About this role
Job summary
The CEP Programme Manager will provide operational and programme-delivery leadership for the NWL Clinical Effectiveness Programme, ensuring coordinated planning, delivery, monitoring, and evaluation of workstreams across boroughs and system partners, with service developments extendable across the wider West North London ICS geography where appropriate.
Main duties of the job
Reporting to the Head of the CEP, the postholder will drive improvements in clinical outcomes, reduce unwarranted variation, and strengthen clinical effectiveness across agreed priority areas by leading the identification, development, and delivery of service improvement and transformation initiatives. They will work closely with clinicians, facilitators, analysts, managers, patients, carers, and community representatives to ensure alignment with system priorities, national policy, quality standards, and transformation goals, including reducing inequalities and advancing the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework. The role requires robust project and programme management approaches and strong financial acumen to manage budgets, support financial performance, and prepare business cases and funding bids. The postholder will also champion digital innovation and support the digitisation of the CEP programme to enhance efficiency, safety, and data-driven decision making.
Operating in a complex, multi-agency environment, the postholder will manage multiple interdependent workstreams while ensuring effective governance, risk management, reporting, and performance assurance, producing high-quality reports that clearly communicate progress, impact, risks, and outcomes to senior leaders and stakeholders.
About us
Our vision:
Wellbeing for life: We work in partnership with all who use our services to improve health and wellbeing. Together we look at ways of improving an individual's quality of life, through high quality healthcare and personal support.
Our values:
Compassion: Our staff will be led by compassion and embody the values of care outlined in our Staff Charter.
Respect: We will respect and value the diversity of our patients, service users and staff, to create a respectful and inclusive environment, which recognises the uniqueness of each individual.
Empowerment: We will involve, inform and empower our patients, service users, carers and their families to take an active role in the management of their illness and adopt recovery principles.We will ensure our staff receive appropriate direction and support, to enable them to develop and grow.
Partnership: We will work closely with our many partners to ensure that our combined efforts are focused on achieving the best possible outcomes for the people we serve.
See attached Staff Reward and Wellbeing Handbook detailing our benefits, discounts and wellbeing initiatives for staff.
Job description Job responsibilities
Please note: This vacancy does not meet the criteria for Skilled Worker sponsorship, unless you meet the criteria by temporary exemption from current changes to immigration rules put in force on 22/07/2025. Separate provisions are applied to workers who have been sponsored and held continuously Skilled Worker visa since prior to 04/04/2024."
As such, if you dont meet the Transitional Provision (above) we are unable to consider your application unless you can provide documentary evidence of your right to work in the United Kingdom. If you believe you are eligible for sponsorship or already hold a valid right to work in the UK, please ensure you provide full details of your immigration status in the Pre-Screening Immigration section of your application form.
Please note role eligibility also depends on whether the role meets the salary threshold for the relevant occupational code (SOC CODE).
For further info please visit: Skilled Worker visa: Overview - GOV.UK
MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Duties and Responsibilities: the post holder will:
Translate agreed ICB, Trust, and system priorities into coordinated delivery plans across priority care areas, ensuring alignment with the NHS Long Term Plan and wider goals such as prevention, early intervention, improved access, and reducing inequalities
Use population health intelligence and stratified data to design and deliver targeted interventions that address unwarranted variation and reduce health inequalities within the programme scope
Apply culturally competent and inclusive approaches to service design and delivery, ensuring programmes reflect the needs and lived experiences of diverse communities and are shaped by residents and Experts by Experience
Plan, coordinate, and evaluate programme delivery using recognised improvement methodologies, monitoring KPIs and progress to support continuous quality improvement and achievement of agreed outcomes
Develop business cases and funding proposals through established governance processes, ensuring clear scope, quality standards, and measurable benefits
Provide programmelevel guidance and support to facilitators, analysts, clinicians, and boroughbased teams to enable coordinated, highquality delivery
Lead the implementation of programmerelated policies and develop policies and procedures required to support the delivery of specialist programmes across the wider system, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and governance requirements.
