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Job overview
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.
Job Title: Chief Medical Officer (interim)
Start Date: ASAP
Contract Type: Fixed term
Duration: 6 months
Purpose for Fixed Term: Limited Term Project
This post is appointed on a fixed-term basis for the primary purpose of providing structured training and supervised clinical development. While the postholder will contribute to service delivery, the overarching purpose of the post is to provide defined educational opportunities, supervised clinical practice, and experience aligned to the relevant specialty training curriculum
Please see below for detailed job description of the role.
Main duties of the job
The Chief Medical Officer is responsible to the Chief Executive and Trust Board for professional leadership of the medical workforce and for promoting high quality patient care, clinical effectiveness, education, research and innovation.
We are seeking an interim appointment to this role for 6 months, whilst we recruit to the position on a substantive basis.
Applicants should hold full GMC registration, possess significant Board-level leadership experience within complex healthcare environments and demonstrate a track record of clinical strategy delivery, governance leadership, research and education leadership, system working, workforce transformation and inclusive leadership.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Key responsibilities:
- Professional leadership of all medical staff.
- Joint executive accountability for clinical governance with the Chief Nurse.
- Leadership of clinical effectiveness, outcomes and quality improvement.
- Responsible Officer for Medical Revalidation.
- Leadership of medical workforce strategy and talent development.
- Leadership of research, innovation and academic partnerships.
- Contribution to Trust and system strategy.
- Visible, compassionate and inclusive leadership.
- Championing equality, diversity and inclusion.
- Development of future clinical leaders.
- Representation of UHS regionally and nationally
For an overview of the position, please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification document. This includes a detailed breakdown of the key responsibilities, role expectations, and the qualifications we are looking for.
It outlines the essential criteria for the role and is designed to support you in preparing your application by helping you evaluate how your skills, experience, and professional background align with the requirements of the role.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION The successful candidate will be employed under the terms and conditions of service for Consultants (England) 2003.
Proposed interview date: To be confirmed
This vacancy closes on or before 2nd August 2026
Person specification
Living Trust Values
Essential
- Patients First
- Always Improving
- Working Together
Aptitudes and skills
Essential
- Actively seeks, establishes and develops effective working relationships with key stakeholders
- Visible commitment to compassionate, inclusive and values-led leadership
- Commitment to equality, inclusion, belonging and reducing workforce and health inequalities
- Ability to represent the Trust credibly with the public, media, regulators, academic partners and system stakeholders
- Contributes effectively to Board working, organisational governance, risk management and assurance
- Monitors compliance with legal, ethical, social and environmental requirements
- Able to analyse, interpret and present complex data clearly for Board, executive and clinical audiences
Qualifications, Training & Experience
Essential
- Master’s degree, equivalent postgraduate qualification or equivalent experience
- Full active registration with the General Medical Council
- Significant senior clinical and managerial leadership experience working at or near Board level in the NHS in a complex operating environment
- Evidence of continuing personal and professional development
- Track record of developing and implementing clinical strategies, plans, policies and procedures with well-developed clinical governance experience
- Track record of delivering high-quality outcomes and positive patient experience
- Proven personal and professional credibility with Board-level stakeholders, management teams, clinical and non-clinical staff, patients, the public and academic partners
- Experience of developing new multi-disciplinary models of care and implementing service redesign and innovation within and across organisational boundaries
- Experience of managing performance and conduct issues relating to medical staff
- Experience of public engagement and consultation over proposals for significant service change
- Experience of media handling and public relations
- Understanding of medical workforce, medical education, research and clinical effectiveness requirements relevant to a large NHS teaching hospital
- Ability to support delivery of Trust strategy, corporate objectives, responsible officer duties and executive-level governance responsibilities
- Knowledge of NHS financial regime and experience of managing budgets and spending programmes
Desirable
- Experience of working in a teaching hospital environment with exposure to research and development activity
- Experience of leading or sponsoring major clinical, research, education, workforce or service transformation programmes
- Experience of building productive relationships with universities, Royal Colleges, regulators, medical unions, NHS England regional teams and Integrated Care System partners
- Experience of leading or supporting renewal, growth or assurance of major research facilities, networks or partnerships
- Experience as an executive champion for inclusion, staff networks, sustainability or other cross-cutting corporate priorities
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Chief Medical Officer (interim) with University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust in Southampton, South East, England. It is listed as a Administrative and IT role. The advertised salary is £113,565 - £150,569. The contract type is 6 months (Fixed Term). The application deadline is 02 Aug 2026.
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