Head of Policy (Health)

At the Public Service Ombudsman, we make final decisions on complaints that have not been resolved by UK Government departments and the NHS in England. We work closely with people to understand where, how and why public services sometimes fall short and fail to put people first. We share findings from our casework to help Parliament scrutinise public service providers. We also share our findings more widely to help drive improvements in public services and complaint handling.

Our culture is open, friendly and supportive. We listen, we learn, and we treat everyone with dignity and respect. Inclusion and wellbeing are at the heart of how we work, and we strive to create a workplace where every colleague feels valued, supported and able to thrive.

We work in a modern, flexible way built on trust and autonomy. You will split your time between working from home and spending around 40% of your week in our Manchester or London office, where collaboration and connection with your team are an important part of how we work.

Please note that we were formally known as The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

This role is all about using what we learn from complaints, investigations and casework to help improve health services in England. The focus is on spotting wider issues, turning evidence into clear policy recommendations and influencing positive improvement in services.

Knowledge of the NHS in England and ability to apply that knowledge strategically is central to the role. You will be working to influence change across the health system, using the Ombudsman’s unique data and insight to support system improvements and working collaboratively with stakeholders.

There is also a strong focus on people and relationships. Leading a team of four, building relationships with external organisations and working collaboratively with our communications, data and systemic investigations teams.

There is a real opportunity to influence change across the health system. Our recent work on ADHD and autism services and end of life care shows how insight from complaints can identify wider problems, shape recommendations and help improve services for patients and families.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

How to apply (and how to do well)You will answer three scored questions at application stage. We use these to shortlist and longlist, so your answers matter.

• choose real examples (from professional settings)
• focus on what you did, not what “we” did as a group
• explain your thinking: what you looked at, what you decided, and why
• keep it clear and specific, avoid generic statements

Please do not use AI to write your answers. We need to assess your skills, and applications may be rejected if answers appear AI-generated.

If your examples are very short, mostly opinion-based, or don’t describe a specific situation and outcome, you are unlikely to score well.

Inclusion & Wellbeing

Equality, diversity, inclusion, and wellbeing are vital to the way we work and our culture. We want our colleagues feel included, valued, and supported at work. It is essential that we are representative and accessible for the people who work here and those who use our service.

Actions we take to embed this include:

• an anonymised shortlisting process to make sure it is fair and unbiased
• monitoring the demographic trends in our workforce and making measured, sustained efforts to improve our diversity at all levels
• providing wellbeing support and opportunities for personal and professional development for all colleagues
• creating spaces for connection and engagement through our employee network groups and social clubs
• part of the disability confident scheme
• providing reasonable adjustments
• engaging in regular inclusion learning to enhance the cultural competency of our organisation.

We know the value of having diverse, representative teams across our organisation. Which is why we particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented within the team. These include people who are:

• Asian, Black, Mixed Ethnicity or another ethnic background
• disabled
• LGBTQ.

Contact and important informationIf you would like to learn more about the role, please contact Laura Pardoe, Assistant Director of Strategy, Policy and Stakeholder Engagement, Laura.Mingins@ombudsman.org.uk or Scott Stevenson Scott.Stevenson@ombudsman.org.uk, Director of Strategy and Resources.

• Interviews: held onsite
• Feedback: we do not offer feedback at application stage
• Right to work: we can only consider candidates with the right to work in the UK.
• Sponsorship: we are unable to offer sponsorship (we do not have a licence).
• Applications: we do not accept CVs—please apply via the application form (‘apply now’).
• Agencies: no agencies; applications from individuals only.
• Early closure: we may close the advert early if we receive a high volume of applications.
• Salary: non negotiable

Important notice: fraudulent job postings

We have been made aware that some websites are falsely advertising our job vacancies. We only advertise job vacancies through these official channels:

• our website
• LinkedIn
• Civil Service Jobs
• GOV.uk
• Indeed
• Ombudsman association
• BMEjobs.co.uk
• Disabilityjob.co.uk
• Neurodiversityjobs.co.uk
• LGBTjobs.co.uk

Do not share personal details with any other websites claiming to represent us. Contact our recruitment team to report any concerns at recruitment@ombudsman.org.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.