Chief People Officer

Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust; Wigan; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS Trust in Wigan is seeking a Chief People Officer to lead its People & Culture Strategy during a critical transitional phase. The ideal candidate will possess significant experience in developing impactful strategies and will demonstrate expertise in equality and diversity. Responsibilities include overseeing workforce planning, enhancing colleague experience, and providing compassionate leadership across the organization.

Qualifications

• Accomplished senior People & OD leader with experience in complex environments.
• Track record of developing impactful People & OD strategies.
• Experience in workforce transformation and culture change.

Responsibilities

• Lead and embed the People & Culture Strategy.
• Oversee workforce planning and modernisation.
• Improve colleague experience and engagement.

Skills

People & OD strategy development

Organisational development

Equality, diversity, and inclusion expertise

Leadership and partnership skills

Strategic insight

Job description

About the Role

Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) is seeking an exceptional, values‑led Chief People Officer (CPO) to join our Board and Executive Team at a crucial moment in our organisation's evolution. This is a strategic, system‑minded people leader role that will shape the future of a major acute and community teaching trust serving more than 329,000 residents across the Wigan Borough.

As CPO, you will be a strategic equal at the Board table, responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of our People & Culture Strategy, aligned with the NHS People Plan, NHS People Promise and long‑term workforce ambitions. You will lead the full portfolio of workforce, organisational development, culture, leadership, digital people services, education, recruitment, wellbeing and Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) – including our journey to become a fully anti‑racist organisation. You will provide visible, inclusive and compassionate executive leadership, strengthening people management capability across the Trust and driving service improvement, modernisation and high performance. Key system leadership responsibilities include participation in the Greater Manchester HR Directors' Network, the Healthier Wigan Partnership and wider locality programmes. Travel to all Trust sites will be required.

Key Priorities

• Leading and embedding our People & Culture Strategy
• Overseeing workforce planning, modernisation and future workforce design
• Driving the acute‑to‑community shift and redesigning workforce models to meet growing demand
• Strengthening leadership capability, succession planning and talent development
• Improving colleague experience, wellbeing, psychological safety and engagement
• Leading the EDI strategy and reporting, with explicit responsibility for anti‑racism
• Ensuring robust employee relations, partnership working and Trade Union collaboration
• Supporting organisational transformation through high‑impact OD and cultural change programmes
• Delivering People Services excellence with grip, control and service improvement focus

About You

We are seeking an accomplished senior People & OD leader with experience gained in a complex environment, ideally within the NHS or wider public sector.

• A track record of developing and delivering impactful People & OD strategies
• Significant experience of organisational development, workforce transformation and culture change
• Deep expertise in equality, diversity and inclusion with demonstrable commitment to anti‑racism
• Strong partnership skills, including working with multi‑agency stakeholders and Trade Unions
• Visible, compassionate leadership and the ability to inspire followership
• The confidence, credibility and strategic insight to influence at Board level
• A personal style that reflects our values – compassionate, collaborative, authentic and ambitious

Additional Information

Applications are scored against the person specification, so we recommend using the supporting information section to demonstrate how you meet the essential and desirable criteria, providing illustrative examples where possible.

Some roles may require participation in an on‑call rota if the role is predominantly operational.

WWL has signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment and recognises continuous or 'unbroken' service in any Greater Manchester Local Authority or NHS organisation, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service or Greater Manchester Combined Authority; giving you access to our service‑related benefits.

We endeavour to inform all applicants of the outcome of their application by email or SMS text message.

The Trust reserves the right to close adverts earlier than the stated closing date if there is a high volume of applications.

Who We Are

WWL is the proud provider of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. We value our staff, believing that 'happy staff, makes for happy patients'. We have a recognised track record in staff engagement, and living our values 'the WWL Way'. We place the patient at the heart of everything we do, providing safe, effective care that acknowledges and ensures dignity. We welcome applications from all sections of society, recognising the benefits a rich and diverse workforce brings to our community.