The New Hospital Programme is the government's programme to build and rebuild hospitals in England, and since 2026 it has been built a different way: one standard design, delivered by a fixed alliance of contractors. This page sets out what the programme is, where it stands, who is building it, and what the hiring around it looks like today, with live figures from the weekly careers sweep, the senior moves reported in the trade press and published contract notices.
New Hospital Programme
The programme, the people building it and the leadership seats it creates.
What the programme is
The government's programme to build and rebuild hospitals in England. The Department of Health and Social Care is the sponsor and NHS England runs delivery, with each scheme's NHS trust as the local client. The 2025 to 2026 annual report counts 46 hospital schemes in all.
The programme was reset on 20 January 2025. The schemes are now built in waves, backed by £15bn of investment per five-year wave, an average of £3bn a year:
- Wave 1: main construction starting between 2025 and 2030, including the hospitals built mainly from RAAC, which were moved to the front for safety.
- Wave 2: main construction starting between 2030 and 2035.
- Wave 3: main construction starting between 2035 and 2039.
Where it stands, November 2026
The annual report, published on 8 July 2026, recorded seven schemes open to patients, nine hospitals in construction and 13 more in active development. Wave 1 holds 16 schemes, seven of them RAAC replacement hospitals. The report puts the programme's funding over the current spending review at £9.6bn.
The standard design, Hospital 2.0, was described as substantively complete, with the final design products due in the summer of 2026. On 30 July 2026 eleven agreements were signed between NHS trusts and the alliance contractors, which is the point at which the first wave stopped being a pipeline and became a set of live schemes with named delivery teams.
One design, ten contractors, three waves
One design, ten contractors, three waves The programme has moved from one-off hospitals to a standard design built by a fixed group of contractors.
That changes which leaders are worth most, and who is competing for them.
Who is building it
The Hospital 2.0 Alliance. Ten contractors were appointed in March 2026 to a framework of up to 12 years, chosen from a shortlist of 16: Bovis, Dragados, Integrated Health Projects (VINCI Building with Sir Robert McAlpine), John Graham, Kier, Laing O'Rourke, Morgan Sindall, Sacyr UK, Skanska and Willmott Dixon.
The Programme Delivery Partner. The Health Delivery Partnership, a joint venture of Turner & Townsend and Mace, was appointed by NHS England in spring 2025 to guide the programme and protect its schedule and budget.
The trusts. Each scheme still has its own NHS trust as client, with its own programme team, estates leadership and clinical brief, now working to a national design rather than one of its own.
The live picture
Read on 1 November 2026 from three public sources: the careers pages behind the Senior Hiring Index, the appointments the trade press reports, and the contract notices government buyers publish.
Leadership roles open at the main contractors
17 leadership roles are advertised today across GRAHAM, Kier, Laing O'Rourke, Sir Robert McAlpine, Skanska, Willmott Dixon and Mace. These are firm-wide counts: each of these businesses runs other work, so not every seat below sits on New Hospital Programme, but each is a seat in a business that is.
| Function | Open now | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Operations and delivery | 10 | Expression of Interest - Construction Manager/Chief Engineer; Expression of Interest - Senior Construction Manager/Chief Engineer; MEP Project Director; Operations Director; Operations Director - Organisational Development Consultancy Delivery (M5); Operations Director - Project Controls; Operations Director - Project Management; Project Director; Project Director - East of England; Project Director - West Midlands |
| Other leadership | 3 | Chief Engineer - (Principal Engineer); Global Head of Enterprise Architecture; Global Maturity Assessment Director |
| Pre-construction and work winning | 2 | Director of Preconstruction; Framework Growth Director |
| Commercial | 1 | Director of Procurement |
| Support functions | 1 | Head of Data and Analytics |
| Employer | Open now |
|---|---|
| Mace | 7 |
| Kier | 3 |
| GRAHAM | 2 |
| Sir Robert McAlpine | 2 |
| Laing O'Rourke | 1 |
| Skanska | 1 |
| Willmott Dixon | 1 |
NHS England, Bovis Construction, Dragados, Morgan Sindall, Sacyr UK, VINCI Building and Turner & Townsend are not on the careers sweep yet, so their openings are not counted here.
Senior moves, last six months
Director and board-level appointments into or out of the programme's client body and main firms, as reported in the trade press. Each links to the article.
