You can search for job vacancies at NHS England using the search below or by visiting NHS Jobs.
We are 1.3 million strong
We are from all walks of life
We are the NHS
And you could be too.
The NHS offers many different roles, in different settings, with different ways of working, within hundreds of organisations.
This creates a unique opportunity for people who want a varied, flexible and challenging career within a world-class culture.
You can search for job vacancies at NHS England using the search below or by visiting NHS Jobs.
If you’re not sure what you’re looking for, you can explore over 350 careers, compare specific opportunities and take the find a career quiz on the Health Careers website.
Anyone working in any part of the NHS should feel part of a team where we bring out the very best in one another – inspiring each and every person and unleashing potential.
Main area Ophthalmology Grade Head of School (HoS) Contract Secondment: 12 months (until 31 March 2027) Hours Part time - 1 session per week (4 hours per week) Job ref 990-EOE-EC1474-E
Site Victoria House Town Cambridge Salary In line with HoS sessional payments Closing 25/03/2026 23:59
Our Organisation
The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive – and we all have our part to play.
As employers we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities.
As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. 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. In addition, although the role advertised may have a ‘home’ office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
We are an accredited Living Wage Employer which means that every colleague working for our organisation and third-party contractors will earn a real Living Wage. We are one of over 15,000 organisations, who voluntarily chose to pay the real Living Wage.
Job overview
The role of Head of School for Ophthalmology is to work with and support the Postgraduate Dean in leading the delivery of a wide range of functions, aligned to the NHS England mandate.
Educator roles are usually recruited for a fixed 3 year term, maximum of 2 x 3 year tenure, however due to NHSE organisational change currently we are only able to offer contract till 31 March 2027. We are hoping this will be reviewed soon.
The salary contribution towards this role is in line with TPD sessional payments at £12,000 per session. Please make sure you discuss it with your employer before applying.
Main duties of the job
The Head of School is professionally and managerially accountable to the Postgraduate Dean. The HoS will focus upon improvement of learner supervision, assessment and experience, engagement of faculty and ensuring effective educational outcomes, both now and in the future. The role is evolving and will also focus on whole workforce transformation and developing multi-professional links.
Working for our organisation
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.
We lead the NHS in England by:
* Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities
* Making the NHS a great place to work, where people can develop and make a difference
* Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
* Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
Earlier this year, the Government announced that NHS England will gradually merge with the Department of Health and Social Care, to create a smaller, more strategic centre that reduces duplication and waste.
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-person.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Education and Training Quality Improvement and Performance
* To emphasise the importance and promote the development of a quality learning environment for all learners.
* To support Postgraduate Deans in meeting all NHSE statutory requirements.
Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality Improvement
* Assist in the development of quality processes which are complementary across the healthcare workforce.
* To support the use of clinical skills training and simulation (where appropriate/applicable), stressing the importance of teamwork and human factors.
To oversee School programme management and advise Postgraduate Deans on the following matters:
* Specialty-specific matters and trainee/trainer concerns;
* Recruitment to training posts and programmes;
* Postgraduate programme management, including assessments, progression, rotations, support and remediation, OOP management, trainee management, careers support, less than full-time training, interdeanery transfer, academic training and other related work-streams.
* To oversee the School structure and relevant School meetings within the structure.
Educational and Workforce Development
To advise and support the Postgraduate Dean in educational and workforce development elements, including:
* Professional Development of the educational faculty
* To support compliance with requirements particularly with regard to the supervision and support for trainees and learners.
* To identify learning needs and support provision of educational appraisal, educator development and resource for faculty, trainees and learners.
* To create and promote shared learning opportunities to increase effective inter-professional working across the School.
* To ensure local intelligence processes inform quality management processes.
* To engage with information systems (trainee database, post establishments).
Strategic Workforce Development and Commissioning
* To contribute to workforce planning, ensuring clinical engagement with local and national workforce planning processes.
* To develop educational programmes where needed to support achievement of curriculum competencies, engaging with commissioning processes as required.
* To identify and support the implementation of alternative workforce solutions within the School.
* To advise the Postgraduate Dean on commissioning and decommissioning activities.
Finance
* To engage with business planning processes and associated School budgets as needed.
* To ensure compliance with procurement requirements.
You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
Secondments
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.
Person specification
Qualifications
* Membership/Fellowship of a College, Faculty, professional association and/or regulatory body
* Attendance at courses aimed to support educational development
* Primary clinical healthcare qualification
* Educational qualification such as postgraduate certificate diploma or masters in medical education
Experience
* Considerable experience of working with learners or doctors in training in an educational context
* Experience of clinical and educational leadership and innovation, including managing a multi-professional team
* Understanding of developments involving the relevant Colleges/Faculties, professional bodies related NHS organisations and regulatory bodies
* Previous or current appointment as a leader in healthcare education
* Awareness of funding streams for healthcare education
* Understanding of current health, social care and education policy
Skills
* Demonstrable leadership skills and an ability to influence and motivate others
* Ability to quickly establish personal and professional credibility with colleagues and other key Stakeholders
* Committed to own personal development and an ability to support others to develop and progress
* Ability to rapidly establish academic credibility
Behaviours and Values
* To contribute to the vision of the local NHS and to enhance patient care by providing leadership and direction with respect to the quality of education and training
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. We’re passionate about nurturing and developing people. 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 have policies and procedures to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process, including the consideration of 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 to us how you meet the requirements of the role. Whilst we appreciate that you may have had support with your application (e.g., using AI technology or guidance from a trusted individual), it’s important that the information contained within your application reflects your own knowledge, skill, and experience and we trust that you apply on that basis.
If applying for this role on a secondment basis, please make sure you have obtained prior agreement from your current line manager to apply for this position.
Please note that we currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies.
Please note that we cannot offer visa sponsorship for any of our 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.
The NHS Business Services Authority is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice can be accessed directly on the application page when you select to apply.
If you have applied via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through NHS Jobs, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any emails sent to us via NHS Jobs. If you have a query relating to your application, please contact the recruitment team on nhse@nhsbsa.nhs.uk or 0300 330 1369.
NHS England
Employer certification / accreditation badges
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
#J-18808-Ljbffr