Non clinical NHS 8b role

[NHSjobchange]

I’ve been offered for a non clinical 8b role in the NHS. Think along the lines of community commissioning programme development

I’m not currently in the NHS and am on a fixed term public sector contract elsewhere. This is permanent

would anyone be able to give me any indication. Of the interview process. It’s a panel interview and they’re not asking for a presentation. How many interviews are there likely to be?

How senior and how stressful is work at this level. From what I understand it has 2 x band 7’s reporting into it and reports then into an Assistant director?

I have been at SLT level in the voluntary sector and am currently working at a PO8 in local authority but with London weighting which I don’t get at the moment it’s a significant payrise (From 68k) so hard to assess against current role which is £56 without London weighting

Firstly good luck!

I'm assuming it is an 8b commissioning role, but I'm not sure if it is actually commissioning (nuts and bolts of contract management and service planning etc) or more of a project role setting up a new service?

I'm slightly surprised by the lack of presentation, I would always have one for a role at this level. But nevertheless for an 8b role I would be expecting the following from a successful candidate;

1. A clear reason for why you've applied for the role, what interests you
2. A good understanding of what the role is trying to achieve, at the very least make sure you've read anything on the public facing website, strategy documents etc. Preferably I would talk to the contact who has been given to chat through what the role actually is.
3. Understanding of the big NHS policy direction - obviously at the moment it is good to be aware that policy direction may change depending on a new government
4. Examples of where you have challenged bad behaviour / led change / demonstrated commissioning skills / experienced things going wrong / had clear success.... have a ton of examples of key things you've worked on, at 8b I'd be looking for deep understanding of your own skills and leadership but also that you listen to others around you.

Interview wise I don't tend to do more than 1 unless there are two candidates who are effectively neck and neck. All questions will be scored and that should generate who the offer is made to. There is likely to be up to 3 people ( I tend to avoid more than that) one is probably HR to keep the process appropriate.

The seniority can be very variable at an 8b, you might be front and centre of this specific project / area if your AD has a broad spectrum. That might be good for you if you've been SLT already. In terms of stress, the only thing that occurs to be is a steep learning curve for the contractual approaches that we use in the NHS but it isn't impossible at all and there will be people around who will share their knowledge if you ask openly.

In terms of pay you could argue equivalency in an 8b role outside London so would overall expect the seniority and stress to be equivalent to your current role

@Betteroutdoors thank you so much for this help, it’s incredibly valuable. You are correct it’s more of a project based role so that is helpful

Would it be appropriate to contact the named person at this point? I would usually do that prior to making an application but this one I didn’t have a chance to.

I will make sure I do my research and have some really good examples which I had planned already but that is incredibly helpful

You also prob need to read up on risk/safeguarding on the trust website. Theres always a question on this in clinical roles and I think it's a standard area for the nhs to have an interview question on. Good luck!

Yes absolutely contact the named person from the job advert. Standard questions to prep for would be around:

• what made you apply for the role
• give an example of how you’ve managed uncertainty/difficult behaviour in team/poor performance/anything bad basically

Look at your trust values

Absolutely, just say you applied having seen it close to the closing date and would appreciate a chat as you've been lucky enough to be offered an interview

Absolutely you must do this. Failing to do so makes a really poor impression where I work.

Good luck!

Thank you all again, I have contacted the hiring manager to ask for an informal chat prior to the interview