- Mark Reynolds, 27 October 2026: Mace drops plans to recruit new chief executive as Reynolds takes over. Construction News
- Dominic Anstey, 9 October 2026: Former commercial director at Mace joins BW Workplace. Construction Wave
- Stuart Hosegood, 7 October 2026: Willmott Dixon appoints Stuart Hosegood as safety, health and environment director. BE News
- Vicky Nugus, 24 September 2026: Kier work winning director joins Galliford Try. Construction Enquirer
- Martin Ewing, 21 September 2026: McLaren Construction appoints new Divisional Director. BTR News
- Mark Wolverson, 17 September 2026: Willmott Dixon brings back Wates director to lead £58m North East workload. constructionnews.co.uk
- Nima Nicolas Aase, 11 September 2026: Turner & Townsend appoints Nima Nicolas Aase as Managing Director for Europe. consultancy.eu
- James Corrigan joins Turner & Townsend as Managing Director, 1 September 2026. Turner & Townsend
- Nick Corrigan, 17 August 2026: Morgan Sindall appoints new North East and Cumbria director. Highways Magazine
- Roger Forsdyke, 17 August 2026: Wates appoints Willmott Dixon executive as UK operations director. constructionnews.co.uk
- Kevin Grace, 23 July 2026: Wates London reset continues as director to join from Mace. Construction Enquirer
- Steve Lynn, 22 July 2026: Kier Construction appoints new director for Yorkshire and North East. Insider Media Ltd
- Stuart Togwell, 8 July 2026: Kier chief executive joins CLC leadership. Construction News
- Courtney McCormick, 7 July 2026: GRAHAM Group CFO appointed new CEO. Highways News
- Barry Jupp, 25 June 2026: Kier promotes finance chief to head highways business. Construction Enquirer
Contract awards, last twelve months
| Awarded | Buyer | Contractor | Published value | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 July 2026 | Airedale NHS Foundation Trust | John Graham Construction Limited | £798m | Notice |
| 30 July 2026 | West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust | Dragados Sociedad Anonima | £838m | Notice |
| 30 July 2026 | The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King's Lynn NHS Foundation Trust | Skanska Construction UK Limited | £767m | Notice |
| 30 July 2026 | James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | Skanska Construction UK Limited | £805m | Notice |
| 30 July 2026 | Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust | Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd | £246m | Notice |
| 30 July 2026 | North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust | Kier Construction Limited | £492m | Notice |
| 20 July 2026 | Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust | Sacyr UK Limited | Not shown | Notice |
| 3 July 2026 | Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust | Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure Ltd | £218m | Notice |
Values are as the buyer published them. Where a published value is plainly wrong, it is not shown.
The leadership seats it creates
At the trusts. A programme director, client-side commercial and estates leadership, and the people who hold the clinical brief while the trust keeps its existing hospital running.
At the national level. The NHS England delivery team and the Health Delivery Partnership, setting the standard, the cost model and the schedule that every scheme reports against.
At the contractors. A framework director for each alliance member, then a project director, a commercial director and a pre-construction and design lead for each scheme. The standard design moves some of the skill away from one-off design management and towards repeatable delivery, supply chain and offsite manufacture.
How a search for this programme runs
The leaders who have delivered a major hospital inside a live estate are a short list, and most of them now sit with one of the alliance contractors or the trusts they build for. A retained search maps all of them, approaches the people who are not looking, and assesses them properly before a shortlist is put in front of anyone. The process is set out stage by stage on the method page.
What this means if you are weighing a move
If you have delivered a major hospital, especially phased work around a live estate, you are in short supply, and you will be for the life of the programme. The ten alliance contractors and the trusts are all hiring for the same experience.
The choice is between sides of the table as much as between firms. A trust seat gives you the whole scheme and the clinical brief; a contractor seat gives you the chance to run several schemes to one design over a decade. Both are good careers. Decide which one you want before the call comes, because in this market it will.
What this means if you are hiring
Ten contractors and a long list of trusts are now competing for the same small group of people who have done this before. Most of them are in post, many are already on a wave 1 scheme, and few of them are reading adverts. I would plan the senior appointments for each scheme a year ahead of main construction, and look beyond healthcare for the leaders who have run repeatable, standardised programmes elsewhere.
On the client side, a trust appointing a programme director is often hiring for a role it has never filled before. The brief is worth getting right first: who the leader reports to, what they can decide, and how they will work with a national team as well as a contractor.
01What is the New Hospital Programme?
The government's programme to build and rebuild hospitals in England. Its 2025 to 2026 annual report counts 46 hospital schemes, seven already open to patients and nine in construction. The Department of Health and Social Care is the sponsor and NHS England runs delivery.
02When will the hospitals be built?
In waves. After the January 2025 reset, wave 1 starts construction between 2025 and 2030 and includes the hospitals built mainly from RAAC, wave 2 between 2030 and 2035, and wave 3 between 2035 and 2039. The government committed £15bn of investment per five-year wave, an average of £3bn a year.
03Who are the Hospital 2.0 Alliance contractors?
Ten firms appointed in March 2026 to a framework of up to 12 years: Bovis, Dragados, Integrated Health Projects (VINCI Building with Sir Robert McAlpine), John Graham, Kier, Laing O'Rourke, Morgan Sindall, Sacyr UK, Skanska and Willmott Dixon. Eleven agreements between NHS trusts and alliance contractors were signed on 30 July 2026.
04What leadership roles does the programme create?
At each trust, a programme director, client-side commercial and estates leadership, and the people who hold the clinical brief. Nationally, the NHS England team and the Health Delivery Partnership. At each contractor, framework and scheme project directors, pre-construction and design leaders working to the Hospital 2.0 standard, and commercial directors for each call-off.
05Where do the live figures on this page come from?
The leadership roles come from the weekly careers-page sweep behind the Senior Hiring Index, which runs early every Monday, the moves from appointments reported in the trade press, and the awards from public notices on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. The page re-reads them every few hours, so it is never more than a few hours behind them.
Start a conversation
If you are hiring into the New Hospital Programme, or weighing a seat on it, I would welcome the chance to talk. No hard sell, no obligation.
The wider picture is on the healthcare sector page and the Senior Hiring Index, and who recruits senior roles on the programme is answered in one page.
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