Chief People Officer

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust; Wigan; On-site; GBP 200,000 +; Full time

Job summary

A major acute and community healthcare provider in Wigan seeks a Chief People Officer (CPO) to lead workforce transformation and culture change within the trust. The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong background in People & OD, particularly within the NHS or public sector, focusing on equality and inclusion. As a leader, you will shape the organisation's future, foster partnerships, and align staff engagement with the trust's core values, ensuring patient-centered care and community wellbeing.

Qualifications

• A track record of developing and delivering impactful People & OD strategies.
• Significant experience of organisational development and culture change.
• Deep expertise in equality and diversity with commitment to anti-racism.

Responsibilities

• Shape the future of the organisation and its culture.
• Drive workforce transformation and improvement initiatives.
• Collaborate with multi-agency stakeholders and Trade Unions.

Skills

Experience in complex environments

Organisational development

Workforce transformation

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

Strong partnership skills

Visible and compassionate leadership

Strategic insight to influence at Board level

Job description

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 an outstanding opportunity for a strategic, system-minded people leader to shape the future of a major acute and community teaching trust serving more than 329,000 residents across the Wigan Borough.

A pivotal moment for our organisation

WWL is delivering a £4.8m transformation programme — the only one of its kind in Greater Manchester — in partnership with our local authority and ICB, reshaping urgent and emergency care, improving patient flow and accelerating our acute-to-community shift. Alongside this, our three-year financial recovery plan is progressing successfully, supported by a refreshed Executive Team and a new Chair passionate about integrated care. With two new divisions, Start Well and Live Well, we have reshaped our operating model to meet the borough’s health needs across the life course and deliver care closer to home.

We are an organisation defined by our culture: low turnover, high engagement, a strong ethos of continuous improvement, and deep partnership with our local system. As an anchor institution — with 70% of colleagues living in or near the borough — WWL plays a vital role in improving population wellbeing, tackling inequality, and supporting the local workforce pipeline.

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. You will bring:

• 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

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are the proud providers of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, 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’.

WWL are committed to placing the patient at the heart of everything we do, and in the provision of safe, effective care that acknowledges and ensures dignity. With this in mind we are seeking to recruit people who share our values and beliefs.

We value a diverse workforce

At WWL we value the benefits a rich and diverse workforce brings to our community and therefore welcome applications from all sections of society.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Jonathan Phillips Job title: Executive Recruiter Email address: [e-mail] Telephone number: 07817 988490