2. Communications and Relationships : the post holder will:
Build strong, positive relationships with borough facilitators, clinical leads, and local teams to ensure consistent communication and aligned ways of working
Identify, map, and engage key stakeholders across the system, including clinicians, managers, service users, carers, community partners, and Experts by Experience, supporting effective collaboration in a dynamic and often unpredictable environment
Coordinate accessible and culturally competent engagement and coproduction activities, requiring sustained concentration to ensure diverse and underrepresented communities can meaningfully participate and influence decisions
Act as a clear and reliable communication link between central and local teams, maintaining accuracy and focus when managing complex or timesensitive information flows
Foster collaborative working across WNL ICS organisations and wider partners by delivering workshops, presentations, and engagement sessions that strengthen relationships and shared understanding
Communicate risks, issues, and changes clearly and constructively to senior leaders and governance groups, applying sound judgement and concentration when work patterns and priorities shift
3. Staff Management and Leadership: The post holder will:
Provide programme delivery leadership across the CEP portfolio, coordinating facilitators, analysts, clinicians, and boroughbased teams to deliver agreed plans Support facilitators, analysts, and clinicians through coordination, collaboration, and coaching to enable effective delivery Champion inclusive, culturally competent approaches to service design and transformation
Contribute to workforce development by facilitating shared learning and crossborough collaboration
4. Project Management: The post holder will:
Use advanced project and programme management expertise, (such as PRINCE2, MSP, or equivalent) to design, lead, and evaluate complex, multilayered CEP programmes across borough and NWL levels, managing interdependencies, ensuring delivery against milestones and strategic system priorities, and maintaining full compliance with governance and accountability frameworks Work with borough teams to ensure local delivery is aligned with programme objectives, quality standards, and wider system priorities
Develop and maintain programme and benefitsrealisation plans using recognised methodologies (e.g., logic models, theories of change, KPIs, PDSA), ensuring alignment with national frameworks such as Core20PLUS5
Apply structured changemanagement approaches and promote the use of digital tools, analytics, and datadriven decision making to improve pathways, outcomes, and system efficiency
Proactively manage project risks, issues, and dependencies through contingency and scenario planning, escalating concerns through appropriate governance channels
Identify gaps or variances in implementation plans and take corrective action to maintain alignment with scope, timelines, deliverables, and quality expectations
Codevelop detailed work plans with stakeholders, setting clear milestones, quality measures, and performance indicators, and ensuring digital developments meet interoperability and technical standards
Coordinate data collection, analysis, and assurance reporting, maintaining auditready documentation, evidence control, and robust version management
Manage project scope and apply formal changecontrol processes, recommending adjustments for approval through agreed governance routes
Monitor project budgets and support financial planning in collaboration with Finance and corporate teams to ensure effective use of resources
Ensure all deliverables meet required quality standards and comply with information governance, data protection, and confidentiality requirements.
5. Autonomy and Freedom to Act:The post holder will:
Provide daytoday leadership of programme delivery within agreed organisational and system governance frameworks, escalating issues as appropriate Maintain oversight of progress, emerging risks, and opportunities within the agreed programme scope, ensuring senior leaders are appropriately briefed Ensure senior leaders are fully briefed on programme performance, risk and impacts.
Person Specification
Education and Qualifications Essential
Educated to degree level operating in a senior project or programme delivery role within a complex organisation, requiring coordination across multiple teams or partners Postgraduate or formal training in project management, service improvement or change management (e.g., PRINCE2, Agile, MSP), with up to date knowledge of project, Leadership or management training relevant to supporting teams and project delivery
Desirable
Postgraduate certification in a relevant field (e.g. public health, population health, or health policy)
Experience Essential
Substantial experience successfully managing complex projects and programmes from initiation through to delivery, assurance, and evaluation, using recognised project and programme management methodologies Experience operating in a project or programme leadership role, with responsibility for coordinating staff, resources, and multiple workstreams within a complex organisational or system environment Experience presenting complex, sensitive, or technical information clearly and confidently to a range of audiences, including clinicians, managers, community partners, and external stakeholders Proven experience working across organisational boundaries, such as with primary care, community services, local authorities, voluntary sector partners, or wider health and care system stakeholders Experience supporting financial and budgetary management, including monitoring expenditure, forecasting, and reporting within agreed limits and governance processes Strong analytical skills with experience using and interpreting data to monitor progress, identify risks or variances, and support informed decision-making Experience leading the implementation of policies and contributing to the development of new policies, procedures, or frameworks to support specialist programme delivery across a directorate or wider system
Desirable
Experience of working in clinical effectiveness, quality improvement, or population health programmes at scale
Skills and Knowledge Essential
Strong organisational and planning skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver agreed objectives within set timeframes Ability to manage and coordinate complex projects or change initiatives, translating strategic objectives into practical delivery plans Ability to facilitate meetings, workshops, and training sessions to support engagement and implementation of new ways of working Ability to analyse complex information or data, identify trends or issues, and present findings clearly to support project delivery Effective negotiation and influencing skills, used to gain cooperation and support for agreed plans and objectives Understanding of general practice and primary care systems, including IT systems, data, and operational processes Understanding of contracting, commissioning, procurement, and governance requirements relevant to project delivery within the NHS Strong IT skills, including use of Microsoft Office and project management software to support planning, monitoring, and reporting
Attitudes and Personal Characteristics Essential
Highly motivated and able to work independently within an agreed framework, exercising sustained concentration and sound judgement even when work patterns are unpredictable Flexible and resilient, adapting effectively to shifting priorities in a complex, fast paced environment that requires focus and composure Confident and clear communicator, able to build constructive working relationships with clinicians, managers, and external partners while maintaining attention to detail Consistently professional, demonstrating discretion and full adherence to confidentiality and information governance requirements Required to maintain focused attention when dealing with complex employee relations matters, interpreting policy, analysing case information, and providing advice. Required to regularly switch between tasks, respond to urgent queries, and manage competing priorities, which may interrupt planned work and require sustained concentration to ensure accurate and balanced decision-making.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details Employer name Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Address CNWL HQ
350 Euston Road
London
NW1 3AX
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/work (Opens in a new tab)