Medical Director

Job summary

The Medical Director will be a key member of the Departmental Executive Committee, responsible for the professional leadership of medical professionals in the NHS across England, and for ensuring the work of the department is informed by and responsive to evidence-based professional medical advice across the full range of clinical specialisms. You will use your strategic influence to support teams from across the organisation, ensuring there is expert input into policy making and implementation of national strategies and programmes across the health system, and provide advice to Ministers.

The Medical Director will be accountable to the NHS CEO, with additional professional accountability to the Chief Medical Officer. All Directors General in the new DHSC will share a collective accountability and the Medical Director will therefore also have a dotted line to the Permanent Secretary.

Job description

Working with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) and other professional leads in the Department to drive high quality care, patient safety, clinical effectiveness and improved patient experience and better health outcomes, you will:

• Play a key role in implementing the reforms set out in the 10 Year Health Plan and Dash Review including working with and through the National Quality Board, developing and delivering our Quality Strategy and taking forward our work on Modern Service Frameworks.

• Lead national safety monitoring, response and investigation into serious incidents and avoidable harm.

• Take forward our goal to make the NHS the most transparent healthcare system in the world.

• Ensure that the clinical voice and evidence is part of strategy development, policy making, delivery, system improvement, people development and quality improvement.

• Foster constructive and trusted relationships with the Chief Medical Officers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and across the NHS providing expert advice and support.

You will hold the key clinical leadership functions with respect to professional regulation. Throughout your work you will focus on creating a new operating model that:

• Ensures that the views and insights of doctors and medical professions are front and centre in leading and shaping the strategic direction of the NHS and the wider health and care sector as it takes forward delivery of the Health Mission and 10 Year Health Plan.

• Clinical and professional leadership of all NHS medical professions in England, across primary, community and acute care and responsible for ensuring excellent professional standards across the NHS, including oversight of the National Performers List and the medical appraisal and revalidation process.

• Acts as a key interface between the Department and relevant external partners such as professional membership bodies, regulators, and clinical/medical leaders.

Key Responsibilities

You will be accountable for:

• Providing clinical advice to colleagues across the Department on specific strategy and policy projects as needed, including ensuring that the views and insights of doctors and medical professions are front and centre in leading and shaping the strategic direction of the NHS and the wider health and care sector as it takes forward delivery of the Health Mission and 10 Year Health Plan.

• Work with the CNO in leading on the development of the Department’s quality strategy, ensuring there is an evidence-based and coherent framework for continuous improvement across the health and care sector.

• Driving alignment between safety, clinical effectiveness, and patient experience agendas, ensuring these are embedded in policy development, delivery, and system reform. Championing patient safety and providing leadership to deliver improvements in patient safety across the health and care sectors.

• Lead, with CNO, the Department’s response to major patient quality failures, and public inquiries, ensuring the health and care sector learns from these.

• Overseeing the sponsorship of relevant Departmental Arm's Length Bodies (ALBs) who play a role in monitoring safety and quality, including the Care Quality Commission.

• Providing clinical leadership across primary, community and acute care, mental health, and support the professional leadership in pharmacy (Chief Pharmaceutical Officer), dentistry (Chief Dental Officer), allied healthcare (Chief Allied Health Professions Officer) and the healthcare scientist professions (Chief Scientific Officer).

• Working alongside the Director General for People, and with education and training partners nationally to support the development of the future clinical workforce and future clinical leaders. Providing professional leadership on specific initiatives designed to uphold standards/improve care.

• Providing evidence where needed for responses to parliamentary questions, committees and briefing requests.

• Acting as a public and media spokesperson for DHSC and the NHS on matters relating to health and healthcare.

• Maintaining relationships with key external bodies such as medical Royal Colleges and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on clinical and professional matters, and key professional contact with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM), NHS Employers, Doctors’ and Dentists’ Pay Review Body.

• Providing expert advice on patient data and confidentiality, ensuring compliance with statutory and ethical obligations (Caldicott Guardians).

Person specification

Essential Criteria

Commitment to Evidence Based Healthcare

• A commitment to evidence-based preventative, diagnostic and curative healthcare to improve the health of the public and outcomes from healthcare.

Understanding of Clinical Training

• Understanding of clinical training and evidence of having worked with clinical training and educational bodies and institutions.

