Head of Profession

We are looking for someone passionate and enthusiastic to lead the development of standards, embedding and driving continuous improvement of strategic delivery management practices across complex portfolios within NHSBSA.

We would love for you to refine and champion the organisation's approach to Agile delivery, ensuring alignment with national standards (GDS, CDDO, Service Manual), and act as the senior authority on delivery excellence.

Building and leading an already thriving professional delivery community, setting standards, frameworks, and career pathways that support capability growth, recruitment, and professional development. You will also lead delivery assurance activities, including service assessments and supplier governance, ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery across internal teams and third-party partners.

Working collaboratively with key senior stakeholders promoting a multidisciplinary approach to delivery, ensuring that teams are equipped with the right skills, tools, and support to deliver effectively. You will foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement across professions.

Through collaboration, coaching, and strategic innovation horizon scanning, you will shape delivery culture across DDaT to support the NHSBSAs strategic ambition to be the delivery partner of choice for the health and care system.

Main duties of the job

As Head of Profession for (Agile) Delivery Management, you will be:

• Setting the strategic direction for Delivery Management
• Leading the development and implementation of Agile Delivery practices, frameworks and policies
• Defining and maintaining delivery assurance processes
• Building and leading a high performing professional community of Delivery Managers
• Collaborating with other Heads of Profession to promote a multidisciplinary approach to delivery
• Designing and implementing structured career pathways and competency frameworks
• Leading the recruitment strategy for Delivery Management
• Coaching and mentoring delivery professionals and teams, embedding Agile mindsets
• Driving innovation through horizon scanning
• Contributing to the overall DDaT delivery Strategy
• Leading the NHSBSA Delivery Assessment Community
• Managing the delivery management budget in line with financial planning and commercial oversight

For a more detailed breakdown of the role and responsibilities please take a look at the job description attached to the advert. We welcome conversations about this opportunity, so please don't hesitate to reach out if you want to find out more.

About Us

Here at the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), what we do matters.

We manage the NHS Pension scheme, process prescription payments and much more. Our services are used by NHS organisations, contractors and the public: we're proud to be part of something meaningful, that touches millions of lives.

We design our services around customer needs and place people at the heart of our organisation. That's why when you join us, you'll be empowered and supported to help your career grow.

As one of the UK's Best Big Companies to work for, we're connected to our values: Collaborative, Adventurous, Reliable and Energetic. We care about our people, our purpose, and your progress.

We strive to offer a fantastic colleague experience, where every colleague is heard, supported and respected. Wellbeing, diversity and inclusion is at the centre of this, and you can join our Lived Experience Networks who help us bring our authentic selves to work.

We're committed to being a flexible employer and we try to offer a working pattern that suits you where possible, through hybrid working, flexible hours and more.

Alongside a competitive salary with pay progression, we offer a people-centric benefits package, connecting you to the rewards and benefits you value most

Ready to join us in delivering business service excellence to the NHS, helping people live longer, healthier lives? Apply today and see where the NHSBSA can take you.

We are people connected to care.

Job responsibilities

In this role you are accountable for:

• Setting the strategic direction for Delivery Management across DDaT, ensuring alignment with national standards and organisational priorities and inputting into the direction of delivery in bids/new SoWs.
• Leading the development and implementation of Agile delivery practices, frameworks, policies and standards that support consistent, high-quality delivery across multidisciplinary teams and third-party suppliers
• Defining and maintaining delivery assurance processes, including service assessments, supplier performance reviews, and governance compliance across the DDaT Directorate engaging with wider multi disciplinary teams.
• Building and leading a high-performing professional community of Delivery Managers, fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Collaborating with other Heads of Profession to promote a multidisciplinary approach to delivery, ensuring integrated ways of working across DDaT and beyond.
• Designing and implementing structured career pathways, competency frameworks, and training programmes to support professional development and talent progression.
• Leading the recruitment strategy for the Delivery Management profession, working with HR and DDaT Capability leads. Engaging with Talent Acquisition to foster new and innovative ways of recruiting and retaining talent
• Coaching and mentoring delivery professionals and teams, embedding Agile mindsets and supporting transformation initiatives.
• Driving innovation through horizon scanning and external engagement, identifying emerging delivery trends and translating them into actionable improvements.
• Acting as a senior advisor on delivery strategy, contributing to working groups, panels, and cross-government communities to influence national delivery standards.
• Contributing to the overall DDaT Delivery Strategy as well as providing evidence of service and performance improvements across services.
• Leading the NHSBSA Delivery Assessment Community, ensuring consistent application of service assessment standards and readiness assurance.
• Managing the delivery management budget, ensuring strategic financial planning and commercial oversight. Monitoring, and reporting in line with NHSBSA policies and strategic goals.
• Monitoring and reporting on delivery performance using relevant metrics and KPIs to drive accountability and continuous improvement.
• Empowering delivery managers to proactively measure the productivity of their teams, providing a framework and tools to enable this.
• Representing NHSBSA and the Delivery Management profession internally and externally, including senior stakeholder forums and strategic advisory panels, enhancing the organisations reputation and influence.
• Deputising for the Head of DDaT Capability and Operations and/or Heads of DDaT Delivery and Consultancy as required.
• Use and explore complex data sets to support strategic decision making.
• Work closely with the data teams to align delivery measurement with enterprise data standards, ensuring reproducibility of delivery metrics.
• Ensure that clear metrics, KPIs are in place and aligned to the reporting standards. This will provide stakeholders with clear, accessible, and regular reporting on value, pace quality, and outcomes from delivery.
• Demonstrating emotional resilience and strategic decision-making under pressure, particularly in high-stakes delivery environments and complex stakeholder