Director of Elective Diagnostics and Cancer Care
Closing date: 16 July 2026
We are seeking an exceptional, forward-thinking leader to join our senior team as Director of Elective Diagnostics and Cancer. This is a pivotal system-wide role leading the transformation of commissioning across elective care, diagnostics and cancer services.
You will play a key leadership role in shaping and delivering a new strategic operating model across our Integrated Care Systems, driving innovation, recovery and long-term improvement in population health outcomes. Working collaboratively with partners across health, care and national bodies, you will ensure high-quality, person-centred services that meet the needs of our communities.
Main duties of the job
- Provide strategic oversight of elective care, diagnostics, cancer and specialist commissioning
- Lead large-scale transformation and performance improvement across complex systems
- Drive data‑led, outcome‑focused commissioning and value for money
- Build strong partnerships across NHS, local authorities and wider stakeholders
- Influence at regional and national levels to align local delivery with NHS priorities
About us
Working for our Integrated Care Boards will require you contributing to a shared purpose of improving outcomes for the communities we serve as part of a wider health and social care system. The organisation’s ethos is rooted in integrity, collaboration and accountability, with a strong focus on putting its patient population at the centre of everything it does and delivering services to improve patient outcomes, patient experience and added years of optimised health. As part of the newly formed cluster bringing together NHS Northamptonshire ICB and NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB, staff are expected to work flexibly and collaboratively across organisational boundaries to support a joined‑up approach to strategic commissioning and service improvement. There is an expectation of 40% office attendance, with office bases at County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester and Haylock House, Kettering. Staff can choose which office is their primary base for contractual purposes and travel claims.
Job responsibilities
- Drive implementation and delivery of the NHS Strategic Commissioning Framework and LNR Operating Model.
- The role will lead five core functions
- Elective care for both NHS and Independent Sector
- Cancer
- Right to Choose Accreditation for elective pathways
- The postholder will provide inspirational and system‑wide leadership.
- Design and delivery of Commissioning and contracting strategies
- Insight‑driven commissioning.
- Drive cost‑effective, outcome‑focused commissioning
- Market management strategies.
- System Engagement and statutory duties.
- They will participate in the strategic manager on‑call rota.
Person Specification
Knowledge, Training and Experience
- Educated to master’s level in relevant subject or equivalent level of experience of working at a similar level in specialist area
- Extensive knowledge of and expertise in specialisms relevant to function and role
- Proven and significant leadership experience
- Significant evidence of continued professional development
- Demonstrated expertise in a Healthcare environment
- Significant management experience at senior level in the NHS or other public healthcare related industry
- Proven Board level experience of leading and delivering complex change and strategy development programmes in a politically sensitive and complex environment
- Commissioning expertise in healthcare environment
- Significant experience and understanding of proven implementation of project management methodologies
- Awareness of relevant public and private sector business management best practice
- Experience of successfully operating in and delivering priorities in a partnership environment
- Development and delivery of strategy and planning
Communication Skills
- Dynamic personality and the ability to build trusted stakeholder relationships and wide support networks in a political context
- Strong external communications skills in a politically sensitive environment and experience in handling media
- Ability to prepare and produce concise yet insightful communications for dissemination to senior stakeholders and a broad range of stakeholders as required
- Extensive experience of delivering presentations to large groups of stakeholders in often pressured and politically sensitive environments
- Commitment to listen to different views and opinions to drive better results
Analytical
- Ability to analyse highly complex issues where material is conflicting and drawn from multiple sources
- Demonstrated capability to act upon incomplete information, using experience to make inferences and decision making
- Ability to analyse numerical and written data, assess options and draw appropriate conclusion to inform initiatives
Planning Skills
- Leadership, vision, strategic thinking, and planning with highly developed political skills
- Demonstrated capability to plan over short, medium, and long‑term timeframes and adjust plans and resource requirements accordingly
- Experience of managing and prioritising a large budget
- Ability to provide informative reporting on finances and impact to Board management
- Experience of project and programme management techniques and tools such as Prince 2 or Managing Successful Projects
Autonomy
- Demonstrated capabilities to manage own workload and make informed decisions in the absence of required information, working to tight and often changing timescales
- Ability to make decisions autonomously, when required, on difficult issues
Management Skills
- Experience in leading a major change initiative with entrepreneurialism in a challenging organisational environment.
- Experience of creating a new team and motivating and inspiring staff to work together to achieve a common objective.
- Ability to work effectively between strategic and operational activities where required
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.
Employer name
NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board
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