Job summary
NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) are recruiting for a new Director of Patient Experience to lead national transformational reform work on patient experience.
This role will deliver reform across patient experience, feedback, and complaints as outlined in the 10 Year Health Plan and Dash Review. The postholder will drive ambitious reforms in NHS complaints handling, and the data collection, analysis, and will champion patient voice across NHS England, DHSC, and wider NHS, ensuring that the voices of patients, service users and the public are at the heart of decision-making. They will drive action in improving patient experience across the health service and ensure that national policy is informed by and responsive to patient feedback.
We welcome applications from a wide range of experiences including NHS, wider public service, and customer focused industries and have:
Substantial executive-level experience in customer service and customer journeys from any sector including the private sector.
Extensive experience of big data and analysis and digital schemes
Experience of working with of the needs of diverse and seldom heard communities.
People who have extensive experience of working with both internal and external partners to drive improvement.
Main duties of the job
Reporting to the Chief Executive of NHS England and the Chief Nursing Officer for England, the post provides professional leadership across the NHS on patient experience , developing and embedding innovative and technological solutions help local NHS systems to see and improve care from patient perspectives, and to champion and support patient experience as one of the three dimensions of quality. They will lead delivery of patient experience elements of the NHS 10 Year Health Plan, and upcoming NHS Quality Strategy, and work collaboratively with other national directors and external stakeholders on their implementation.
Drawing from extensive experience in patient and/or customer service at an executive level, including learning from outside of the NHS the ideal candidate will develop a new and more ambitious and systematic intelligence system to gather information on how patients, unpaid carers, and service users are using and experiencing NHS care.
The postholder will develop strategies and approaches which increase public transparency of patient experience data, and mechanisms which build engagement with patient experience and VCSE organisations.
They will value collaborative and inclusive relationships, have an empathetic and compassionate personal style, and have a proven ability to have an independent viewpoint and champion transparency. They will also champion and ensure focus on those who are seldom heard.
About us
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
- Delivering value for money
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.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
Details
Date posted
13 April 2026
Pay scheme
Very senior manager (VSM)
Salary
£131,303 to £146,450 a year per annum
Contract
Permanent
Working pattern
Full-time, Part-time, Job share, Flexible working, Compressed hours
Reference number
990-CNO-EC1812-E
Job locations
Any NHSE or DHSC Office
Nationally
SE1 8UG
Employer details
Employer name
NHS England
Address
Any NHSE or DHSC Office
Nationally
SE1 8UG
Employer's website
https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/working-for/ (Opens in a new tab)
Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact:
