At Specsavers, our purpose is simple but powerful: to change lives through better sight and hearing. As demand for community based services continues to grow, we’re expanding our leadership team to bring in a Head of NHS Services who can take ownership of our strategy, strengthen our relationships with NHS and commercial partners and support our stores to deliver outstanding Enhanced Optical Services (EOS).
In this role, you’ll guide the entire national strategy for EOS, setting the direction for how Specsavers responds to NHS commissioning priorities, evolving models of care, and changes in community service expectations. You will lead a dedicated team whose focus is to win, manage and enhance locally commissioned contracts, ensuring we deliver sustainable, high-quality services that support both patients and local health systems.
A typical week might see you meeting with NHS commissioners and commercial partners to discuss future service models, reviewing performance and service data with your team, supporting partners and clinical performance consultants on implementing contractual changes, and representing Specsavers in NHS England or ICB forums. You’ll be the person people turn to for clarity, insight and leadership on where the NHS agenda is heading and how Specsavers can influence and support it.
To help you picture the real depth and breadth of this role, here’s more about what you’ll be responsible for day-to-day, woven into the broader purpose of the position:
You’ll be the strategic lead for all growth across the funded EOS portfolio, identifying new opportunities, assessing shifts in the commissioning and NHS landscape and guiding how Specsavers positions itself at both local and national levels. You’ll take ownership of how we build and maintain influential, credible relationships with commissioners, hospital trusts, referral management centres, LOCs, prime contractors and national bodies including NHS England. This involves shaping negotiations, providing insight into regional variation, and ensuring that Specsavers is seen as a trusted, forward-thinking provider of quality community services.
You’ll oversee the redesign of services within existing contracts, encouraging innovation and supporting teams to maximise efficiency, improve patient experience and drive sustainable volume growth. Where commissioning decisions are unfavourable or inconsistent, you’ll advocate for fair and equitable access to care, using evidence, data and real-world insights to influence decisionmakers. You will also be a key voice in building business cases, tender responses and proposals that help secure new contracts and protect existing ones.
On the operational side, you’ll empower your team to take responsibility for performance, compliance and commissioner engagement. You will support them in handling escalations, resolving contractual challenges, embedding updates into store operations and shaping improvements based on commissioner feedback and performance analysis. You’ll guide them to act as subject matter experts who can translate complex NHS expectations into clear, actionable steps for stakeholders across Specsavers.
Leadership is central to this role. You’ll develop a high performing field based team, offering coaching, clear direction and strong accountability. You’ll promote a culture of continuous improvement, resilience and evidence based decision-making, ensuring the team is equipped to handle shifting priorities and emerging pressures across the NHS landscape.
To be successful, you’ll need significant experience in NHS/ healthcare contract management, commissioning or service development, ideally gained within optical, audiology or wider community healthcare. You’ll bring strong negotiation skills, a strategic mindset and the confidence to influence senior leaders internally and externally. You’ll be used to leading teams remotely, navigating uncertainty and using data to frame decisions. An understanding of NHS structures, ICBs, commissioning pathways and service mobilisation will help you make immediate impact.
If you’re ready to take a national leadership role where your influence will shape how communities' access essential funded services, we’d be delighted to hear from you. Apply today and join us in driving the future of community eye and hearing care across the UK.
This role will require regularly travel to our Nottingham office.
We may close the advert sooner if we get inundated with high-quality applications
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