NHS Scotland
Senior Strategic Planning Advisor
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Senior Strategic Planning Advisor (Ref: 254058)
£65,125 - £70,303 (Band 8A)
Permanent
Full time (36 hours per week)
Edinburgh or Glasgow – hybrid working will apply for the foreseeable future
Do you have experience in strategic planning within health and/or social care? Are you passionate about tackling the complex challenges facing our health and social care systems? Do you enjoy working collaboratively across organisational boundaries to design, plan and deliver sustainable transformation?
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Senior Strategic Planning Advisor to join the Transformational Change - Systems Unit, with a leading role in the delivery of the Scottish Approach to Change across Scotland.
This is a high-profile role with responsibility for leading our Pathfinder programme, working closely with NHS boards, health and social care partnerships, local authorities, and third and independent sector partners to test, refine and spread innovative approaches to system transformation. You will play a key role in supporting Pathfinder sites to address complex challenges, develop strategic responses, and translate learning into practical approaches that can be adopted and scaled across Scotland.
The successful candidate will provide expert strategic planning advice and responsive support to local systems, helping partners embed the Scottish Approach to Change and build the capability and capacity required to deliver meaningful and lasting improvement. The Scottish Approach to Change brings together a range of evidence-based methods, tools and approaches to support quality improvement, transformation and organisational change.
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We are seeking an experienced, enthusiastic and proactive individual with expertise in applying strategic planning or transformation methodologies to programmes of change. You will be comfortable working across whole systems, bringing together diverse stakeholders to develop shared ambitions, design practical solutions and drive collective action.
The role will focus on understanding and influencing complex systems, using strategic insight, evidence and analysis to support the design, prototyping, implementation and spread of improvement approaches. A key aspect of the role will be leading place-based Pathfinder work, facilitating collaboration across organisational and professional boundaries, and identifying opportunities to scale successful innovations across health and social care.
Success In This Role Will Require
- Experience of leading strategic planning or transformation programmes within health and/or social care.
- Strong understanding of systems thinking, complexity and change management approaches.
- Experience of working with senior leaders and multidisciplinary partners to develop and implement strategic solutions.
- Excellent analytical skills, including the ability to interpret and synthesise qualitative and quantitative evidence from multiple sources.
- Strong facilitation and engagement skills, with the ability to support groups to think, plan and act together.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly and influence a wide range of stakeholders.
- A commitment to building improvement capability and supporting sustainable change across health and social care systems.
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This is an exciting opportunity to influence national transformation priorities, lead innovative Pathfinder programmes, and help shape the future of health and social care services across Scotland.
For further information or informal enquiries about this post, please contact Clare Hammond, Unit Head – Transformational Change, Systems on clare.hammond@nhs.scot
Closing date: midnight on 23 August 2026
It is anticipated that interviews will be held on 08 and 09 September 2026 in Edinburgh
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