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Future Leaders Bid Applications

NHS England Yorkshire and the Humber has opened bids for Future Leader posts due to commence on Wednesday 6th August 2025. The Future Leaders Programme has been a great success over many years. Full details on what a Future Leader is and how the programme works is available on our website.

Information relating to the recruitment and employment arrangements for Future Leaders can be found on our recruitment website.

Our Future Leaders alumni has created a video aimed at Educational Supervisors, giving some helpful advice on roles and responsibilities: The Future Leaders Programme - Supervising your Fellow

 

2025-2026 Call for Bids

All proposals should be made via the online bid portal and should be submitted no later than 5pm on 21st August 2024.

Please refer to the 2025 FLP recruitment timeline for key dates. 

 

    Contents

    Hosting a Leadership Fellow

    Future Leader Fellowships are funded for 12 months only. Any organisations which have previously hosted a Leadership Fellow, will need to submit a new bid if they wish to host another Fellow. 

    The bid process takes place once a year. The next bidding round will be for the August 2025 Future Leaders Programme.

    Bids may be either funded 100% by NHS England, or funded 50% by NHS England and 50% by an LEP/another organisation. School bids are 100% funded by NHS England. Fellows in 100% funded posts are expected to undertake work across the Yorkshire and the Humber region, or undertake work that will be disseminated across this geography.

    Bids from other organisations are funded 50% by NHS England and 50% by the LEP/organisation. Fellows in these posts can undertake work specific to that LEP, although LEPs are encouraged to share learning across the region where appropriate.

    Recruitment Arrangements

    The Future Leaders team will advertise all posts on this website and co-ordinate the recruitment process. Bidders are responsible for promoting their posts within their school/organisation or wider. The strongest field of applicants tends to be generated when bidders promote their posts widely through presentations at training days and educational events. Bidders are also responsible for shortlisting and interviewing applicants.

    In their bid application organisations will be asked to identify an Educational Supervisor to support the Leadership Fellow. Once an applicant is appointed, the Educational Supervisor should contact the new Leadership Fellow to confirm the  base location, and to organise a project specific induction. All Leadership Fellows will be invited to attend a programme induction organised by the Future Leaders support team.

    Bid Criteria

    When completing a bid application, applicants should note:

    • Posts are not automatically continued once they reach their conclusion, so Lead Bidders will need to submit new bids if they wish for any posts to be repeated or continued
    • It is not permitted for any fellowships to include clinical duties as all fellowships are a whole-time leadership experience.
    • Research bids will not be considered

    As well as completing a bid application, applicants must:

    • Provide confirmation of funding for any 50% LEP funded bids
    • Provide confirmation of employment arrangements for any 50% LEP funded bids
    • Submit a copy of the Job Description and Person Specification for the proposed post (A generic FLP Person Specification is attached for information.

    50% LEP funded bids will not be considered without confirmation of funded or employment arrangements. It is the bidder's responsibility to identify an employer for registrars appointed to any 50% LEP funded posts. NHSE cannot be involved in sourcing an employer for Future Leaders. Registrars appointed to any 100% NHSE funded bids will be employed by the lead employer. Other Healthcare Professionals will remain employed by their current employer. 

    Funding Arrangements

    Due to increased pressure on NHSE, there will be no 100% NHSE funded opportunities, apart from NHSE Postgraduate School bids. In order to maximise the number of opportunities from our limited resources, we have agreed to fund posts in the following ways:

    • Trust funds 50%, NHSE funds 50% baseline salary costs
    • Integrated Care System (ICB) fund 50%, NHSE funds 50% baseline salary costs

    NHSE are committed to leadership in the NHS, so would welcome the opportunity to open the breadth of our leadership training to as many individuals as possible. Our leadership fellows are often appointed to leadership roles earlier in their career than traditional career pathways. We therefore welcome Future Leaders onto our programme that are 100% Trust/ICS funded (with no NHSE salary funding input). These can be funded by a single or combination of organisations. NHSE would support these individuals by funding full access to the Future Leaders Programme of courses, study leave entitlement and the peer support element the programme has to offer.

    The funding arrangements for the 2025 cohort of Fellows remains as follows:

    • Salary contributions for Future Leaders will be made to employers on actual basic salary plus an administration contribution of £400
    • Study leave costs will be covered by NHSE up to a maximum of £3,600 for each Future Leader
    • Project costs will not be covered by NHSE. This includes any travel and associated expenses linked to the project. The exception to this arrangement is NHSE School bids – all associated expenses would be funded via the Schools study budget

    Panel Date

    A formal panel will convene to review all submitted bids on 16th October. NHSE will then contact all Lead Bidders by 23rd October to confirm the outcome. The bid assessment tool that the panel will run to is attached for your information. Please refer to the recruitment timeline for further information and key dates. 

    Inclusive Recruitment

    The future leaders programme is committed to following NHSEs Inclusive Recruitment guide. We encourage you to make your bid attractive and open to healthcare professionals from a diverse range of backgrounds.

    Promoting your post

    Although posts will be advertised by NHSE via their website, the bidder is responsible for promoting their post via their networks. The Future Leaders team will advertise all posts on this website and co-ordinate the recruitment process. Bidders are responsible for promoting their posts within their school /  organisation or wider. The strongest field of applicants tends to be generated when bidders promote their posts widely through presentations at training days and educational events. Bidders are also responsible for shortlisting and interviewing applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds.

    Contacts

    For further information about the Future Leaders Programme, please visit the Future Leaders website.

    If you cant find the information you need on our wesbite please contact the Future Leaders team via england.futureleaders.yh@nhs.net.

    interviewing applicants.

    Resources

    2025 Bid Application Form

    2025 Bid Assessment Tool

    Generic Person Specification

     

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