Chief People Officer
| Posting date: | 16 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | Not specified |
| Additional salary information: | Negotiable |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 09 March 2026 |
| Location: | Wakefield, WF13SP |
| Company: | NHS Jobs |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | C9378-QA01442 |
Summary
Job Summary As a role model for the Trusts vision and values, the Chief People Officer is responsible for the design, development and implementation of the Trusts People Strategy and strategic workforce plans that support the Trusts purpose, direction and objectives. The postholder will advise the Trust Board and Chief Executive on complex national and local employment matters, policy decisions, strategies, and targets. This will include advising and ensuring compliance with the Trusts statutory obligations as an employer and ensuring that the Trust has effective training and education structures and processes to support the delivery of safe, compassionate and modern services. As an executive member of the unitary Trust Board and the Executive team, the postholder will be expected to support the development of an open, engaging and inclusive culture for service users and staff that encourages excellence in clinical practice, facilitates team working and multi-disciplinary delivery of care. The Chief People Officer also plays a crucial role as a partner in each place and integrated care system the Trust operates. For full details of the role please see the supporting documents attached. Key Result Areas are summarised as follows: Executive Director Responsibilities. Providing strategic leadership at Board level, as a member of a unitary Board, ensuring effective governance, financial sustainability, and delivery of organisational objectives while maintaining accountability for all workforce, OD, and EDI matters. Strategic HR.Leading the development and implementation of a transformative People Strategy that strengthens employee experience, workforce innovation, employer reputation, partnership working, and compliance with national standards. Workforce Planning. Strategic oversight of comprehensive workforce planning to ensure future focused workforce models, strong talent pipelines, and alignment of workforce requirements with strategic and financial plans. Talent Management and Succession Planning. Ensuring robust talent management, succession planning, and Board and senior leadership development programmes. Education and Learning. Strategic oversight of the teaching, learning, and development agenda to build leadership capability, ensure high quality training for all staff, and strengthen partnerships that support future workforce needs. Human Resource Management. Professional leadership for HR, OD and EDI functions, ensuring inclusive, evidence based policies, practises and processes, which support our organisational values and behaviours. Organisational Development. Strategic oversight of OD plans, to enable a compassionate, inclusive and improvement focused culture. Modern and Effective People Services. Ensuring high quality, digitally enabled People Services that use data and modern systems to drive organisational performance, workforce insights, and improved employee experience. Employee Health and Wellbeing. Strategic oversight of a comprehensive wellbeing agenda that promotes compassionate leadership, psychologically safe teams, fair practice, and data informed actions that enhance health and wellbeing, attendance, and employee experience.