The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is struggling to secure a substantive candidate for the newly established and strategically important position of Director General for Commercial and Growth. This failure, despite offering one of the highest salaries ever advertised within the department, a package potentially reaching £340,000 per annum raises serious questions about the attractiveness of senior civil service roles and the DHSC’s capacity to execute its transformation agenda.
The Critical Importance of the Vacancy
The Director General for Commercial and Growth role was a key element in the DHSC’s leadership restructuring, designed to drive the commercial strategy, maximise value from procurement and partnerships, and support broader economic growth objectives. The persistent vacancy underscores deep-seated challenges in attracting top-tier talent to Whitehall, especially for complex, high-stakes roles that require leading transformative work across critical systems like the NHS, innovation partnerships, and public-private engagement.
The position comes with immense high expectations to bridge political priorities with operational delivery, often under intense public and ministerial scrutiny. Although the remuneration for very senior managers (VSMs) is generous by public sector standards, it frequently falls short of equivalent private sector compensation, where greater pay flexibility and equity incentives exist.
Part of a Wider Government Recruitment Crisis
The DHSC’s difficulty is not an isolated incident. Across government, the recruitment of senior specialists, particularly in areas like digital, innovation, and commercial delivery, has been plagued by lengthy searches, repeated re-advertisements, and the reliance on interim appointments. This trend highlights civil service recruitment pressures, where the private sector can often offer more compelling, flexible financial packages and reduced political oversight to senior talent. A separate, unsuccessful recruitment drive for a national technology lead at the DHSC, also advertised up to £340,000, further demonstrates the difficulty in matching public sector compensation to the market rate for highly specialised expertise.
In response to the recruitment difficulties, the DHSC has had to rely on interim arrangements or redistributed responsibilities across existing senior executives, including those within the joint executive team shared with NHS England. While these stop-gap measures temporarily fill the void, they can undermine efforts to establish long-term strategic direction and build sustained, credible relationships with external stakeholders, including investors and industry partners.
The Constraint of Public Scrutiny on Pay
The context of rising public scrutiny over public sector pay further complicates the recruitment landscape. Unlike private sector executives, whose compensation can reach multi-million-pound packages, senior civil service remuneration is tightly controlled, subject to departmental and Treasury oversight, and tied to established pay bands and frameworks. Whilst this ensures public accountability, it severely limits the flexibility needed to compete effectively for high-calibre candidates in the open market.I
Impact on Key DHSC Priorities
The lack of a permanent commercial and growth leader jeopardises the momentum of several critical DHSC initiatives, including the implementation of the 10-Year Health Plan, the modernisation of digital infrastructure, and vital procurement reforms necessary for the NHS’s long-term sustainability. Strong commercial leadership is essential for navigating complex supply chains, ensuring value in public spending, and driving economic impact through health-technology collaboration.
This situation intensifies the ongoing debate over civil service reform. Advocates argue for more flexible pay frameworks, which potentially include performance-based incentives and location-based pay to attract the requisite skills for modern governance. This must, however, be carefully balanced against public expectations of fairness and accountability. Conversely, others emphasise the need to build stronger internal career pathways and leadership development programmes to cultivate talent, reduce dependence on external hires, and enhance institutional knowledge.
Ultimately, the DHSC’s failure to secure a Director General for Commercial and Growth, despite a significant financial commitment, underscores the systemic challenges the government faces in attracting and retaining the expertise required to deliver its most ambitious programmes, with direct implications for policy delivery across the health and care system.