Professional Standing and Clinical Credibility

• Clinical credibility with senior and early career doctors and other clinical staff in the NHS.
• Senior doctor with appropriate specialist qualifications and an unblemished GMC registration. Recognised by peers across the NHS for clinical credibility and a strong commitment to professional development.

Leadership in Healthcare Quality and Safety

• Extensive experience in clinical safety appraisal, patient safety initiatives, and major incident management. Proven ability to lead quality and performance improvements in complex clinical environments.

Strategic Influence and System Leadership

• A credible leader with a track record of managing complex medical professional issues and working effectively with regulatory and representative bodies. Skilled in influencing across organisational boundaries within and beyond Government and communicating with the public and media.

Executive Experience and Financial Stewardship

• Substantial leadership roles at Board or Executive level in central government, NHS, local government, or other sectors. Demonstrated success in managing large budgets, workforce and delivering value for money.

Commitment to Education and Evidence-Based Practice

• Strong understanding of clinical training and collaboration with educational institutions. Advocates for evidence-based preventative, diagnostic, and curative healthcare to improve population health.

Inclusive Leadership and Organisational Culture

• Proven ability to build high-performing, diverse teams and lead large-scale change. Committed to fostering a resilient, inclusive culture and translating public and patient engagement into meaningful outcomes.

Desirable Criteria

• Evidence of leadership in research in an NHS context.

• Experience of inquiries and investigations.

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

This role is being advertised on a permanent basis. If preferable, Loan or Secondment options will also be available for existing Civil Servants (Loan) and applicants from accredited NDPBs or any other employer (Secondment). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This recruitment process is regulated by the Civil Service Commission, and follows clear guidelines to ensure selection is fair, open, and made on merit.

The Civil Service Commission has two primary functions:

• Providing assurance that appointments to the Civil Service are made on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition. For the most senior posts, the Commission oversees the process directly and appoints a Commissioner to chair the selection panel.
• Hearing and determining appeals made by civil servants under the Civil Service Code, which sets out the values of impartiality, objectivity, integrity, and honesty.

Selection Panel

The selection panel for this role will be chaired by: Christopher Pilgrim, Civil Service Commissioner (Chair)

Other panel members:

• Samantha Jones OBE, Permanent Secretary, Department of Health and Social Care
• Sir Jim Mackey, NHS England Chief Executive
• Professor Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England
• Other panel members to be confirmed

You will receive an acknowledgment of your application. The panel will assess applications to select those demonstrating the strongest fit with the role, based on the evidence provided against the essential criteria.

It is essential you address all criteria in your application. Failure to do so may affect your progression.

Shortlist candidates will be invited to take part in a series of assessment which may include:

• A Stakeholder Engagement Panel Exercise
• Media Exercise
• Meetings with key departmental stakeholders, which may include a Minister

Details of the final assessments including briefs will be confirmed with shortlisted candidates.

Shortlisted candidates will then progress to a final interview (face-to-face in London) with the selection panel.

Full details of the assessment process will be shared with candidates invited to interview.

To apply, please submit your application online at: http://www.odgers.com/95290

If you are unable to apply online, please email: vicky.graham@odgers.com

All applications will receive an automated response.

For full details about this role, the full selection criteria, how to apply or to request a candidate pack please contact: carmel.gibbons@odgers.com

The closing date for applications is 23:55 on 9 February 2026.

Your submission should include:

• The role title and reference number in the subject line of your email.
• A current CV, including your educational and professional qualifications and full employment history (explaining any gaps), with details of budgets and teams managed and highlighting key achievements.
• A Statement of Suitability, no more than two A4 pages, explaining why this appointment interests you and how you meet the criteria set out in the candidate profile.
• Please note that references and open-source due diligence checks (including into social media accounts) may be undertaken for all short-listed candidates.
• A declaration of interest form.
• A completed Monitoring Form to support the Department’s commitment to equality and diversity. The form includes:
  • Monitoring questionnaire (reported anonymously)
  • Information on the Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria.

If you require any adjustments to make the recruitment process more accessible, please contact vicky.graham@odgers.com

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Carmel Gibbons
• Email : carmel.gibbons@odgers.com

Recruitment team

• Email : carmel.gibbons@odgers.com

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact the team at Odgers at carmel.gibbons@odgers.com. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the team, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/