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Job overview
The next Chief People Officer will build on strong foundations and lead the next phase of the people agenda for the Trust. Reporting to the Chief Executive, Dame Cally Palmer CBE, and as a full member of the Executive Team and Trust Board, the CPO will lead the development and delivery of workforce strategy across The Royal Marsden. The role carries responsibility for workforce planning, organisational development, leadership and talent, equality, diversity and inclusion, employee relations, reward, workforce systems and analytics, and education and professional development. The CPO will be a trusted adviser to the Chair, Chief Executive and Board, and a credible, values-led partner to clinical, research and operational leaders at every level of the organisation.
Main duties of the job
We are seeking an exceptional executive leader with significant board or executive-level experience of successful people leadership in a large, complex organisation. Candidates will bring a demonstrable track record of shaping and delivering workforce strategy in environments of transformation and change, deep experience of building high-performing people functions, and the credibility to operate at the top table of one of the NHS's most respected specialist trusts. Above all, we are looking for a leader who is strategic, intellectually curious and personally values-driven, with a track record of delivering excellence and impact, a genuine commitment to inclusion, and the resilience and judgement to lead through complexity.
This is a rare opportunity to shape the workforce agenda at one of the world's leading cancer centres, at a moment of real consequence for the Trust and the patients it serves.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
For further information on this role, please see the attached candidate information pack
- Lead the development, delivery and continuous refresh of the Trust's workforce and organisational development strategy, anchored in the Five-Year People Plan 2025-2030 and aligned to the Five-Year Clinical Strategy and the joint research strategy with the ICR
- Represent The Royal Marsden externally at regional, national and international levels on workforce matters.
- Provide executive leadership of the Trust's equality, diversity and inclusion agenda as it relates to theworkforce, including the Workforce Race Equality Standard, Workforce Disability Equality Standard andgender equality
- Continue to modernise the people function's operating model, systems and processes, with a strong focuson user experience for managers and colleagues
Person specification
Experience
Essential
- Significant board or executive-level people leadership in a large, complex organisation, with the credibility and experience to operate at the top table of one of the NHS's most respected specialist trusts
- A demonstrable track record of shaping and delivering workforce strategy in environments of transformation and significant change, ideally working with clinicians or in research-driven, scientific or healthcare environments
- Evidence of building and leading high-performing people functions, with a clear point of view on operating model design, technology and analytics;
- Strong employee relations experience, including constructive partnership working with trade unions
- Experience of leading in high-skill, knowledge-intensive environments, whether in healthcare, research, academia, professional services or comparable settings
- Experience of operating in regulated and politically sensitive environments
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Chief People Officer with The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London, London, England. It is listed as a Administrative and IT role. The advertised salary is VSM. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 20 Jul 2026.
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