Chief People Officer

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust

Chief People Officer

Location: Sussex

Salary: Competitive

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WSHT) and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust (BSUH) have been working in partnership with a shared leadership team for nearly four years and are planning to merge in April 2021. Our vision (Excellent care, every time – "Where better never stops") is at the heart of all that that we do – we pride ourselves in putting the compassionate care of patients first and foremost. WSHT became the first non–specialist acute hospital trust to be awarded Outstanding in all the CQC's key inspection areas and BSUH became the fastest improving acute hospital trust in England and is now rated Good overall and Outstanding for caring by the CQC. Moving forwards together, the ambition is to continue improving and providing excellent care, every time, for patients.

The merger is a technical but important process for both WSHT and BSUH to get the right leadership, structures, and governance in place. Our journey has started, but we have much still to learn as we work towards full merger, enabled by our Patient First ethos which shapes our values and gives structure to our improvement and performance management. Our shared sense of purpose, commitment to investing in and developing our workforce; and focus on the continuous improvement pursuit of excellent care, every time, for our patients underpins all that we do. The largest part of this journey is investing in staff and creating a vibrant and supportive organisation where successful careers flourish.

As such we are now seeking to appoint a Chief People Officer (CPO) who will be part of the executive team and Board and help contribute to the strategy and decision–making processes for the new organisation.

An established leader with substantial senior management experience, the new CPO will be responsible for the overall delivery of the workforce and all that entails including OD, performance, succession planning and workforce careers.

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate a track record gained in a leadership role at or near Board level within a large and complex healthcare organisation. You will have substantial experience gained in OD and people management across a diverse portfolio of services and have worked at the forefront of continuous improvement and significant change management.

The new CPO will bring resilience, credibility, integrity, and creativity to the role, and will be passionate about providing the highest standards for staff and ultimately patient care. Above all else, you will have a value set aligned to our own and the capability to inspire and motivate a wide range of staff and stakeholders in the Trust and across the Sussex ICS.

For more information, please contact Julia St Clare or Melanie Shearer on or by email to .

Closing date: Monday 25 th January 2021

Preliminary interviews: 8 th February 2021

Panel interviews: w/c 22 nd February 2021