Deputy Director, Public Private Partnership Team

The Private Finance Team oversees the Operational Private Finance Initiative (PFI) portfolio and delivers the new Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme for Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs), a key priority of the 10 Year Health Plan. We are a multidisciplinary team with financial, legal, policy and commercial expertise providing oversight and delivery of privately financed infrastructure projects.

The team is currently 10 people and will grow significantly as the NHC PPP Programme progresses.

The team has a crucial role in enabling the NHS to operate out of high-quality facilities financed and delivered by the Private Sector, ensuring it gets good value for money from them, and managing risks that could take funding away from frontline services. It oversees c.140 projects across NHS Trusts and Local Authorities, which spend 2.5bn a year on these contracts.

The team supports effective contract management, ensures value for money, assesses portfolio risk, shares best practice, supports expiry processes and distressed projects, and leads policy interventions. We engage with the private sector to ensure DHSCs position is understood and to identify collaborative solutions, working closely with the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) to align government policy.

The team is also responsible for developing and delivering the programme to deliver new neighbourhood health centres through private finance across the country by 2035. It is working with colleagues across DHSC and NHSE to develop and work up a pipeline of schemes, and with NISTA to develop the model; and will be leading market engagement, procurement, project close and contract management.

This work is of vital significance for the Department and for government as a whole as it involves taking the lessons from previous use of Private Finance and developing a new model for using private finance in social infrastructure.

The team also supports Ministers on new private finance opportunities and manages PQs/FOIs, ensuring accurate data on PFI performance.

The team is co‑led by two Deputy Directors: one focusing primarily on the PPP model for NHCs and one on the existing PFI portfolio, but as part of a collective endeavour with joint resourcing and cross-working. We are recruiting for the role focussed on the existing PFI portfolio, which directly manages a dedicated team of 4 supported by wider commercial specialists and NISTA Associates.

As Deputy Director, Private Finance Team, your key responsibilities will include:

• Co-lead the Private Finance Team and provide oversight of the PFI portfolio, managing team workload and allocating resources.
• Work with specialists to provide expert advice on accounting and balance sheet treatment of PFI projects.
• Engage with NHSE regional teams and Trusts to oversee performance and identify risks in existing projects.
• Oversee delivery of PFI contract management support and expiry pathways support, including identifying lessons learned.
• Oversee work to support best practice delivery, including NHS Forums for Trusts with PFI projects.
• Provide specific support to Trusts with distressed PFI projects, including engagement with the private sector market to identify routes forward.
• Manage reporting of operational portfolio performance, including to the PFI Portfolio Group (PPG), working with senior stakeholders to ensure updates are relevant.
• Oversee the continued development of data workstreams, including the use of different platforms to share data between DHSC, NHSE and Trusts to ensure the team manages risk appropriately.
• Provide advice to senior officials and Ministers on specific projects as well as the overall approach to managing the PFI portfolio.
• Oversight of team responses to PQs, FOIs and other briefing.
• Oversight of the joint teams financial reporting and budgeting.
• Line management of a number of team members, both in the operational team and in the wider NHC PPP team.

It is important through your CV and Statement of Suitability that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the following

Essential criteria:

• Lead criteria - ability to lead and develop a high-performing multi-disciplinary team, working on complex commercial arrangements and managing significant financial and reputational risk to government.
• Understanding of financial accounting, reporting and balance sheet treatment for PFI projects, or ability to quickly develop this.
• Excellent verbal and oral communications skills, including oversight of public communications (PQs etc) in a politically contested area.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with a proven track record of delivering positive outcomes for government through relationships with private sector and NHS organisations as well as wider government (including HMT).

Desirable criteria

• Excellent project management skills, with a track record of establishing and overseeing successful delivery of complex projects and programmes.
• Understanding of the key challenges faced in the health and social care operational PFI portfolio
• Qualified accountant