Recruitment
Recruitment
Recruitment is an integral function within People, Organisational Development and Equalities. At the heart of North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) are our people. They are the reason we can provide exceptional care, and that’s why our recruitment is so much more than filling roles—it's about building a community.
We believe in potential, not perfection. We hire for values first, then qualifications, knowing that lived experience is a powerful asset. This commitment to inclusive hiring means our team is as beautifully diverse as the communities we serve.
If you treat others with innate respect and lead with empathy, you belong here. Join our incredible staff in supporting those with mental health challenges, learning disabilities, and neurodiversity. At NLFT, you won't just have a job—you’ll find a role where your natural strengths are valued, and you feel a true sense of purpose every day.
To see how our values, behaviors and ways of working are all connected and the role they play in supporting colleagues and service users, have a look at our values and behaviours toolkit [pdf] 223KB
Ready to build better lives, better communities, and a better you?
North London Partners Share Services
Part of our recruitment services are managed by our shared corporate service partnership - North London Partners Shared Services (NLPSS), which is hosted by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
The NLPSS recruitment team provides the following employment services for the trust:
- Placing and supporting job adverts.
- Making offers of employment.
- Carrying out employment checks (professional registration, ID, references, right to work etc).
- Hiring people onto payrolls.
Our recruitment process
Candidates applying for roles at the Trust can download our comprehensive guide of our recruitment process [pdf] 745KB or they can view our quick guide of our recruitment process [pdf] 585KB
Applying for a post
Once you have searched our current vacancies and found a job you would like to apply for, you will need to complete an online application. You have the option to click ‘apply online now’ on all of our advertised vacancies to be taken to an application form.
Making sure that our staff feel valued is as important to us as making sure that our patients are safe. We’re looking for people that live our values to help us make a difference to the thousands of patients who come to us for treatment every year. We believe that every member of staff plays an important part in our vision, whether they are on the frontline or not.
All of our jobs are advertised on under current vacancies and on Healthjobs UK.
Your job application
After you have submitted your application and the vacancy has closed, your application will be reviewed and scored by the recruiting manager against the criteria listed in the person specification. The recruiting manager reviews all applications that are received and will let the North London Partners Shared Services (NLPSS) recruitment coordinators know whether they would like to invite you for an interview.
One of our NLPSS recruitment coordinators will be looking after the job you have applied for and will contact everyone who is eligible for interview. We aim to do this within a maximum of three weeks after the closing date for the job. If you have not heard from us by then, you should assume that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion.
Recruitment checks
Pre-employment checks
Once you have been offered a post, we have to undertake a number of mandatory checks which help us to keep you, our patients, staff and visitors safe. These checks have to be completed before we can agree your start date and send you a contract. We aim to complete these checks as quickly as possible. For your information, here is a list of the NHS Pre-Employment checks that we carry out for everyone who applies for a job at NLFT, the link below provides further details on this.
Identity checks
We will ask you to provide us with documents which confirm your identity. These documents also help us to complete a Disclosure and Barring check (DBS) if you need one for your job. You can view the list of acceptable identity documents here.
Eligibility to work
You must either be eligible to work in the United Kingdom or meet the criteria for us to be able to sponsor you. We welcome applications from job seekers who require sponsorship in order to work in the UK and these will be considered alongside all other applications. However, we are required by law to offer posts to suitably qualified, experienced and skilled people from within the EU/EEA. Where there are no suitable candidates from within the EU/EEA, we have to satisfy the Resident Labour Market Test before we can offer a post to a non EU/EEA candidate. For further information please visit the UK Border Agency website.
DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service)
If the post you have applied for requires a check of your criminal record, we will ask you to complete an online DBS application. To do this, we’ll send you a link in your conditional offer letter. You will need to provide valid identification (which will be outlined in your invite to interview letter) in order to progress your DBS application.
Professional bodies and memberships
If you are appointed to a post where it is essential that you are registered with a professional body in order to practice, you must have up to date registration or an application in progress, before you commence in post. You will not be able to start work in some roles until your registration has been confirmed by your professional body. We check this via the online registers; please ensure that the information provided on your application is correct.
Occupational Health (OH)
All staff will be asked to complete an online self-declaration form to confirm they are fit for the post being offered. For some posts you may be asked to visit our OH department in person to gain clearance or provide us with your immunisation records. All staff with patient contact will be asked to attend the OH department during their induction programme.
References
If you have been in continuous NHS employment for the past 12 months, we will only require a reference/s to cover this period. If you have been employed elsewhere in the past 12 months, we will require references to cover your last 3 years of employment. Any gaps in service will also need to be accounted for by obtaining a character reference or we may ask you to complete a self-declaration form. Getting references back from referees can sometimes take a while. To help us to do this quickly, please let your referees know you have been offered a job and that we will be emailing them; this can really help to speed things up.
How to get in touch
There are several ways you can contact the shared recruitment service if you have any queries:
Trac communications portal
The Trac communications portal is the first point of contact for hiring managers who have a query during the recruitment process. You can find the communications tab under the applicant page. For detailed steps on how to use email and communications within Trac, use the communications portal guide. Use your manager login to access the guide.
NLPSS helpdesk
The recruitment helpdesk is available for general enquiries on 020 3758 2060, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. If the team is unable to resolve your query, they will transfer you to your trust recruitment team.
More information
For answers to common enquiries the shared recruitment team receives and what you can do to resolve them, visit the North London Provider Shared Services website.
To see what pre-employment checks are required for internal candidates, read the internal recruitment policy and FAQs.
