Chief People Officer

Job overview

World class care requires world class leadership.

We are at a pivotal moment in our long history. We have been providing world-class care to children and young people with complex needs for almost 175 years - as our new Chief People Officer you will have the opportunity to help us shape our next chapter.

Every day we work to ensure that the latest advances in research and innovation make their way into treatment as quickly as possible. Our new Children’s Cancer Centre, due to open in 2029, will provide us with an opportunity to deliver a step change in our cancer services with bigger, better environments for theatres, imaging, critical care and our hospital school. We stand on the cusp of a genomics revolution which will see 50% of all healthcare journeys involving genomic testing by 2035. And Artificial Intelligence is helping us to accelerate the practical application of these scientific advancements and is changing how we plan for, provide and deliver care.

Alongside these opportunities, we are working in a time of constrained resources and a growing focus on community care that does not always align neatly with our role as a specialist tertiary children’s hospital.

Main duties of the job

The Opportunity

We are seeking an exceptional leader who can help us seize the opportunities we have and navigate complex challenges, providing visible, professional leadership as we build on our successes, strengthen our close work with GOSH Charity, and deepen partnerships beyond the Trust to deliver our ambitious plans. This includes shaping our workforce as we transform elements of our operating model, making care more seamless for children and families across the organisation and beyond hospital boundaries, while ensuring long-term financial sustainability.

The organisation must preserve the qualities that make it distinctive and expert, while continuing to modernise to remain at the forefront of children’s healthcare. The Chief People Officer will provide the leadership and expertise to help shape our future workforce models and guide the organisation through a significant period of ongoing change and transformation.

Working closely with the Chief Executive and Executive colleagues, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and sustaining an effective distributed leadership model across the senior team. Success in this role will depend not on personal control, but on your ability to build trust, enable others to lead with confidence, and hold collective accountability for outcomes. This calls for experience of operating within complex systems, mature judgement, and the confidence to lead through influence, constructive challenge, and partnership - ensuring that, together, the Executive and wider leadership team are cohesive, resilient, and able to thrive under pressure.

The GOSH name, brand and reputation brings with it significant prestige, but also responsibility and scrutiny. You will therefore be a skilled communicator, comfortable in the spotlight and understand the responsibilities that come with the position that GOSH occupies in the hearts and minds of our patients and their families, as well as in the hearts and minds of the public in the UK and beyond.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents please view the attachment/s below.

For further information, please refer to the attached candidate pack.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 20th May  2026.

For more information, please see the candidate brief below or please email Vicky Graham at [email protected] to arrange a further discussion in confidence about this opportunity.