Employer: NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board
Location: Warrington, WA1 1QY
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: Full time
Disability Confident: No
Closing Date: 02/07/2026
A Vacancy at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board.
Programme Director for Mental Health, Learning Disability and Neurodiversity Transformation. Provide senior strategic leadership across the ICB to deliver large‑scale, systemwide improvements in mental health, autism, ADHD, learning disability, and neuro‑diversity pathways.
The post holder is accountable for shaping and driving a cohesive transformation portfolio that aligns with national policy, local population needs, and the ICB’s long‑term strategy.
Working collaboratively with NHS providers, local authorities, VCSE partners and clinical leaders, the Programme Director ensures programmes are co‑produced, evidence‑based, and deliver measurable improvements in outcomes, equity, access, and experience.
Job Summary As a Senior ICB Leader, this role will play a pivotal role in navigating and leading the transition to a new organisational model in line with the emerging Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Regional Blueprints, alongside the ambitions of the NHS 10‑Year Plan.
They will be responsible for steering the organisation through a period of significant transformation, embedding new ways of working across complex system partners, and ensuring safe and effective transition arrangements that maintain service continuity and quality.
The postholder will be expected to model adaptive and inclusive leadership, fostering a positive culture that enables collaboration, innovation and accountability while driving delivery of improved outcomes for local populations across Cheshire & Merseyside.
This will include leading cultural change, shaping system‑wide governance and performance, and securing alignment with both national policy direction and local system priorities.
As a senior ICB leader, this role extends beyond local system oversight to active engagement with national colleagues and senior leaders at a regional level, ensuring alignment between local delivery and national priorities.
This requires providing clear system leadership on commissioning and performance management, working collaboratively across organisational boundaries to interpret and implement national policy, manage assurance processes and secure the resources necessary to meet population health needs of Cheshire and Merseyside.
The position demands the ability to influence and challenge at the highest levels, balancing accountability to national standards with the flexibility to respond to local circumstances, while fostering effective partnerships across providers, local authorities and wider regional stakeholders to drive improvement and deliver consistent, high‑quality outcomes.
Act as a strategic commissioner, developing long‑term population health strategies, managing resources and driving the transition to neighbourhood models of care through strong system leadership.
Lead the development of new ways of working by understanding local needs, promoting population health outcomes and integrating services to provide better, more efficient care that reflects a whole‑person, whole‑population health approach.
Role requires exceptional leadership, political acumen, and the ability to influence at executive and board level while maintaining a relentless focus on delivering meaningful change for service users and communities.
The Programme Director will work with the Cheshire and Merseyside Mental Health Providers to support the development of an accountable MH system for the residents of Cheshire and Merseyside, promoting delegated commissioning and a new model of integrated delivery and commissioning, working with NHSE NW on Lead Provider Collaboratives as appropriate.
Attaching the full vacancy details in the attached Job Description and person specification.