Job summary
- Main area
- Directors
- Grade
- Band 8d
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 275-0826-DCPO-WKF
- Employer
- Medway NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Medway NHS Foundation Trust
- Town
- Gillingham
- Salary
- £94,356 - £108,814 per annum/pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 10/09/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Deputy Chief People Officer
Band 8d
Do you have the ambition and vision to deliver the Best of Care by the Best People?
Here at Medway, we pride ourselves on working together as one to ensure that our shared vision of Better, Best, Brilliant is achieved
Our Trust is a great choice for people who want to develop their career in an ambitious and dynamic environment; our employees are able to choose the coverage and supplemental benefits that best fit their needs and those of their families. This includes the promotion of flexible working opportunities across the Trust, we are able to give our employees flexibility on where, when and the hours they work.
Our culture and values are what drives Medway NHS Foundation Trust and is the heartbeat of who we are as an organisation. It is important that you understand and to refer to our values when you are completing your application and always reflect our values throughout your employment with the Trust.
Job overview
Deputy Chief People Officer Workforce
Division Corporate
Band 8d
Salary £94,356 - £108,814 per annum
Medway NHS Foundation Trust is on a journey of continual improvement, focused on delivering the best of care by the best of people, providing excellent care every time.
We are building a strong, stable, values-driven leadership team & are seeking an exceptional workforce leader to join as Deputy Chief People Officer.
This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping the future workforce of the Trust, providing strategic leadership across workforce sustainability, affordability, planning, people operations, ensuring our people services support the delivery of safe, effective & compassionate patient care.
You will lead a significant portfolio including
- People Partnering
- Employee Relations
- Recruitment
- Temporary Staffing
- Workforce Planning, Intelligence & Reporting
- Workforce Governance
We need an experienced, credible leader who can operate at Executive level & build strong relationships across the Trust.
We require
- Experience of workforce transformation & complex organisational improvement
- Strong workforce planning & affordability expertise
- Experience of supporting Boards & Executive Teams through high-quality workforce advice & assurance
- A passion for creating positive workplace cultures
You will need to demonstrate the leadership behaviours to build trust, strengthen capability & create an environment where staff feel valued & supported
Main duties of the job
The Deputy Chief People Officer is one of two formal deputies to the Chief People Officer (CPO) and a key member of the Trust’s senior leadership community. The postholder provides strategic leadership across assigned areas of the People & Culture portfolio and supports the delivery of the Trust's workforce, culture and organisational improvement priorities. In the absence of the Chief People Officer, the postholder will act on their behalf and provide senior leadership to the People & Culture function.
The post holder will support the Chief People Officer, to deliver the wider operational, strategic and improvement objectives of the Trust, leading initiatives to develop high levels of workforce engagement, organisational culture and performance.
The Deputy Chief People Officer has a wide-ranging and extensive portfolio including Employee Relations and Business Partnering, Recruitment and Temporary Staffing, EDI and Workforce Systems. They will drive value, improvements and innovation in the delivery of people services.
Responsibility for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Wellbeing, Occupational Health and Staff Experience sits within a separate Deputy Chief People Officer portfolio. The postholder will work collaboratively across both Deputy portfolios to ensure an integrated approach to workforce, culture and organisational priorities.
Working for our organisation
This is a unique opportunity to join a Trust at an exciting point in its development.
You will work alongside a newly appointed executive team with a shared commitment to improvement, collaboration & culture change.
You will have the opportunity to:
- Shape the future workforce strategy of a major acute Trust
- Influence decision-making at the highest level
- Lead significant workforce transformation & improvement programmes
- Build strong partnerships across the Kent and Medway system
- Develop as a senior executive leader within a supportive & ambitious organisation
Do you have the ambition & vision to deliver our mission of the Best of Care by the Best of People providing excellent care, every time?
Here at Medway, we pride ourselves on working together as one to ensure that our shared vision is achieved for our patients.
As a key partner in the healthcare of our local population, we are keen to deliver this as an outcome of our Trust-wide strategy – Patient First. Using an Operational Excellence approach to align our priorities and operational management structures, we are just over a year and half into our Patient First deployment.
Our culture & values define us here at Medway NHS Foundation Trust & are the heartbeat of who we are as a Trust.
Our BEST values underpin Patient First & are at the core of the care we give to our patients, the support we offer to our staff & our overall leadership approach:
B – Bold
E – Every person counts
S – Sharing and open
T - Together
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
· Act as one of the formal deputies to the Chief People Officer and provide senior leadership across the People & Culture Directorate.
· Provide strategic workforce advice, challenge and support to Executive Directors and senior clinical and operational leaders.
· Support development and delivery of the Trust People Plan and wider organisational strategy.
· Ensure workforce plans are aligned to organisational priorities, operational delivery requirements and service transformation programmes.
· Lead workforce affordability, productivity and establishment management programmes.
· Support delivery of financial improvement and productivity objectives through workforce interventions and workforce redesign
· Support managers and leaders to resolve workforce issues proactively and consistently, reducing dependency on formal processes wherever appropriate.
· Lead continuous improvement of operational workforce services and identify opportunities for greater efficiency, consistency and service quality.
· Ensure organisational learning is captured from workforce issues, employment tribunals, investigations, grievances and employee relations activity
· Lead workforce governance, assurance and reporting arrangements across the Trust.
· Maintain oversight of workforce risks, workforce performance, workforce intelligence and regulatory requirements, ensuring timely escalation of issues requiring Executive or Board attention.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Master’s degree or equivalent level of knowledge and experience acquired through senior professional practice.
- Chartered member of the CIPD (or equivalent professional qualification) Evidence of relevant continuing professional development.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Expert knowledge of strategic and operational People practice
- Expert knowledge of employment law, employee relations and industrial relations practice.
- Strong understanding of workforce planning methodologies and workforce sustainability approaches.
- Strong understanding of workforce productivity, workforce affordability and establishment management principles.
- Strong understanding of organisational change, transformation and continuous improvement methodologies.
- Strong understanding of NHS policy, regulation and the strategic workforce challenges facing the NHS.
- Knowledge of leadership development, cultural transformation and organisational effectiveness.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Significant senior People leadership experience within a large, complex NHS organisation.
- Experience of operating at senior leadership level, contributing to organisational strategy and decision-making.
- Experience of leading large, multi-disciplinary People teams through periods of organisational change and improvement.
- Experience of workforce planning, workforce sustainability and workforce transformation.
- Experience of providing strategic workforce advice, challenge and support to Executive Directors and senior leaders.
- Experience of workforce affordability, productivity improvement, establishment management and financial recovery programmes.
- Significant experience of industrial relations leadership and partnership working with Trade Unions and Staff Side representatives.
Skills
Essential criteria
- Ability to provide strategic workforce leadership within a complex and changing environment.
- Ability to influence, negotiate and challenge constructively at all levels.
- Ability to build credibility and effective working relationships with senior leaders, clinicians, staff-side representatives and external partners.
- Ability to analyse, interpret and present complex workforce, financial and organisational information.
- Ability to translate workforce insight into practical organisational solutions and strategic recommendations.
- Ability to lead and deliver complex workforce, transformation and improvement programmes.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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Applicant requirements
The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Application numbers
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Barbara Britner
- Job title
- Incoming Chief People Officer
- Email address
- [email protected]
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