NHS England

Regional Medical Director (South East)

The closing date is 15 October 2025

Job summary

The Regional Chief Medical Officer will be a key role within the South East Regional team.

The Regional Chief Medical Officer is a key leadership role in the Regional health system, with responsibility, in conjunction with other leaders from across the professional spectrum, for delivery of high-quality clinical services for the Region's population, in line with NHS and other governmental priorities. The prime aim is to secure ongoing improvement in clinical outcomes and the experience of care for the population.

The post holder will be a member of the senior Regional Executive Team, and will be accountable to the Regional Director, with professional accountability to the National Medical Director. There may be opportunities to undertake National work at the request of the National Medical Director. The post holder will provide professional and clinical leadership to regional and local networks of clinicians to support and drive change in collaboration with the Regional Chief Nurse.

Main duties of the job

providing system leadership and clinical advice and ensuring system resilience with a focus on positive outcomes and overall quality and safety of patient care.
overseeing clinical commissioning of specialist services, health and justice services and leading strategic medical input to primary care and public health service commissioning.
regional surveillance and quality assurance of NHS healthcare providers.
determining clinical support for trusts in National Oversight Framework (NOF) to ensure that trusts receive the necessary support to improve.
oversight of professional standards systems and processes to ensure doctors are supported, fit to practice and are delivering high quality of care for patients.
leading Clinical Senates, with responsibility for developing and overseeing implementation of senate work plans.
providing clinical leadership to digital transformation to enhance patient care and to support self-directed care by patients.

This individual will drive and oversee implementation of system wide improvement bringing together multiple players in the NHS landscape to address both short term and longer-term issues surrounding patient care and safety. They will have the opportunity to effect significant transformation and improvement in health inequalities and outcomes for the people of the South East.

About us

Our work supports the NHS to deliver high quality services for patients and best value for taxpayers.

Our staff bring expertise across hundreds of specialisms -- including clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial -- 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 our people can make a difference and achieve their potential
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
Delivering value for money

Earlier this year, the Government announced that NHS England will gradually merge with the Department of Health and Social Care, leading to full integration. The aim is to create a smaller, more strategic centre that reduces duplication and eliminates 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 recruitment process.

Date posted

01 October 2025

Pay scheme

Hospital medical and dental staff

Grade

Doctor - other

Salary

£135,000 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

990-SE-17847-E

Job locations

Wellington House

London (or South East Offices)

SE1 8UG

Job description

Job responsibilities

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.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Medically qualified with current licence to practice

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

Extensive experience at senior level working as a Board Director within an NHS organisation
Good understanding of health system dynamics and policy
Knowledge of best practice on quality in healthcare
Credible professional knowledge, appreciation of complex healthcare systems and recognised as a clinical leader
Significant experience of setting strategic direction that will have major and significant impact across a large-scale function
Evidence of practical application of the professional regulatory framework and associated policies across a variety of complex situations
Recent and relevant experience of effectively leading and managing teams of multi-disciplinary staff through contemporary smart working methods and achieving high levels of staff satisfaction

Skills, Abilities and Attributes

Essential

High degree of emotional intelligence, self-awareness and resilience
Ability to work effectively between strategic and operational activities as required.

Values and Behaviours

Essential

Demonstrable commitment to and focus on quality, promotes high standards to consistently improve patient outcomes and seeks out innovation

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

Medically qualified with current licence to practice

Experience and Knowledge

Essential

Extensive experience at senior level working as a Board Director within an NHS organisation
Good understanding of health system dynamics and policy
Knowledge of best practice on quality in healthcare
Credible professional knowledge, appreciation of complex healthcare systems and recognised as a clinical leader
Significant experience of setting strategic direction that will have major and significant impact across a large-scale function
Evidence of practical application of the professional regulatory framework and associated policies across a variety of complex situations
Recent and relevant experience of effectively leading and managing teams of multi-disciplinary staff through contemporary smart working methods and achieving high levels of staff satisfaction

Skills, Abilities and Attributes

Essential

High degree of emotional intelligence, self-awareness and resilience
Ability to work effectively between strategic and operational activities as required.

Values and Behaviours

Essential

Demonstrable commitment to and focus on quality, promotes high standards to consistently improve patient outcomes and seeks out innovation

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Additional information

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

NHS England

Address

Wellington House

London (or South East Offices)

SE1 8UG

Employer's website

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/working-for/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

NHS England

Address

Wellington House

London (or South East Offices)

SE1 8UG

Employer's website

https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/working-for/ (Opens in a new tab)