Head of Hard FM

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 m, 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.

Main duties of the job

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.

The NHS England board has 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

If you would like to know more or require further information, please visit

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.

Knowledge & Qualifications

• 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 gases, water safety etc, lifts, ventilation

Skills & Experience

• 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 (HTMs and HBNs)
• Demonstrable communication skills and senior level stakeholder engagement, including distilling highly technical information
• Evidence of managing a team of technical specialists, including outsourced specialists

£99,808 to £113,803 a year (inclusive of London Weighting)

We particularly welcome applications from under-represented groups. For an informal discussion, contact Kay Mulcahy, AD of National Estate Operations: .