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NHS England
About
NHS England leads the NHS in England to deliver high quality care for all. We support NHS organisations to deliver better outcomes for our patients and communities, work to get the best possible value for taxpayers, and drive improvement across the NHS.
Through our seven regional teams, NHS England supports local integrated care systems, made up of public services that provide health and care – NHS organisations, primary care professionals, local councils, social care providers and the community, voluntary and social enterprise sector – to improve the health of the population, improve the quality of care, tackle inequalities and deliver care more efficiently.
Head of Hard FM
Accepting applications until: 16-Sep-2025 23:59
Vacancy status: Open
Accepting applications until: 16-Sep-2025 23:59
Key details
Location
- Site
- Wellington House / Wellington Pl, Leeds
- Address
- 133-155 Waterloo Rd
- Town
- London
- Postcode
- SE1 8UG
- Major / Minor Region
- West Yorkshire
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Fixed term: 12 months (until 31st October 2026 - Secondment only for current NHS employees)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Salary
- Salary
- £99,808 - £113,803 per annum (inclusive of London Weighting)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (NHS AfC: Band 8d)
Specialty
- Main area
- Estates
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
Transforming Our Estate for the Future
There has never been a more important time to join the NHS. We’re transforming our estate to deliver 21st-century care and the best possible outcomes for patients. Estates are central to the government’s 10-Year Health Plan and Infrastructure Strategy, placing the built environment at the heart of NHS transformation. We’ve laid the groundwork for fundamental change—now we need visionary leaders to help us realise the benefits and drive lasting impact.
Our ambitions are bold: becoming the world’s first net zero health system by 2040, setting global standards for sustainable healthcare, building 40 new state-of-the-art hospitals, and accelerating investment in community-based care. This is a pivotal moment in NHS history—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help shape the future of the largest estate in the UK.
The NHS estate spans 27 million m², with 1.4 million staff working across 17,000 buildings, including 1,140 hospitals and 7,500 primary care sites. Around 100,000 estates and facilities professionals keep our services running. With £7 billion in operational capital and nearly £14 billion in annual EFM spend, the scale is vast—and the potential for transformation even greater.
Join us as we work to future-proof our estate and deliver care fit for generations to come. We’re looking for passionate individuals ready to lead, innovate, and make a lasting difference in healthcare infrastructure and patient experience.
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About the role
Reporting to the Associate Director of Estates Operations, you will provide technical advice to support operational safety and drive the development of technical guidance. Ensuring that safety regulations and legislation are understood and reflected in guidance, your focus will be on critical aspects of patient safety and improvement. Your responsibility for developing robust and progressive hard FM assurance guidance that meet legislative requirements, will ensure a safe and fit for purpose estate. You will be adept at developing strategic and operational policies and reports to promote innovative ways of delivery. You will work as part of a wider team creating a positive working culture to drive reforms for safety and excellence, representing the engineering community and engaging with key stakeholders and professional bodies.
An NHS champion of EFM careers, you will help to raise the profile of engineering and STEM careers.
About you
A chartered engineer, you will have deep knowledge and experience of EFM technical guidance and standards, with specialist experience in one or more areas relevant to the NHS. You'll bring innovative new ideas to the role, with the communication skills and energy to drive change and build trusted relationships. You'll be able to translate complex, technical information into simple clear reporting, documentation, and advice to the Senior Leadership Team. You'll be passionate about professional development which we will support.
Working for our organisation
The NHS England board have set out the top-level purpose for the new organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all, which will inform the detailed design work and we will achieve this purpose 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.
If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit https://www.england.nhs.uk/.
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.
If you are successful at interview, we will run an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) in the Electronic Staff Record system (ESR). This transfer gathers valuable information from a previous or current NHS employer to support the onboarding process, including; statutory and mandatory competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You will have the opportunity throughout the recruitment process to inform us if you do not consent.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The National Estates and Facilities Team
The purpose of our team is to provide a clean, safe, and sustainable estate and patient environment across the NHS. The national team of c120 people is made up of a diverse mix of skills and expertise but we have a common purpose - to provide the best possible services and outcomes for our patients. We work across all aspects of estates and facilities functions from national policies and workforce strategy to regional and local delivery through local healthcare systems.
Why join us
People are central to what we do - both in terms of our patient-led care but just as importantly, our brilliant team. We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and compassionate workforce supporting everyone to reach their full potential.
This means we care about your professional development and training as well as your personal health and wellbeing. You'll be joining a supportive and friendly team where you can truly be yourself. You'll also have access to fantastic benefits such as our pension scheme, great annual leave entitlement and flexible working opportunities to give you the work/life balance that suits your lifestyle and caring responsibilities.
If you are passionate about estates and facilities and want to make a tangible difference to people's lives, join us on this exciting journey as we transition to the Department of Health and Social Care and amplify our impact.
We particularly welcome applications from under-represented groups.
For an informal discussion, contact Kay Mulcahy, AD of National Estate Operations: [email protected].
Application Form Supporting Statement Guidelines
To help us build a better picture of how you can help us meet our ambitions, please respond to the following in the Supporting Statement section:
- What values, behaviours and leadership expertise will you bring to our team and how will this help us achieve our goals?
- What expertise do you have in leading and coordinating specialist technical programmes, including outsourced services?
- What expertise do you have in distilling highly technical information to allow senior leaders to make informed decisions?
- What innovation do you believe you can bring to the role?
How does this role fit with your career so far and your long-term aspirations? - What sets you apart from other candidates
Please also confirm you are a Chartered Engineer and include your professional registration number.
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.
Applicant requirements
Person specification
Values and Behaviours
Essential criteria
- Has answered What values, behaviours and leadership expertise will you bring to our team and how will this help us achieve our goals?
- Has answered What expertise do you have in leading and coordinating specialist technical programmes, including outsourced services?
- Has answered What expertise do you have in distilling highly technical information to allow senior leaders to make informed decisions?
- Has answered What innovation do you believe you can bring to the role?
- Has answered How does this role fit with your career so far and your long-term aspirations?
- Has answered What sets you apart from other candidates
Knowledge & Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Chartered Engineer with an engineering degree/masters level qualification (or equivalent experience) or an engineering degree/masters level qualification and actively working towards chartership status. Both with membership to relevant professional body.
- Evidence of providing technical advice to support NHS operational safety and the development of technical standards and guidance.
- Relevant Hard FM expertise e.g. electrical safety, medical gasses, water safety etc, lifts, ventilation
Skills & Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant experience in engineering and Hard FM, preferably in the NHS or equivalent health system
- In depth knowledge of regulatory, professional and NHS standards and technical guidance (HTM’s and HBN’s)
- Demonstrable communication skills and senior level stakeholder engagement, including distilling highly technical information
- Evidence of managing a team of technical specialists, including outsourced specialists
Documents
- Job description and person specification (PDF, 496.6KB)
- Occupational Functional Requirements Form (PDF, 69.8KB)
- NHSE - Verification of ID and RTW Guide (PDF, 306.6KB)
- Guide to Completing Your Application (DOCX, 42.7KB)
- Note for Existing NHS Employees applying for Fixed Term vacancies (DOCX, 26.2KB)
- Redundancy Clawback (PDF, 16.7KB)
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Fiona Daly
- Job title
- Director of Sustainability & Workforce
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07519293013
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