Chair, Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board

About Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board

In July 2022, 12 organisations came together to establish NHS Greater Manchester, our city region’s ICB. We are a statutory part of our ICS - Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership, overseen by a Board comprising colleagues from across the system championing joined up working to help people live independent, active and healthy lives, all while making the system work better for the public and professionals who serve it.

In March 2023, we published our first Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) Strategy setting out our ambition for the next five years. Local Health and Well Being strategies for the 10 localities were reviewed as part of the development of the ICP strategy and used to inform its content, and the strategy itself was developed with the Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBBs) in Greater Manchester and their views were sought on an engagement draft in early 2023.

Our vision is the one which many partners across the city region have collectively adopted: for Greater Manchester to be a place where everyone can live a good life; growing up, getting on and growing old in a greener, fairer more prosperous city-region. To achieve this, our strategy sets out six missions: to strengthen our communities; help people get into – and stay in – good work; recover core NHS and care services; help people stay well and detect illness earlier; support our workforce and our carers; and achieve financial sustainability.

Dear candidate
Thank you for your interest in the role of Chair of GM ICB. This is a high profile and nationally significant opportunity to lead one of England’s most complex and pioneering health and care systems at a pivotal moment of reform.
Greater Manchester has a distinctive history of collaboration and devolution. For more than a decade, partners across the NHS, local government, VCSE and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) have worked together to reshape public services around neighbourhoods and communities. That history gives us a strong foundation for the next phase of system reform, with GM ICB at the heart of driving improved health outcomes, reducing inequalities and strengthening the social and economic wellbeing of our 2.8 million citizens, including through increasingly aligned and, collaborative working across health and wider public services.
This historic way of working has also created the conditions for Greater Manchester’s proposal to pilot a new model for integrated working between the ICB and Greater Manchester Combined Authority, in which the Chair of GM ICB will also act as the Mayor’s Health Commissioner following enactment of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.
‍‍The national 10 Year Health Plan and the Model ICB Blueprint set out a clear direction for the NHS: shifting the focus from hospital to community, from treatment to prevention, and from analogue to digital. ICBs will play an increasingly strategic commissioning role, making best use of public money to maximise outcomes, productivity and value. In Greater Manchester this sits alongside a mature and evolving partnership with the Combined Authority and our ten local authorities, and a shared ambition for a greener, fairer and more prosperous city region.‍ ‍
As Chair, you will lead the Board through a period of change as NHS GM further strengthens its commissioning capability and implements the Model ICB arrangements. This will include overseeing financial recovery, embedding robust governance, and supporting the system to deliver against its statutory duties and the wider ambitions of the 10 Year Plan. It will also mean championing a culture of collaboration across providers, places and neighbourhoods, and promoting practical approaches that reduce duplication and maximise value, so that we can continue to innovate, join up care closer to home, and tackle some of the deepest health inequalities in England.
A key feature of this role is the ability to work in partnership across organisational and sector boundaries, mobilising peers across the system to improve the health of the Greater Manchester population. You will be expected to build strong, trusted relationships with local government leaders, the Mayor and GMCA, our provider collaboratives, primary care, VCSE partners and communities. You will be at the forefront of the development of the Health Commissioner role, and will play a leading role in nurturing closer alignment between the ICB and the Combined Authority, modelling partnership working in practice where it can streamline governance and reduce duplication and signalling a clear direction of travel, within the existing statutory framework.
‍We are seeking an outstanding system leader: values driven, inclusive and resilient, with the confidence to operate in a complex political and civic environment. You do not need to have spent your career in the NHS, but you will bring substantial experience at Board or equivalent level in a large, complex and regulated organisation, and a track record of leading major transformation. You will be comfortable balancing assurance and ambition, providing robust challenge and support to the executive, ensuring high standards of governance and performance, while also encouraging innovation and thoughtful risk taking where it improves outcomes and value.
‍‍Your leadership style will be collaborative and compassionate. You will understand that making a real difference to people’s lives in Greater Manchester requires deep engagement with our diverse communities and a relentless focus on equality, diversity and inclusion. You will share our commitment to addressing the structural and social determinants of health, and to ensuring that the voices of people with lived experience, and those facing the greatest disadvantage, are at the heart of how we plan and commission care.
‍‍NHS GM is a system with both significant challenges and enormous potential. Operational pressures remain real, financial constraints are tightening, and our performance is rightly subject to close public and political scrutiny. Yet we also benefit from strong relationships, a track record of innovation, and a shared commitment to public service that runs across the NHS, local government and the Combined Authority. As Chair, you will help us harness those strengths to deliver sustainable improvement, support economic and social prosperity, and contribute to the wider ambitions for Greater Manchester as a devolved city region.
‍‍We are keen to attract a broad and diverse field of candidates. We particularly welcome applications from people from ethnically diverse communities, people who identify as LGBTQ+, disabled people and those who bring lived experience of health inequalities or of using services. We are equally interested in your life experience and personal motivations as in your professional background; what matters is that you can demonstrate the values, judgement and leadership needed to steward this vital public role.
‍‍If you share our ambition for the people and communities of Greater Manchester, and you believe you can provide the thoughtful, collaborative and outward facing leadership this role demands, we would be delighted to receive your application.
For a confidential discussion about the role, please contact our search partner Thomas Patterson at Alumni Global on 07970 339 151 or thomas.patterson@alumniglobal.com.
‍Thank you once again for your interest, and I wish you every success in the process.
Yours sincerely
Louise Shepherd
North West Regional Director
NHS England
Please click here to read the Job Description & Person Specification
All applications must include:
- A full curriculum vitae/resume - this should include your contact address and details, stating your preferred method of contact, highlighting and explaining any gaps in your employment history.
- Quoting the relevant role reference number: A041068
- A covering letter highlighting your skills and experience and allow insights on your knowledge, skill and experience relevant to the role. You should outline your personal responsibility and achievement within previous roles that demonstrates you have the knowledge, skills and competencies to deliver this role, as outlined in the person specification and take the opportunity to highlight your personal values and motivations for applying for the role. (Microsoft Word document)
- Contact details for three referees, these will not be contacted without your permission. (References should validate a minimum period of six years employment)
- A completed Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form (which you will be redirected to once you have submitted your application) *
Right to work checks
If you are successfully shortlisted, our partner, Yoti, will contact you to complete an online right to work check. This is a quick and secure process, ensuring that all necessary legal requirements are met before proceeding further in the recruitment process.
Monitoring
One of Alumni Global’s and Greater Manchester ICB’s objectives is to ensure that its workforce is reflective of the local community and therefore we actively encourage applications from under-represented groups. So that we can successfully achieve these aims, while it is not mandatory we would encourage every applicant to complete the “Equal Opportunities Monitoring form” so that we can measure the effectiveness of our efforts. The Recruiting Manager does not have access to the Monitoring Information Sections of the application form at any stage of the process and the information provided will be kept entirely confidential.
For a confidential discussion on this role please contact:
Thomas Patterson, Managing Director or Michael Earnshaw, Director of Research whose details can be found at the bottom of this microsite.
Candidate adjustment
If you require any reasonable adjustments to be made as part of the recruitment process please can you advise us so that we can ensure this is accommodated.
Closing date: 24th April 2026
Stakeholder Sessions: TBC
Final Interviews: w/c 25th May 2026 - TBC
Please ensure you have made a note of the final interview date(s). We recommend that you bookmark this microsite, as any potential updates regarding the role will be posted online.