The 10 year plan for Health is changing the NHS and local community landscape. In Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole (BCP) we are committed to working jointly to improve the lives of the people we serve. That is why we are recruiting a Place Director for BCP. This is a pivotal leadership role at the heart of shaping health and care outcomes for one of the most diverse and rapidly evolving areas within our Integrated Care System.
This is a rare opportunity to lead integrated health and care strategy for a population with significant variation in need, from coastal communities experiencing deprivation, to vibrant student, family and retirement populations. Your leadership will directly influence how services work together to improve population health, reduce inequalities, and deliver consistently high quality care across BCP.
Main duties of the jobThe Place Director is responsible for providing strategic leadership and ensuring strong local relationships between the ICB and local leaders within a defined geographical Place within the cluster (defined for this purpose as a Council area). They represent the ICB at place as a senior system leader leading the local commissioning of integrated, neighbourhood-based health and care services, ensuring alignment with local population health needs, local priorities, and system-wide objectives. The Place Director is responsible for ensuring that commissioned services delivered by providers in their area achieve the agreed outcomes.
The post-holder will support delivery of the ICBs statutory duties at place, including promoting integration with local authorities and partners, reducing inequalities, improving service quality, and ensuring public involvement in decisions affecting local communities. The role will ensure that place-based plans and delivery arrangements comply with the NHS Constitution, safeguarding requirements, and the statutory Triple Aim, and will contribute to the ICBs duties relating to population health, quality improvement and efficient use of resources.
About usOverview of Our Organisation
In Dorset, we work together across Place to improve the health, wellbeing and life opportunities of the people who live and work in our communities. Our partnerships are rooted locally, bringing together organisations and teams who know their populations best and can act quickly to make a real difference.
We are part of a wider Cluster with our partners in Somerset and BSW. We will formally cluster on 1 April 2026 and then merge in April 2027. Working at both Place and Cluster level allows us to share expertise, align approaches and take forward change in a consistent, people-centred way.
What We Do
Our partnership work focuses on joining up health and care, improving population health and reducing inequalities across our local communities. By working together at Place and across the Cluster, we aim to:
We do this by strengthening collaboration, supporting prevention, using data and insight more effectively, and designing services that reflect the needs and strengths of our local populations.
Job responsibilitiesPlease see attached for full job description.
1. Strategic Leadership and Partnership
Lead the development and implementation of the ICB Place plan, aligned to the overall Population Health Improvement strategy.
Facilitate the development of local place-based partnerships between providers, local government and other stakeholders, including the VCSE that will enable, overtime, the delegation of place-based budgets from the ICB.
Be the face of the ICB at place, developing positive relationships with all partners and having a mandate to lead local discussions on behalf of the ICB.
Working with the Chief Officer for Population Health Improvement they will develop a deep understanding of the character and needs of the local population through local intelligence and knowledge of what the data is saying about local needs, this includes developing strong working arrangements with the Director of Public Health.
Ensure that local priorities from the place-based partnerships inform commissioning priorities at a cluster level.
Act as the ICB system convenor at Place, supporting the delivery of local service transformation.
Provider robust financial management of any delegated budgets in line with the ICBs standing financial instructions.
2. Leadership of Place based Commissioning
Lead the development of joint commissioning, in line (and informing) the overall ICB Population Health Improvement Strategy to improve population health and outcomes, reduce inequalities and improve access to consistently high quality and efficient services and drive value-based healthcare.
Identify opportunities to improve commissioning with the local council and be accountable for the effective delivery of the Better Care Fund.
Lead the local primary care commissioning team, ensuring that plans align and inform the Cluster wide primary care strategy and that local delivery plans are developed to improve the provision of GP, dentistry, optometry and pharmacy services, taking account of cluster-wide Primary Care commissioning policies and plans.
Accountable for the delivery of neighbourhood health models at place, working with partners to develop a clear local neighbourhood development plan in line with the ICBs overall neighbourhood strategy.
Ensure that commissioned services are delivered to the agreed outcomes by Providers at place.
Influence local resource deployment within an agreed financial framework, ensuring alignment to local priorities.
Provide executive leadership, sponsorship and oversight to a designated area of commissioning across the cluster, informing strategy and commissioning plans for this area The areas are planned care; urgent and emergency care; children, young people and families; mental health, learning disabilities and autism; community care; specialist commissioning.
Work in a matrix style with the central commissioning teams to develop and implement commissioning plans for this area.
Ensure that commissioning plans in this area reflect population needs, national guidance and local priorities.
Ensure local commissioning and service changes reflect public involvement and the views of communities.
Report on outcomes to the wider ICB executive and Board as required.
Ensure local quality and safety issues are identified, escalated and addressed through established mechanisms with the Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Medical Officer.
Ensure place-based services comply with safeguarding requirements and elevate concerns appropriately.
4. Organisational Leadership
Provide inspirational and inclusive leadership, building a high performing function within the ICB.
Contribute to the collective leadership of the ICB Executive team, shaping corporate strategy and organisational culture.
Act as a visible and credible leader within regional and national forums, influencing policy development and innovation.
Provide visible leadership for inclusion, ensuring that equity, diversity and belonging are embedded in culture, decision-making and organisational practice across the ICB.
Person Specification QualificationsThis 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.