Deputy Regional Director (People and Culture)

We are seeking an exceptional senior leader to join NHS England as Deputy Regional Director (People & Culture). This pivotal role will shape and drive the people, culture and talent agenda across our systems ensuring our workforce has the skills, support and environment needed to deliver compassionate, high-quality care. You will lead one of our two system facing people teams.
As a key member of the regional Workforce, Training and Education senior leadership team, you will translate the national People Strategy into effective system-wide delivery, providing expert oversight on culture, organisational development, HR professionals talent management, and workforce improvement programmes. You will lead a multidisciplinary team, build strong relationships with providers, and national partners, and ensure best practice in areas including EDI, staff experience, people professional transformation and pay and reward governance
We are looking for a highly credible and inclusive leader with Board-level NHS experience or equivalent, exceptional influencing skills, and a strong track record of delivering transformational change. You will role-model NHS values, champion diversity, and bring strategic insight, resilience, and political acumen to a complex and fast-moving environment., + Lead one of the regional People system-facing teams to deliver our People and Education Strategy.
+ Provide assurance and oversight for pay, reward, governance and delivery of people and culture priorities.
+ Drive culture, organisational development and workforce improvement across systems and providers.
+ Oversee key programmes including EDI, staff experience, talent, leadership, and people profession transformation.
+ Build strong relationships with system leaders, providers and national partners to support improvement.
+ Lead and develop a multidisciplinary team, creating an inclusive, high-performing culture., Applicants from within the NHS will be offered on a secondment basis only, agreement should be obtained from their employer prior to submitting the application.
Our commitments to you
We are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better patient outcomes.
We strive to ensure our people feel trusted, valued and empowered. When you join us, we want you to grow and excel, and we offer many opportunities for you to do that.
We welcome your talent and enthusiasm irrespective of age, disability, neuro-divergence, sex, gender identity and gender expression, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances.
We ensure all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process. This includes considering reasonable adjustments for people who have a disability and/or who are neuro-divergent.
We welcome applications from disabled candidates. If you meet all the essential criteria, you will be guaranteed an interview.
Your application is your opportunity to demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the role. While we appreciate you may have had some support with your application (for example, using AI technology or guidance from a trusted individual), it's important all the information you provide in it reflects your own knowledge, skills and experience and we trust that you apply on that basis.
If you're applying for this role on a secondment basis, please get agreement from your current line manager before you apply.
We don't accept applications via recruitment agencies, and we cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.
To comply with the HM Government Functional Standard GovS 007, and specifically the Personnel Security Standards 2024, individuals employed or contracted by NHS England may be required to undergo a Baseline Personnel Security Standards check, dependent on the role.
NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for processing your application; our privacy can be accessed directly on the application page when you select to apply.

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 support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you and your colleagues. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement, whether that's a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern.