Associate Director: System Engagement, Uptake and Adoption

Go back NICE - The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Associate Director: System Engagement, Uptake and Adoption

The closing date is 20 June 2025

Do you want to do meaningful work that makes a genuine difference to health and care services? The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) exists to help improve the quality, sustainability and productivity of health and social care in England. We have an international reputation for our approach to producing guidance and information on effective practice that supports better decisions and helps the health and care system to prioritise its investment. We are one of the world leaders in the work that we do!

Supporting the uptake and adoption of NICE guidance is key to delivery of NICE's overall purpose, to help practitioners, providers and commissioners get the best care to people fast, while ensuring value for the taxpayer. NICE has a new strategy to improve uptake and adoption of our guidance, and in leading on our system engagement and support to uptake and adoption, this role is key to delivering that strategy.

They will be expected to represent the Institute at meetings and conferences. The post will be hybrid, with an average of two days a week spent in the NICE offices in Manchester.

Interviews will be held on 3rd and 4th July which will consist of a stakeholder panel and competency-based interview. More details will be sent to candidates who are invited to interview

Main duties of the job

The role will:

• Lead programmes to improve the uptake and adoption of NICE guidance in priority areas, embedding this focus from advice generation and topic selection through to post-publication. This includes using system intelligence and data to identify barriers to implementation and unwarranted variation in uptake.
• Oversee a national programme of engagement with key stakeholders who support guidance uptake, including Integrated Care Systems and Boards, NHS bodies, Provider and Clinical Networks, Clinical Effectiveness Boards, and Health Innovation Networks, ensuring alignment with system priorities.
• Ensure the programme optimises uptake and adoption by learning from variation, integrating system intelligence, and supporting NICE's strategic aims.
• Explore how NICE support can be tested, scaled and delivered in partnership to enhance adoption and reduce variation among users - including practitioners, providers and commissioners.
• Develop a detailed approach to segmenting users across the health and care system, identifying the most effective engagement methods to drive adoption.
• Lead engagement with stakeholders to inform national policy and deliver the implementation strategy, including initiatives such as Integrated Care Board testbeds and strategic partnerships.

About us

The Implementation team is responsible for supporting the health and care system to adopt NICE guidance, working with decision makers in commissioning, providers and practitioners to get the best care to people fast.

This role oversees the work of our System Implementation team, who provide support to the health and care system to enable the effective use of NICE products. The team does this by working in close partnership with key stakeholders, partners and agencies who support or deliver system implementation of NICE guidance, including Integrated Care Systems and Boards (ICS/ICB), NHS bodies, Provider and Clinical Networks, Clinical Effectiveness Boards, Health Innovation Networks etc, to ensure that NICE considers the greatest priorities of the health and care system.We can offer you a great place to work with good benefits, flexible working, and a supportive, friendly, and inclusive environment.

Our benefits include:

• Generous NHS Pension - Secure your future with one of the most rewarding pension schemes in the UK.
• Flexible Working - Enjoy a healthy work-life balance with options like remote working, compressed hours and flexible start/finish times.
• Time to Recharge - Start with 27 days' annual leave plus Bank Holidays.
• Inclusive Staff Networks - Join supportive communities like Women in NICE, Race Equality Network, Disability Advocacy and more

If you feel this is the type of environment you will enjoy working in, apply today!

Job responsibilities

To be considered for this role, you should be able to particularly demonstrate the person specification criteria in the job advert in your application. However, applicants should be able to demonstrate all essential criteria through the entirety of the recruitment process to be considered for the job.

Please see job description attached for full list of responsibilities.

Person Specification Qualifications

• Masters or Doctorate (or equivalent level of knowledge acquired through experience and practices, underpinned by knowledge and relevant practical experience in implementation science or quality improvement

Experience

• Experience of designing and leading on the implementation of significant changes in health and care delivery and/or leadership.

Experience

• Experience of working effectively with a range of colleagues both internally and from external organisations including at national level, with experience of building productive partnerships.

Experience

• Experience of applying stakeholder/customer engagement methods, techniques and frameworks in practice to deliver tangible changes in behaviour.

Experience

• Experience of senior management in a complex environment, leading and line managing a high performing team.

Knowledge

• An understanding of the social, political, economic and technological context in which NICE, the NHS, local government and social care operates.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This 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.

NICE - The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence