Deputy Chief People Officer

We are seeking an experienced Deputy Chief People Officer (DCPO) to inspire and lead HR and OD services at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, contributing to a dynamic and challenging people agenda both in the Trust and across the local health and care system. The DCPO is the most senior HR and OD leadership role below Board level with responsibility for developing and driving a high-performance people service culture, whilst also putting in place a range of large-scale improvement initiatives that give our people the best experience in the NHS.  

Visit https://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/about-us/our-priorities-and-our-progress/ for further information.

The Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust and HR/OD team have ambitious plans to drive change and improvement in how services are delivered to patients, staff and their communities. Based in the historic town of Salisbury, in rural Wiltshire, it is an attractive place to live and work. The role can potentially be remote/home based for 1 or 2 days a week and may involve some travel to other Trust sites across the region.

This role reports to the Chief People Officer (CPO) and will work closely with the Associate Director of Organisation Development & Learning and the Interim Associate Director of HR Operations, alongside the Trust Executive team and colleagues across the Bath, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care System (ICS) in the development of People Plans for the region alongside NHS England’s plans for the next 5 years.

With significant responsibility to ensure the success of the people services in the Trust, the post will also have responsibility for the development and delivery of the Trust People Strategy and Plan and the associated Performance Metrics, benchmarking performance against Regional and National Strategies and Plans.  Salisbury has recently been selected as one of 21 Trusts across England to be a People Promise exemplar site.

The post holder will directly manage the Workforce Systems and Information Team, Heads of Occupational Health and Wellbeing, Head of Health and Safety and the HR/OD Programme Office.  Responsible for providing exceptional leadership to the team, completing and overseeing annual appraisals and professional development, the post holder is required to promote a culture of engagement, innovation, flexibility, responsiveness and high performance across their teams.    

Other responsibilities include leadership for all improvement initiatives in the Directorate, managing Governance across the Trust and reporting to the ICS, contributing to Business Planning, developing the Reward and Recognition framework to balance retaining staff with providing value for money, and developing effective and productive relationships with Trust staff, trades unions and staff governors.

Candidates should be educated to Master’s level (or equivalent), be a Fellow of CIPD (or equivalent) and be able to demonstrate their experience in leading and delivering the full range of HR and OD activities outlined above. Prior experience of working within the NHS or a unionised environment will be an advantage.

Applications are encouraged from people from within the Health Service and also from those with experience from other sectors, who can bring new approaches to the challenges ahead. We are keen to support applications from people from under-represented groups to support our EDI initiatives.

We are also seeking an Assistant Director, OD and learning (advertised separately) and an Interim Head of HR Operations.

To find out more, please contact Manisha Aatkar (manisha.aatkar@ekimconsulting.com) from our recruitment partners, Ekim Consulting Ltd.