Job summary
- Main area
- Human Resource
- Grade
- Band 9
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 396-7811568-OA-AC
- Employer
- Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Thames House
- Town
- Teddington
- Salary
- £115,120 - £131,578 pa. Inclusive of HCAS (Outer)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 08/03/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 15/04/2026
Employer heading
Deputy Chief People Officer
Band 9
Home, community, hospital
Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust offers a range of fantastic opportunities to grow your career across both hospital and community settings in south London. Whether you're looking to build new skills or take your experience to the next level, we are uniquely placed to provide the right environment to support your professional development. With colleagues working in people’s homes, in community clinics, and in our two hospitals, we have an outstanding breadth of knowledge and experience to draw from.
Our commitment to exceptional care is reflected in being the first trust of our kind in London to achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating from the CQC for both overall quality and leadership. We exist to provide the best possible care for our patients and we do that by giving our colleagues what they need to be their best at work. We have won numerous awards from the HSJ and Nursing Times for the way we support our colleagues across all our services.
We are proud to be recognised for our outstanding cancer care, children's services, pioneering surgical teams, and exceptional rehabilitation services. Our maternity services have been rated the "Best in London" by women surveyed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with parents travelling to Kingston to take advantage of our considerable experience and expertise.
Our Trust values
These words are important reminders, but it’s our behaviours that tell people who we are. We expect all colleagues to bring our values to life in their work.
- Compassionate: We provide care with kindness, understanding, and empathy for all.
- Inclusive: We embrace diversity and respect the unique contributions of every individual.
- Collaborative: We foster teamwork across all levels, working together and with our partners to deliver the best outcomes.
- Inspiring: We are committed to continuous improvement and excellence in patient care, staff development, and innovation.
Job overview
We are recruiting an experienced and values-driven Deputy Chief People Officer to join us at a pivotal moment for our newly merged organisation. The Trust is now entering an exciting phase of transformation — creating a rare opportunity to make a meaningful and lasting impact on our people, culture and organisational direction. Working closely with the Chief People Officer and leaders across the organisation and the system, this senior role will also play a pivotal role in developing and implementing our people strategy for all our people, in line with our ambition to deliver the best care to patients across our communities across integrated pathways both within and outside the hospital, in line with the 10-Year Plan.
This role offers an exceptional opportunity for an ambitious HR professional who aspires to become a future Chief People Officer. You will gain extensive strategic exposure, system-level experience and the chance to shape the workforce and culture of a newly formed, forward-looking organisation.
Main duties of the job
As a key member of the senior People leadership team, you will:
· Play a lead role in driving forward the development and delivery of our People Strategy, working closely with the Chief People Officer and leaders across the organisation
· Contribute to and shape long-term strategic workforce priorities, ensuring our people agenda supports the Trust’s future direction
· Oversee core workforce functions including HR Business Partnering, Workforce Planning, EDI and Reward
· Lead and manage the Trust’s Employee Relations function, ensuring high-quality, consistent and values-based ER practice as well as best practice policy development and implementation
· Drive innovation and proactive, strategic approaches to employee relations, promoting early intervention, improved culture and reduced escalation and taking innovative and leading edge approaches to improve quality and experience
· Work with the Head of Employee Relations to provide expert guidance on complex and high-risk ER matters, working closely with staff-side colleagues
· Lead major organisational development and cultural change programmes
· Strengthen collaborative working across the South West London Integrated Care System
· Champion an inclusive, compassionate and high-performing workforce
Working for our organisation
Development and staff wellbeing
Your growth and personal happiness matters to us. After all, we can’t expect the best from you if we don’t invest in your development and nurture your wellbeing. From the moment you join us, we’re committed to fostering your professional and personal development within a supportive, empowering environment. Whether you’re just starting your career or looking to advance further, we provide you with the tools and opportunities you need to succeed. We actively support colleagues to take part in research, quality improvement and innovation, whatever their role or level in the organisation.
What we’re looking for In exchange
We are seeking a highly credible senior HR leader with:
· Significant experience in developing, influencing and delivering People Strategy at organisational level
· Strong and extensive employee relations experience, including innovative and proactive ER approaches
· A proven track record of leading large-scale organisational change
· Excellent stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to influence at Executive and Board level
· Up-to-date knowledge of modern HR practice, NHS workforce challenges and UK employment legislation
· A strong commitment to improving staff experience and embedding people-centred cultures
· Ideally, senior-level experience within the NHS, or equivalent experience in a complex and unionised environment
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This role offers an exceptional opportunity for an ambitious HR professional who aspires to become a future Chief People Officer. You will gain extensive strategic exposure, system-level experience and the chance to shape the workforce and culture of a newly formed, forward-looking organisation.
If you want to make a genuine difference and help drive the next phase of transformation at Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Please see the attached supporting document which contains more information and also the person specification for this role.
If you want to make a genuine difference and help drive the next phase of transformation at Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust, we would be delighted to hear from you.
For further details and the recruitment pack please contact Sam Eales at Morgan Law [email protected] or 07785 241 561 / 0207 747 4949.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Educated to a Masters degree or equivalent post-graduate qualification or equivalent level of experience
Employer certification / accreditation badges
.png "National Preceptorship for Nursing Quality Mark")
.jpg "Disability Advice Line")
Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Sam Eales
- Job title
- Recruiter
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07785 241 561
- Additional information
You can also contact Sam on 0207 747 4949
List jobs with Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust in Administrative Services or all sectors