The Transforming and Connecting Care (TCC) programme is a £1Bn major national transformation programme and a key enabler of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan. It will connect information across hospitals, general practice and community care, giving patients greater access and control while enabling health and care professionals to use the same connected patient record. Its six interdependent areas are the Single Patient Record, Event Based Architecture, Target Data Architecture, Genomics Data Infrastructure, public and staff engagement, and the ethical linking of health and non-health data. Together, these will support more joined-up, personalised and preventative care, enabled by secure, trusted and interoperable data and delivered through service transformation.

The Deputy Director of Programmes supports the Programme Director in translating this ambition into integrated, realistic and controlled delivery. The postholder leads the programme’s day-to-day delivery across projects, products and cross-cutting workstreams; aligns plans, resources, dependencies and decisions; provides visible leadership to delivery leads; and acts as a senior point of escalation. They deputise for the Programme Director as required and help maintain pace, coherence, accountability and confidence across this complex, high-profile programme

Lead and coordinate day-to-day delivery of TCC across projects, products and workstreams on behalf of the Programme Director. Translate the approved business case and outcome-based objectives into an integrated, resourced delivery plan, maintaining control of scope, schedule, cost, quality, benefits and risk.

Manage critical paths, dependencies, resources and change, taking corrective action and escalating issues outside delegated tolerances.

Maintain the disciplines expected of a Government major programme:

o Robust governance;

o Integrated assurance and approvals planning;

o Readiness for Gateway reviews;

o Implementation of assurance recommendations; and

o Accurate reporting on delivery confidence and performance to NHS England, DHSC and NISTA.

Support the SRO and Programme Director in reviewing the business case, Accounting Officer assessment, benefits case and delivery model, ensuring strategic alignment, affordability, value for money and deliverability.

Build strong relationships across government, the NHS, partners and suppliers; create a high-performing multidisciplinary team; ensure evidence and lessons inform decisions; and promote a culture where risks and delivery challenges are identified early.

Develop commercial strategy, lead procurement activity and manage supplier performance.

Deputise for the Programme Director and represent TCC at senior governance, assurance and stakeholder forums as required.

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.

You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, and person specification in the attached Job Description.

Please ensure your supporting statement includes demonstratable evidence and specific examples on how you meet the criteria for each of the key skills specified. This will be used in both the shortlisting and interview processes.