Head of Equality and Human Rights (LW)

Job details

• Job reference: 255651
• Salary: Band 8A (£65,125 - £70,303)
• Job closing date: 14/09/2026
• Job Type: Administrative Services
• Location: Queen Margaret Hospital
• Employment type: Permanent
• Hours Per Week: 36
• Job posted date: 25/08/2026
• Employer (NHS Board): NHS Fife
• Department: Equality and Human Rights Team

Shape a Fairer Future for Health and Care in Fife

NHS Fife is seeking an exceptional leader to become our Head of Equality and Human Rights. This pivotal leadership role will ensure NHS Fife meets its statutory responsibilities and delivers its wider organisational ambitions for equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights. The postholder will have influence on organisational culture, workforce experience, service design and the experience of the people and communities we serve.

Working closely with staff, senior leaders, staff networks, trade unions, community partners and people with lived experience, you will drive action to reduce inequalities across Fife’s communities. You will play a critical role in advancing NHS Fife’s commitment to ensuring diversity is valued, discrimination is actively addressed, and everyone has equitable opportunities to thrive. In doing so, you will support delivery of our Equality Outcomes and Mainstreaming Plan and the vision outlined in Caring for Fife Together, the Nursing, Midwifery, and Allied Health Professional Strategy 2026–2030.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to NHS Fife’s Executive Nurse Director and as a senior leader in the NHS Fife Quality Directorate, you will:

• Develop and deliver NHS Fife’s equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights plans, ensuring statutory responsibilities are met and organisational ambitions are translated into meaningful action.
• Provide strategic leadership for NHS Fife’s Equality and Human Rights team, supporting delivery of measurable improvements in workforce experience, leadership representation and equitable access to services.
• Work collaboratively across services and partnerships to embed inclusive leadership, culturally competent care and human rights-based approaches.
• Ensure equality and human rights considerations are integral to service redesign, workforce planning, quality improvement and population health initiatives.
• Build meaningful, sustained partnerships with diverse communities and under-represented groups, ensuring their voices shape decision-making and service development.

About You

We are looking for an inspirational, credible and values-driven leader who:

• Has a strong track record of leading equality, diversity, inclusion, human rights or anti-racism programmes within a complex organisation.
• Has delivered transformational change at organisational or system level.
• Understands the relationship between health inequalities, workforce inequalities, human rights and outcomes for patients, staff and communities.
• Demonstrates compassionate, person-centred leadership in line with NHS Fife’s Our Leadership Way, with a clear commitment to psychologically safe and inclusive workplaces.
• Can translate strategic ambitions into practical, measurable actions that improve outcomes for staff, patients and communities.

Why NHS Fife?

At NHS Fife, we are committed to creating a culture where everyone belongs and can fulfil their potential. We are building a compassionate, inclusive and values-led organisation that tackles inequalities, promotes social justice and improves outcomes for the people and communities we serve.

This role offers a unique opportunity to influence Board-wide culture, shape strategic policy and help create a healthcare system where equality, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism and human rights are embedded in the way we think, lead and deliver care.

Join us in building a fairer and more inclusive NHS Fife, where every person, every profession and every community is valued, respected and empowered to thrive.

For an informal discussion, please contact Tom McCarthy-Wilson, Head of Improvement via tom.mccarthy-wilson@nhs.scot or Gillian McAuley, Executive Nurse Director via gillian.mcauley3@nhs.scot.

A requirement of this post is to become a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme Prior to appointment.

To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.

As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards will check your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

We offer flexible working and family-friendly policies and fully support disabled candidates, and candidates with long-term conditions or who are neurodivergent by making reasonable adjustments to our recruitment policy and practices.

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