Job summary

The NHS Transforming People Services (TPS) programme sits at the heart of delivering the NHS 10 Year Health Plan -- creating a workforce that is empowered, flexible and digitally enabled to meet the evolving needs of patients and communities.

This is more than a transformation role, it is an opportunity to redefine how people services are delivered across the NHS and directly influence the experience of one of the largest workforces in the world.

The Professional Development Manager will play an important role in strengthening the capability, skills and future readiness of the NHS People Profession. The postholder will support the design, development and delivery of professional development initiatives that enable people professionals across the NHS to build the knowledge, confidence and expertise needed to lead workforce transformation and deliver high-quality people services.

The role will work collaboratively with colleagues across the NHS, professional networks and external partners to identify development needs, share best practice and support the delivery of innovative learning and development opportunities. Using evidence, insight and feedback from the profession, the postholder will help shape and continuously improve the professional development offer, ensuring it reflects emerging priorities, national workforce needs and best practice.

Main duties of the job

• Support the development of professional development initiatives that strengthen capability, skills and future readiness of the NHS People Profession. For example, learning and development programmes, career pathways, professional standards.

• Manage the delivery of learning and development programmes for the NHS People Profession, ensuring there are opportunities across all levels of the profession.

• Work with NHS organisations and professional networks to identify development needs, share best practice and support talent development.

• Evaluate the impact of learning and development programmes, using insight, feedback and evidence to continuously improve the national professional development offer.

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the future of the NHS People Profession, supporting the development of talented people professionals and helping to build the capability needed to deliver sustainable workforce transformation across the health system.

Most importantly, you will be part of a team delivering change that improves the experience of the NHS workforce and supporting better outcomes for patients and communities nationwide.

About us

NHS England has a wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers. These are focused on supporting the wider NHS to deliver high quality care, as well as doing those things that are best done once for the whole NHS.

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.

In March 2025, the Government announced that NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care will increasingly merge functions, ultimately leading to NHS England being fully integrated into the department.

If you currently work within the NHS and 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 our offices.

Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.

We cannot offer visa sponsorship for any vacancies.