Job summary
NHS England supports NHS organisations to deliver better outcomes for patients and communities, working to get the best possible value for taxpayers, and driving improvement across the NHS. The national level of NHS England works through seven regional teams that provide strategic leadership and oversight of their regional health system.

The North East & Yorkshire Region is one of these teams and works to ensure that the NHS organisations within their geography are high performing, sustainable and delivering reform in line with the requirements of the 10 Year Health Plan. Regional teams are also accountable for regional health system performance - covering quality, access, delivery of national standards, finance, productivity, strategy and improving population health.

Reporting to the NHS England Regional Director and working as part of the collective Regional Executive Team, the Regional Medical Director will:

• provide senior strategic leadership of the NHS across the region
• support senior leaders (including Medical Directors) in providers and commissioners as they carry out their organisation responsibilities
• contribute to the regional quality, planning, performance, regulatory oversight and improvement processes that form the core of NHS England Regional Team functions

Main duties of the job
The Regional Medical Director is also directly responsible for:

• leading the regional Medical Directorate Senior Management Team
• Undertaking the Higher Level Responsible Officer (HLRO) role and be accountable for the Professional Standards function for the North East & Yorkshire region
• Providing senior clinical leadership in emergency preparedness and incident response
• Managing the Regional Chief Pharmacist function which has statutory accountabilities in relation to Controlled Drugs and oversight of Anti-microbial Resilience Stewardship
• Leading the assurance, engagement and support for Health Innovation Networks within the region in their role to engender and spread innovation
• Lead the oversight of the implementation of Modern Service Frameworks that fall within the RMD portfolio including (but not limited to) Mental Health, Learning Disabilities & Autism, Cardiovascular Disease (including Stroke), End of Life & Palliative Care and Sepsis
• Supporting the promotion and utilisation of research to improve health and care outcomes

About us
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.

Job responsibilities
To fulfil this role, the postholder will need to have:

• highly developed professional and leadership skills
• the ability to form and maintain relationships and partnerships to support collaborative working
• significant experience of working as a senior medical leader in a healthcare organisation

The full responsibilities and requirements of the role can be found in the job description and personal specification. The role is under review with the Regional Director and may change.

The postholder will be able to work from any NHS England office base in the North East & Yorkshire Region although a significant amount of the work can/will be conducted remotely via Microsoft Teams. This role is established on a 1.0 whole time equivalent / 10 session per week basis but consideration can be given to applicants wishing to retain a small amount of clinical practice whilst undertaking the Regional Medical Director role.

Please note this role requires an essential medical qualification with a current license to practice. This also includes up to date Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements in accordance with the requirements of an appropriate recognised professional body. Desirable criteria include a relevant post graduate diploma, masters degree, Doctorate and management qualification, training.

Person Specification
Leadership
Essential

• First in class leadership skills from a breadth of disciplines, a visionary and strategic thinker

Qualifications
Essential

• Medically qualified with current licence to practice
• Continuing Professional Development' (CPD) requirements (i.e. be up to date) in accordance with the requirements of an appropriate recognised professional body

Skills and experience
Essential

• Significant experience of operating at board level and a substantial track record of delivering results in very complex high-profile environments

Sector knowledge
Essential

• Demonstrable technical understanding of NHS providers, commissioners and systems, the financial processes they require for success, and the regulatory/control environment, in which they operate.

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.

UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

NHS England is an equal opportunities employer.