = Limited evidence 2 = Good evidence 3 = Strong, directly relevant evidence
- Skills and capabilities
Essential criteria
- Meets essential criteria for the role around influencing, communication, and relationship-building (
- Highly developed motivational, influencing and negotiating skills with proven experience of success at senior levels of organisations and across organisations including with clinicians and directors.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate effectively at all levels with a wide variety of stakeholders
- Able to establish and maintain credible productive relationships with people from a range of backgrounds, and build effective, collaborative working relationships across organisational boundaries.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Able to present effectively to a wide variety of audiences in an engaging manner that makes information clear and obtains buy-in sometimes in the face of opposition. )
- Meets essential criteria for the role around strategic thinking, judgement and problem-solving (
- Able to formulate and implement long term strategic programme plans which impacts on the whole organisation including developing operational frameworks.
- Able to interpret scientific and clinical research outputs and papers and interpret the findings to adoption readiness discussions.
- Experience in collecting and interpreting information to support change programmes and the ability to use Word and Excel.
- Problem diagnosis and solving using creative thinking. Able to identify and assess a clear pathway through a complex situation which leads to a clear output involving several different parties and opinions)
- Meets essential criteria for the role around leadership and people management (
- Experience in managing and supervising staff.
- Able to work as part of a team and able to lead and direct multi-skilled teams, providing subject matter expertise across functional boundaries
- Able to set own agenda and able to provide leadership, motivation and inspiration to facilitate collaborative working across the agenda.)
- Meets other essential criteria for the role around planning, prioritisation and delivery (
- Excellent organisational and time management skills
- Able to work independently as required, to tight deadlines and to prioritise effectively against conflicting priorities.
- Experience in using measurement for improvement, including knowledge of run charts.)
Desirable criteria
- Meets desirable criteria for the role (
- Experience designing and delivering workshops or training.
- Experience coordinating and chairing meetings.
- Experience of patient and carer involvement and/ or co-design.
- Experience in using virtual communication tools e.g. social media, facilitating online meetings or events.
- Experience in planning and facilitating both small (<30) and large (>30) scale events.
- Comfortable with conflict and ambiguity
- Experience leading complex change, allocating roles and delegating responsibilities.
- Network development to support collaboration for improvement.
- Understand and value the research process.
- Listen, question and provide constructive challenges.
- Evaluating and measuring performance/ culture e.g. through culture/climate surveys and/ or debriefing.
- Sensemaking and strategic thinking: seeing the bigger picture, mapping out the system, identifying connections and gaps, appreciating complexity and interdependencies.) 0 = No evidence 1 = Limited evidence 2 = Good evidence 3 = Strong, directly relevant evidence
Please note - Due to recent changes in UK immigration and visa rules applicants who do not currently have the right to work in the UK may not be considered unless an alternative right to work solution can be provided. Candidates requiring sponsorship (or will need sponsorship at the end of a current visa e.g. those with graduate visa's) should review the eligibility criteria on the gov.uk website before applying: Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK
Documents to download
- JD_PS_ProgrammeManager_VCSE_Community (PDF, 679.2KB)
- Join the RUH (PDF, 1.3MB)
Further details / informal visits contact
Name Logan Ryan Job title Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships & Delivery Email address logan.ryan1@nhs.net Telephone number Please contact via email Additional information
We highly recommend contacting us prior to application to gain a deeper understanding of the diverse projects and programmes we deliver. Your supporting statement is your chance to showcase how your qualifications, knowledge, skills, and extensive experience align with this demanding yet rewarding role.
Before applying, please make sure you would be able to meet these requirements if successful in the role.
Please note: While AI tools can help, we need you to declare their usage. Relying solely on AI for your application is not recommended, as it may lack the personal touch and specific details we are looking for, and could lead to misrepresentation.
